Candidate for the 37th District Assembly race Gregg Hart spoke with the Sun on June 8 after a morning hike to de-stress and get some fresh air in celebration of finishing the trail to the primary election.
Campaigning efforts in SLO and Santa Barbara county seemed to pay off as preliminary election results show Hart in the lead with 59 percent of the vote in Santa Barbara County, and 47.79 percent of the votes in SLO County. Votes are still being tallied, and official election results will be compiled by July 15, but Hart said he’s very grateful for the support and is looking forward to the general election.
“I think my strong showing demonstrates voters appreciate the work I’ve been doing for three decades as a local elected official and want to see me as their representative,” the current 2nd District Santa Barbara County Supervisor said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to have an aggressive campaign and get my message out there.”
The 37th District looks a little different this year after the recent redistricting process—it now contains all of Santa Barbara County and southern SLO County as opposed to its old layout encompassing Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Preliminary results also predict that Hart will likely go up against Republican candidate Mike Stoker in November—as third candidate Bruce Wallach earned just 3 percent of the votes in Santa Barbara and 5 percent in SLO.
Stoker had earned 37 percent of the votes in Santa Barbara County and was hot on Hart’s trail in SLO County with 47.07 percent of the votes—34 votes shy of tying with Hart, according to initial vote counts. Stoker said he had been expecting to fall short of Hart by a larger margin, and he has high hopes for the November election.
“I think a lot of voters that don’t like the direction for California will get out to vote and make a change in the general election,” Stoker said. “We’re ready to go, and the campaign starts now.”
The primary was plagued by low voter turnout across the state, including in the 37th District, with only 21 percent of registered voters voting in SLO County and 25 percent in Santa Barbara County, according to preliminary counts.
Both Stoker and Hart said in separate interviews that, historically, primary elections have lower numbers than general elections, but Hart added that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent recall election in September might have thrown some voters “off their rhythms.”
“[However], people care about our community and want their voices heard, and my campaign will do everything we can to get voters to the polls,” Hart said.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2022.