It's over -- the 2012 election, that is.

It was overkill again, with our longer-than-usual ballot, constant mailings, barrage of television commercials about state propositions and those dinnertime robo-calls.

But aren't you glad you don't live in Ohio, where people were besieged by Romney and Obama campaign ads day after day?

Come to think of it, did we have a presidential race in California? Seemingly not, from the dearth of advertising.

But national is not local, and the results here are interesting.

The Democrats now have a super majority (more than two-thirds) membership in both houses in Sacramento, for the first time since the early 1930s, which to me means the Republican Party here is disappearing, probably because it swung too far right.

Surprisingly, state and local voters want more taxes -- a big turnaround from past years. Not only did we pass Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30, which means a quarter-cent sales tax increase for several years, but in Santa Clara County we agreed to a one-eighth of a cent tax increase for the next 10 years while San Mateo voters said yes to a half-cent sales tax hike. That means our sales tax rates will be near 9 percent, among the highest in the nation.

Burlingame and San Carlos voters passed school bond measures. The school districts in both cities needed 55 percent approval and got 66 percent.

Two of Palo Alto's wealthier residents contributed heavily to state ballot measures. Chris Kelly, a former Facebook privacy chief, gave more than $1.8 million to the successful Proposition 35, which will increase prison terms for human traffickers.

And Charles Munger Jr., donated more than $50 million for the losing Proposition 32, which would have banned mostly union pay deductions for political donations. Wonder if either of them has a latent desire to run for office.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District parcel tax of about $56 a year also got renewed by voters. I'm surprised, since the district is notorious for its high salaries and practice of spending money like water. Also, the renewal wasn't needed now and won't go into effect for a couple of years. But environmentalists campaigned hard for it.

In most local races, incumbents got re-elected.

While Pat Burt and Greg Schmid were re-elected to the Palo Alto City Council, Camille Townsend and Melissa Batten Caswell were re-elected to the Palo Alto School Board. Menlo Park Council Member Kelly Fergusson lost to two newcomers, but since her tenure had been clouded with controversies, no surprise there.

Because Palo Alto council and school board elections were changed from 2011 to 2012, the incumbents had a better chance of getting re-elected since more people vote in presidential elections. Voters who don't closely watch local races tend to choose incumbents because it's safer that way.

Santa Clara County supervisor and former Palo Alto mayor Liz Kniss got elected to the council, as did lawyer Marc Berman. Only 40 votes separated Berman from third-place Burt, so every vote does count. Kniss came in first.

By the way, why did Kniss campaign so hard? She had the most name recognition in the six-way race, yet seemed to be everywhere -- Caltrans stations, coffees and walks. She asked friends to sponsor coffees and "invite people I don't know," one coffee-sponsor told me. Kniss had newspaper and Web ads and advertised more than any of her contenders, sent mailings and email blasts.

She once told me that she loves to campaign, and maybe this time she passionately embraced her love. Or maybe she was scared she would lose. But why? Maybe she wanted to garner more votes than any other candidate so she would be in line to become mayor again. Maybe she has an ego that needs to be wanted.

My concern is that the two new council members will rubber-stamp their approval on most issues. Conformity will continue to reign.

Only 57 percent of eligible Palo Alto residents voted. According to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, 25,516 people cast votes in the Palo Alto Unified School District election, while 21,949 people voted for city council members.

Problem is, many don't pay attention to local issues. "I don't like politics," some proclaim. Or, "I simply don't have time to hear local candidates or read all those pages in the voter information guide. It's so boring."

People get ballot weary after voting for national and state elections; local races become an afterthought. It's time to change back to odd years.
