Shasta County has grown more politically polarized in recent years. Several right-wing supervisors have essentially held a three-to-two majority on the board.
That鈥檚 given them the power to do things like forcing the county elections department to hand county election ballots, based on unproven claims of election fraud. That effort was quashed by a state law passed last year directly targeted at Shasta County.
Opponents of this majority say they鈥檝e also contributed to a 鈥榖rain drain鈥� of county staff. A large number of high-level staff have left in recent years, including the county clerk, public health director and resource management director.
As it stands, two members of the right-wing majority are still in their seats, and two new, more moderate supervisors will be joining in January after winning during the March primaries. This runoff election for the remaining district in Shasta County could decide who controls the board.
Mary Rickert, the incumbent
Mary Rickert, who lives in the small town of McArthur, has served two terms 鈥� or eight years 鈥� on the Board of Supervisors. She and her husband run an agricultural services company and a large cattle ranch.
In a board of five Republicans, Rickert is one of the more moderate members. She鈥檚 been opposed to many of the decisions by the far-right majority, including the 2023 effort to hand-count ballots.
Rickert says she didn鈥檛 actually want to run again but couldn鈥檛 find a replacement in her district because of the chaos on the current board.
Her opponent has criticized her decision to run because of a county measure approved in March that enacted two-term limits for Shasta County supervisors. However, that measure only affects future supervisors, so Rickert is allowed to serve an additional two terms.
Rickert says she supported the term limits measure but says her experience on the board is needed right now, especially because of a number of new administrative staff with the county. They鈥檝e been through at least five county counsels since the start of 2023 and the county executive officer was also recently hired.
鈥淚 just felt somebody had to stick around to at least kind of give some guidelines and some historical knowledge so that people understood it,鈥� Rickert says. 鈥淚 think this is an unusual situation. Ordinarily, if you've had a highly functioning board that worked well together. It wouldn't be a problem. But it is a problem in this current situation.鈥�
Rickert says she wants to focus on issues like public safety, substance abuse and a crowded county jail.
鈥淚 think that if we were to expand our services as far as mental health and substance use treatment programs, or make them more available to people, then that's going to lessen our crime, which will lessen our need for concerns about public safety funding and the ability for the sheriff to do his job too,鈥� Rickert says.
She also hopes to bring back civility and stability to the county board of supervisors.
鈥淲e are the laughing stock of the state of California. I have friends that are supervisors up and down the state, and they tell me how sorry they feel for me for what I have to tolerate during board meetings because of the way I'm treated,鈥� she says.
Corkey Harmon, the fresh face
Her opponent, Corkey Harmon, is a civil contractor from Palo Cedro. He ran for supervisor in 2010, but he lost in the primary.
Harmon says he鈥檚 motivated to run by a desire to give back to the community.
鈥淚 feel like this is my window if I want to make a difference for the next generation,鈥� he said.
Harmon disagrees with those trying to paint him as sympathetic with the right-wing board majority, and says he doesn鈥檛 want to create more conflict.
鈥淚 think I've done a very good job of making sure that people know I have my own backbone,鈥� Harmon says. 鈥淚'll stand up, I'll make my own decisions based on what I think the people need.鈥�
While Harmon wasn鈥檛 supported by Patrick Jones, one of the outgoing members of the right-wing board majority, he does have ties to Red, White and Blueprint, a documentary series created by a group of right-wing Shasta County residents covering their 2022 takeover of local government. Harmon hosted a Red, White and Blueprint fundraiser at his ranch in 2021.
Harmon says he wants to focus on similar issues as Rickert, including crime and homelessness and addressing the root causes behind them.
鈥淚 want to dig in there,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want to get in there and go start talking to people and find out where the concerns are.鈥�
Without background as an elected official, Harmon doesn鈥檛 have a voting record that shows how he would position himself on the board. But, he has supported some of the same priorities pushed by the right-wing board majority, including hand-counting ballots and resisting state public health mandates.
Harmon says he would work with both right-wing and moderate members of the board.
Clues from the primary
The results from the March presidential primary offer some hints as to what could happen in November.
Mary Rickert garnered the most votes, at around 40%. Harmon received around 32%. The remaining votes went to Win Carpenter, who was supported by members of the right-wing majority.
The key difference in November will be the turnout.
Turnout county-wide in the 2024 March primary was around 48%. But during presidential elections in 2020 and 2016, turnout was over 80% of residents. That means there could be almost twice as many voters in the general election as there were in the primary. Where those votes end up could be the deciding factor in who takes the final seat on the county board of supervisors next year.
Ballots will head out to all California voters by Oct. 7. They need to be returned in the mail, at a local drop box, or at a polling place by 8pm on election day, Nov. 5.
