Cunningham defeats Ortiz-Legg for 35th District State Assembly

With 100% of precinct reporting, Republican Jordan Cunnigham upset Democrat Dawn Ortiz-Legg in the California 35th District State Assembly race with 55% of the vote. The final tally…Cunninham received 71,721 votes. Ortiz-Legg received 59,721 votes.

For full election results, go to http://www.keyt.com/election-results.

District 35 includes all of San Luis Obispo County and parts of northern Santa Barbara County, including Santa Maria, Lompoc and Guadalupe.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” said Cunningham at his campaign viewing party in downtown Paso Robles. “This is a great honor. To be trusted with the votes of so many people here on the Central Coast is very humbling.”

In his first political race of his career, Cunningham run a campaign based on improving local job creation, public safety, education and water supply.

“I think we had a great team. We had a great volunteer team. We worked really hard, contacting voters, knocking on doors, calling them,” said Cunningham. “I think we gave a pretty positive message to voters about what we are trying to do to solve problems, and I think at the end of the day, people respond to leaders that roll up their sleeves and try to solve problems.”

Over the course of the campaign, the race for the District 35 seat drew major statewide attention. Going into the election, the Democratic party needed to pick up only two additional seats in the Assembly to earn a supermajority.

This seat was seen as a prime target for Democrats to flip from Republican to their party. As a result, millions of dollars poured into the race, much of it from outside the district. Katcho Achadjian

Money was spent on a barrage of advertisements, particularly on television, radio and mailers. Cunningham says with the election over, he’s eager to put the negativity of the campaign behind him and get to work in Sacramento.

“I always believed in the decency and common sense of the voters here, and there ability to see through disinformation that’s put out and I think my faith was validated,” said Cunningham. “Tomorrow we turn the page and we start looking forward and start solving problems.”

Cunningham will take the seat currently occupied by incumbent Katcho Achadjian, who will leave office because of term limits.