Friedman Leads in the Race to be the New Santa Barbara Mayor

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - After a grueling campaign with multiple major issues in the city, Eric Friedman is leading over Kristen Sneddon in the race to be the next Mayor in the City of Santa Barbara.

The vote count on election night was a lead of 374 for Friedman.

It's still to be determined how many ballots remain to be counted.  That will be sorted out by the Santa Barbara County Elections office right away based on what has come in during the final hours of voting.

Friedman has 46.5% of the vote, Sneddon has 44.7%.

Both are current councilmemebers trying to replace current Mayor Randy Rowse who chose not to run.

Candidate Wendy Sims-Moten was third at  5.8% of the vote, while Matt Kilrain received 2.5%.

Devon Warlow, Ian Baucke and Gabe Escobido all have big leads in the council races.

The issues across the board include the future of State Street downtown, the overall economy, housing and rent stabilization.

The city is also going forward with some changes to bring parades back downtown after have concerns about the design of State Street as it looks now and the ability to manage large crowds in narrow areas.

In the next year Yardi Systems is moving into downtown and remodeling the former Macy's building to be the workplace for hundreds of employees that could help with the revitalization.

For complete results go to : Santa Barbara County Elections or the special elections tab at KEYT.com