Provisional, absentee and (potentially) overseas ballots remain to be counted, followed by a likely recount, but the tentative results are in…

Hercules incumbents win; newcomer ekes out third spot
By Tom Lochner

Incumbents Ed Balico and Mayor Joanne Ward won new Hercules City Council terms Tuesday, while first-time candidate John Delgado appeared to gain a seat by beating second-time candidate Don Kuehne by 13 votes. With all precincts tallied, an unknown number of provisional and absentee ballots remained to be counted.

Balico got 4,753 votes or 29.7 percent; Ward 4,567 votes or 28.6 percent; Delgado 3,296 votes or 20.6 percent; and Kuehne 3,283 votes or 20.5 percent.

The close result conjured up the 2004 council race, when Charleen Raines trailed Kris Valstad by 44 votes the day after the election and by a mere four votes in mid-month after most absentee ballots were counted. But several hundred provisional ballots tilted the election to Raines by eight votes two weeks later. After a recount, Raines ended up winning by 12 votes.

The 2008 race once appeared a status-quo affair, with two well-known, well-financed incumbents and a second-time candidate endorsed by all five sitting council members pitted against a lone challenger. But Delgado, who raised only $100 from his father other than his own money, confounded that script.

Balico and Ward touted changes that occurred in the eight years they have been on the council, including steps toward implementation of the 2000 vision of a New Urbanism-inspired waterfront with upscale shops and homes, professional offices, an Amtrak train station and ferry to San Francisco.

Kuehne’s name-recognition derived from his role in a successful fight earlier in this decade against a proposed development of more than 500 homes in Franklin Canyon; and from his service on the Hercules Education Foundation board and on the board of his homeowners association.

Delgado, a San Francisco prosecutor who moved to Hercules five years ago, cited his law enforcement experience.

One of Hercules’ major lingering issues, although the candidates did not talk about it much during the campaign, is the fate of a 17 1/4-acre tract near the waterfront owned by Wal-Mart, which has wrangled with the city over plans for a big-box store. The retailer, which has since come up with smaller-scale model stores, could file a new application any time.