Santa Barbara, SLO Counties certify election results
Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties both certified their election results Wednesday.
Both counties reported record turnout as more people than ever opted to mail in or drop off ballots this year due to the pandemic.
Santa Barbara County
In Santa Barbara County, more than 86% of all registered voters participated in the election. 203,506 of 235,198 votes were cast by Santa Barbara County voters.
Incumbents fared well in almost all of the races we covered.
Paula Perotte held on as Goleta mayor for another term over councilman Roger Aceves, by a margin of 62% to about 38%.
Lompoc mayor Jenelle Osborne secured reelection over councilman Victor Vega.
Santa Maria mayor Alice Patino won re-election by a large margin, receiving more than 64% of the vote. Patino faced a challenge by two other candidates.
Buellton mayor Holly Sierra was awarded another term as mayor with just over 57% of the vote, edging out Ed Andrisek and Isaac Oltmans.
Solvang also elected a new mayor, as Charlie Uhrig defeated Karen Waite. Both were newcomers looking to fill the seat left by mayor Ryan Toussaint, who opted not to seek a second term.
In the Solvang City Council, Mark Infanti and Claudia Orona won two of council seats up for grabs. Orona secured her seat by a razor thin margin. She nabbed 53 more votes than third place candidate, Justin Rodriguez. In Solvang's recall election, voters chose to recall Chris Djaernes with about 87% of the vote. Jim Thomas won more than two-thirds of the vote to take over for the remainder of Djaernes' term.
In Lompoc, longtime councilman Jim Mosby was defeated by challenger Jeremy Ball. Ball received more than 58% percent of the votes cast.
The race for Buellton City Council was also very tight. John Sanchez won the top spot and newcomer Elysia Lewis won the second open seat, but only by 48 votes over the third-place candidate, current councilman Art Mercado.
In the race for Santa Barbara Unified School Board, Laura Capps held onto her lead as the top vote-getter. Snagging the second and third spots were Wendy Sims-Moten and Virginia Alvarez. Capps and Sims-Moten were already board members. Jackie Reid will give up her seat to the newcomer.
San Luis Obispo County
In San Luis Obispo County, a record-breaking number of registered voters cast ballots. 162,615 registered voters participated, the most ever in the county. The county also saw a record-breaking number of registered voters with 184,050 registered to vote.
Incumbent mayors in SLO County were all successful in their reelection bids.
San Luis Obispo mayor Heidi Harmon comfortably won reelection with more than 52% of the vote. Three other candidates divided the remaining 48% of votes, with Cherisse Sweeney taking the largest portion.
Morro Bay mayor John Headding held onto victory, but by a slim margin. Just 114 votes separating him and the other candidate, John Weiss.
Pismo Beach mayor Ed Waage held onto his seat over former TV anchor Dan Shadwell. Roughly 60% of voters opted for Waage, but Shadwell still saw a decent turnout in his first pursuit of political office.
Former San Luis Obispo mayor Jan Marx ran for city council and was able to win one of the two seats up for grabs. The third place candidate, Abrianna Torres, fell 507 votes shy of coming away with one of the council seats. Current councilmember Andy Pease was the lead vote-getter in the race.
For a complete breakdown of our local election races, click here.
To find other down ballot election results, click here.
