Hartmann wins 3rd District supervisor race; Carbajal ahead in 24th Congressional District

The Santa Barbara County race for 3rd District supervisor concluded with former county Planning Commissioner Joan Hartmann leading Santa Ynez financial planner Bruce Porter. 

By the time the Sun reached Hartmann, votes were still being counted as of noon on Nov. 9, but results show that she was ahead. 

Hartmann had 13,563 votes compared to Porter’s 11,511. She ran on what she called an “empirically based” campaign on facts and data, and cited her record with the county Planning Commission. Also, she credited a constant presence throughout the district, which she believed swayed the voters in her favor. 

“My most central issue is government accountability,” Hartmann told the Sun. “I really do my best to try to be there.”

Hartmann will succeed Doreen Farr at the beginning of January 2017. Porter didn’t return calls and emails by the Sun before press time. 

As for the 24th Congressional District race in California, Democratic candidate and outgoing Santa Barbara County 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal was leading Republican candidate and businessman Justin Fareed with a 54 percent to Fareed’s 46 percent with approximately a 16,000 vote difference as of noon on Nov. 9. 

But ballots are still being counted. 

Carbajal told the Sun that he hadn’t yet received a concession call from Fareed. 

Christiana Purves, a spokeswoman for Fareed, told the Sun they are still holding out for a win. Purves said they reached out to both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo county election officers, which told the campaign that each had roughly 60,000 ballots left to count. 

“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,” Fareed’s campaign said in an emailed statement to the Sun. “There are potentially more than 100,000 ballots left to be counted, and we look forward to seeing the results as they come in.” 

A spokesman with the Santa Barbara County Elections Office told the Sun that 59,300 ballots had yet to be counted by noon on Nov. 9.

The Sun couldn’t confirm similar information from the SLO County election office. By law, each county has 30 days to count the remaining ballots. 

Already, Carbajal is claiming victory. When asked about the prospect of representing the Central Coast in a Republican-controlled Congress and with Donald Trump as the president-elect, Carbajal said he was “obviously disappointed and disheartened,” but is looking forward to working with “anyone and everyone” in Congress.  

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