Coombes Qualifies As District One Supervisor Write-In Candidate
Sonora, CA — The final steps were completed for a write-in candidate to formally enter the District One Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors race.
Last week, Larry Coombes was sworn in as a certified write-in candidate by the Tuolumne County Board of Elections after completing all of the needed paperwork. His name will not actually appear on the ballot, but residents of District One will now have the option of writing in his name in the marked space.
Coombes is a retired tax specialist and his campaign says he decided to run for the seat when the county announced it was facing a $6 million deficit.
He says he is trained as a tax auditor for the IRS and spent 25 years as a tax specialist. He believes that he can ask the right questions to understand what the revenues and expenditures are and that his expertise will help elected officials and the public understand what happened to create such a large deficit, and how to prevent future shortfalls.
There were four candidates running for the District One Supervisor seat in the March Primary election, and the top two vote-getters, Mike Holland and Mark Plummer, moved on to a runoff during the November General Election. However, shortly after Coombes discussed a desire to run as a write-in candidate, in late July, Plummer suspended his campaign and endorsed Holland. It leaves Holland and Coombes as the only two people actively seeking the seat.
While different circumstances, a similar write-in challenge occurred four years ago in the District One race when Sherri Brennan suspended her campaign against David Goldemberg, and write-in challenger Cody Ritts entered. Goldemberg was the eventual winner.
Click here to read a story published about Holland when he announced his plans to run in September of last year.
