Incumbent Alice Patino leads three challengers in Santa Maria mayoral race
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Incumbent Alice Patino is leading three challengers in her bid to earn a fourth term as Santa Maria mayor.
Patino, who was first elected as mayor in 2012, has a solid edge over the other candidates with 70% of the precincts reporting.
Patino currently has 5,850 votes (48%), while Diana Perez is in second place with 4,800 votes (39%).
Further back in the count are William Smith (7%) with 826 votes and Andrew Foster with 705 votes (56%).
"I am encouraged by what I see so far and I'm very optimistic," said Patino at her Election Night party at the Historic Santa Maria Inn. "It is so great to have the support of my friends and family and to have them come out and celebrate with me is great."
Patino has served on the Santa Maria City Council since 2000 and is the first and only woman to be elected as Santa Maria mayor.
"I've been in interviews and asked why are you running for the mayor of Santa Maria?" said Patino. "I say, number one, I love Santa Maria, and number two, every decision I make is for what is best for Santa Maria, nothing else but what is best for Santa Maria."
Perez stepped down as Santa Maria Joint Union High School District board chair in July to enter the race.
She spent Election Night with supporters and several other local candidates at the United Domestic Workers of America headquarters.
"I'm glad to be here with everyone supporting my campaign," said Perez. "The numbers are preliminary, so still optimistic that the numbers could could go the other way. We did a great job with our campaign and our efforts, and so we feel pretty good about what we've done, and we're hopeful that we might be able to change to. That's our hope."
Smith and Foster spent the evening at home watching the numbers roll in from the Santa Barbara County Elections Office.
Smith, who had previously challenged Patino for mayor in 2016 and 2020, along with political newcomer Foster, both said earlier in the day they would support whichever candidate emerged as the winner in the race.
