Update: Plummer Suspends District One Supervisor Campaign

Photo by BJ Hansen

Update at 10:05 am: Candidate Mike Holland has released a statement to Clarke Broadcasting that he appreciates Mark Plummer’s endorsement and looks forward to working with him on issues close to the city.

Holland also stresses, “I also want to be very clear that I do not view this as a partisan position or race. Potholes and fires do not care which party you align with, and frankly neither do I. I will focus on critical issues facing all residents and ensure we get a fiscally sustainable budget.”

More information on Plummer’s decision to suspend his campaign for District One Supervisor is below:

Original story posted at 6:17 am: Sonora, CA — There is a shake-up in a local political race.

This past March, Mike Holland, and Mark Plummer were the top two vote-getters in the Tuolumne County District One Board of Supervisors race, so they both move on to a November runoff.

However, a write-in candidate, Larry Coombes, has recently emerged, prompting Plummer to suspend his campaign and endorse Holland.

Plummer says, “I have reached this decision after much agonizing and with great disappointment because there is a last-minute Democrat ‘write-in’ candidate who is making this a contest about which political party is represented on the Supervisors Board. In this new race dominated by party affiliation and partisanship, I see no viable path to my victory.”

Plummer indicates that he was planning to appeal to the more moderate voters, as both he and Holland are conservative candidates, adding, “Mike and my campaigns have focused on differences in vision for the County, our temperaments and experience. The race now becomes one of two partisan camps. Growth, housing, jobs, forest health and fire safety differences become simply a question of if one’s team is Democrat or Republican. That will drive almost everyone to their party safe spaces.”

Plummer, a former Sonora Councilman, and Mayor, noted that he still plans to stay active in local issues, fighting for things that help grow Sonora, biomass projects, and the Greenley Road extension project.