Lucan Still All In on Novato Mayorship Despite Senate Candidacy

Novato Mayor Pro Tem Eric Lucan, who earlier this week announced a bid for the state senate, confirmed to Patch that for the foreseeable future he plans to honor his commitments to the city council, which includes a probable one-year mayoral appointment.

Lucan is expected to be appointed to the mayorship in December. As the previous election cycle's leading vote-getter, the appointment follows city protocol.

“I would be honored if I were selected, and I would serve with as much energy and commitment that I can,” Lucan said.

Lucan might not have much energy left in him when he shows up at City Hall in the thick of what figures to be an unusually grueling state senate campaign.

The State Senate District 2 for which he's campaigning has been redrawn since the last election cycle, ostensibly from a commuter consisting mostly of Marin and Sonoma Counties along with a small patch of San Francisco to a to massive 370-mile long behemoth that snakes through Marin, Sonoma, Lake, Humboldt, Solano, Napa and Mendocino Counties - all the way up the Oregon border.

And candidates will be expected to work for every vote up in rural communities up north, drinking bad coffee with stale pastries and sitting through rotary club meetings that never end.

“Its going to be a remarkably grueling experience,” San Rafael-based political consultant Steve Brudo said of the newly drawn district.

Lucan acknowledged the challenges campaigning in the newly-drawn district presents were a factor in deliberating his candidacy.

“It's a big district and it's going to be a lot of work and I'm committed to that, but I'm absolutely committed to the city council first,” Lucan said.

“That's where I was elected and I want to continue to serve the residents of Novato.”