Santa Barbara County District 5 Supervisor Candidates Keep Busy On Election Day
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - The three candidates running for Santa Barbara County Board Of Supervisors’ District 5 seat have kept themselves busy on this Primary Election Day.
Today’s results could determine if one of them wins or if a deciding vote will happen in November.
The poll attendants at the Joseph Centenno Government Building on Betteravia said they saw a steady flow of in-person voters and drive-up ballot box drops throughout the entire day.
This December, sitting District 5 supervisor Steve Lavagnino is retiring, and Maribel Aguilera, Cory Bantilan, or Ricardo Valencia will be the one to assume the seat.
If results from today’s election yield 50% plus-1 for any one of these candidates, they win the election, they will not appear on November’s ballots, and they’ll assume the District 5 supervisor seat in January.
If results are more widely spread from today’s vote, the top two candidates will continue campaigning for the deciding vote in November.
All three candidates have kept themselves busy at their jobs or continuing their campaigns, right up until the very end.
Earlier today, Cory Bantilan was campaigning door to door before going to The Swiss Restaurant for his watch party.
Ricardo Valencia was teaching his classes at Santa Maria High School, then watched for initial results at The Garden Mediterranean Restaurant.
Maribel Aguilera remained on the dais for the Santa Maria City Council meeting, which ended around 9pm.
“I am just super excited,” says Aguilera. “You know, like I said, we've been knocking on doors and talking to voters for six months.”
“It's almost a sociology experiment, right?” says Bantilan. “It's been really neat to just talk about the issues and see what folks actually care about.”
“We have the smallest average donation amount,” says Valencia. “That means that we don't rely on big checks from big corporations that want to buy our votes. This campaign is funded by regular people.”
The first wave of results announced around 8:30pm are showing Ricardo Valencia leading the District 5 race at 35%.
Your news team is tracking results in real time and we’ll have updates as more votes are counted and results continue to come in.
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