Although results from the November 8, 2011, General Election have only recently been finalized, more elections are just around the corner.

Schmidt has been on the Redwood City Planning Commission since early 2009 but has yet to establish any outwardly visible presence of a candidate such as a Web site so there is little way to gauge much about Schmidt or who may be backing his efforts.

Similarly, Woods, who is serving his third term on the East Palo Alto City Council, has yet to raise his profile as a candidate.

Morantes, who has served on the County Board of Education for four terms, has been campaigning for the seat behind the scenes for quite a while and is actively and publicly pursuing the seat.

According to his campaign Web site he has the support of former Assemblymember Gene Mullin as well as some local leaders such as East Palo Alto Councilmember Ruben Abrica, Daly City Councilmember Mike Guingona, San Mateo Councilmember David Lim and fellow Board of Education Member and former county supervisor and Assemblymember Ted Lempert.

By far the most visible candidate thus far is Redwood City School District Trustee Shelly Masur.

According to her campaign Web site, Masur has garnered an impressive list of endorsers including San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine – the highest ranking elected official known to have endorsed a candidate in this race – as well as several dozen local city council and school board members.

As a metric of confidence and network, Masur is commanding the field at this point, early though it is.

After the lull of the holidays the race to replace Jacobs Gibson will get into high gear. For the would-be candidates or for those without credible backing time is running short to demonstrate viability.

Look for this race to be between only two candidates with any real backing.