Incumbent Elaina Cano leads the race for San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder on Tuesday night

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – As of Wednesday morning, incumbent Elaina Cano has taken the lead with about 67% of the votes for the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder race.

The Board of Supervisors appointed Cano as the SLO County Clerk last year after former clerk-recorder Tommy Gong resigned before the end of his term.

Cano said that she is the only candidate in her race who has clerk-recorder experience.

News Channel 3-12 reached out to Cano on Tuesday, but she said she will not be able to comment because she is in the middle of conducting this current election.

Cano is running against two other candidates: Stewart Jenkins and James Baugh.

Jenkins, who had about 15% of the votes on Wednesday morning, said he specializes in election law and that he has closely observed SLO County elections for decades.

“It will mean a lot of work because there is so much distress that needs to be overcome on both sides of the political divide," said Jenkins. "And I will be working night and day to do that.”

Jenkins said that with his experience, he can bring everyone together and restore an election process that people can trust.

James Baugh, who had 18% of the votes as of Wednesday morning, said he is a U.S. army consultant and military combat veteran from Paso Robles.

“I think it’ll be a great opportunity, it’s a great opportunity to start changing some of the processes in the County and to change what people think as far as the integrity election," said Baugh.

Baugh said that he wants to bring transparency and accountability to the county clerk-recorder's office.

The candidate with a simple majority, 50% plus one, will be declared the winner. If no one wins a simple majority, the race goes to a run-off in November.

Yesterday, the clerk-recorder's office said election night counting is done once all of the polling places have reported.