Santa Maria Sun / News

Peter Adam unseats supervisor Joni Gray

BY AMY ASMAN

Santa Maria farmer Peter Adam beat longtime 4th District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joni Gray by a margin of roughly two percentage points—50.04 percent verses 46.88 percent—in the Nov. 6 election. The two were competing in a runoff vote after coming within two percentage points of each other in the June primary.

In an early morning phone call with the Sun on Nov. 7, Adam stopped picking up election signs with his supporters to comment on his victory.

“Now the work starts,” he said. “I think people are ready to tackle the problems we have.”

Adam’s top five platform issues during the campaign were budgetary, including bolstering the strategic reserve, implementing pension reform, retaining public safety, decreasing long-term debt, and improving infrastructure.

“I think placing so much debt on our children is immoral,” Adam told the Sun. “It’s time to have some adult conversations about dealing with it.

“I’m looking forward to working with the other supervisors to solve these problems,” he said.

Supervisor Gray could not be reached for comment as of press time. A representative from her office said she was attending a meeting in Buellton.

For a complete list of election results, visit sbcvote.org.