100,000+ ballots remain uncounted in congressional race

Democrat Congressional candidate Salud Carbajal is now planning his first term representing the Central Coast from the 24th District. Election returns as of Wednesday morning showed the former Santa Barbara County Supervisor leading his challenger Republican Justin Fareed by more than 16,000 votes.

Carbajal claimed victory on Twitter and Facebook.

“I am honored to have earned the support tonight of voters throughout the 24th Congressional District. You have put your faith in me tonight and I promise that I will work tirelessly on your behalf to improve the quality of life for Central Coast residents,” Carbajal said in a Facebook post.

“Most of all, thank you to the thousands of voters that have supported me in this election. It is an awesome responsibility to represent this vibrant and unique community in Congress, and I am honored that you have all given me that opportunity tonight. These are uncertain times, but I would not have run for this office if I wasn’t optimistic about our country’s future. I promise to work hard to represent the voice of our Central Coast in Congress,” he added.

Figures released by the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County elections offices show 102,081 ballots remain to be counted across the Congressional district. Some were unprocessed on election night, others are considered provisional ballots. Others are expected to trickle in, as ballots mailed by election day and received within three days are counted.

Fareed has not officially conceded the race.

“Since the beginning, this campaign has been about listening to the concerns of the people of the Central Coast and taking their voices to Washington. There are more than 100,000 ballots left to be counted, and we look forward to seeing the results as they come in,” Fareed’s campaign said in a statement provided Wednesday afternoon.

Both county elections offices plan to provide an updated count by Friday November 11.