A round of applause and shouts burst out in the Santa Maria Country Club as preliminary election results loaded on a big screen, showing Santa Barbara County 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson ahead of challenger and Los Alamos resident Krishna Flores.
“I’m floored to be honest,” Nelson told the Sun on March 5. “There’s been elections in the 4th District that were just kind of anti-incumbency. … I was aware of that and wanted to take that seriously.”
Nelson, the Republican incumbent, had nearly 75 percent of the vote (8,237 votes) in the recently redistricted 4th District—which now includes Orcutt, Tepusquet, Garey, Sisquoc, Los Alamos, Casmalia, and parts of Vandenberg Village and the Space Force Base—with Flores tallying 24.5 percent of the vote (2,700 votes), according to Santa Barbara County preliminary results.
Flores told the Sun via a statement that she knew the odds were stacked against her from the start.
“As a Democratic candidate in a Republican district, facing a well-funded incumbent, the path ahead seemed daunting. However, I refused to let that deter me,” Flores told the Sun in a statement. “I entered this race because I firmly believe that every voter deserves a choice, and I was determined to ensure that our community had the opportunity to make an informed decision and have meaningful representation.”
Polls closed at 8 p.m. on March 5, and the county will count the remaining vote-by-mail ballots on March 12, according to the Santa Barbara County Clerk, Recorder, Assessor, and Elections office. About 23 percent of Santa Barbara County’s registered voters have had their votes counted (55,660 out of 238,661 registered voters) in this round of results. Election results must be certified by April 4.
Once the results are certified, candidates with more than 50 percent of the vote can take their supervisorial seats in 2025.
Preliminary results showed that fellow incumbent Joan Hartmann will also return to her seat on the dais without a November runoff as the 3rd District County Supervisor pulled 60 percent of the votes—despite the redistricting process moving democratic-leaning Isla Vista to the 2nd District and bringing more-moderate Lompoc into her district. Twenty-two percent of registered voters in the 3rd District have had their votes counted so far, with 11,611 ballots counted out of 51,275.
“I am honored to have received so much support from across the 3rd District. I look forward to continuing my work on behalf of Santa Barbara County residents. I believe voters recognized the progress I have made on things that matter—and there is still much work to be done!” Hartmann said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing my work on youth violence prevention and community healing, particularly in Lompoc, along with economic development strategies to prepare local residents for the job opportunities emerging in ag-tech, space launches, and the renewable energy sectors in the North County.”
Republican challenger and wealth management firm founder Frank Troise was almost 4,000 votes behind Hartmann carrying 24 percent of the votes counted, according to preliminary results. Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne came in third with 15 percent of the vote (1,655 votes).
“I ran to provide a different option than party politics as usual, so voters could voice their opinions, as well as share their dissatisfaction with the status quo,” Osborne told the Sun in a statement. “Despite the loss, I will continue to advocate for our communities in the areas most needed from the county: homelessness, mental and public health, economic development, and housing of all kinds.”
The 1st District supervisorial race remains tight as challenger and Carpinteria City Council Member Roy Lee, a registered Democrat, leads over incumbent Das Williams with just 637 votes separating them. According to preliminary results, Lee took 52 percent of the vote and Williams had 47.6 percent.
“We knocked on 15,000 doors and called thousands more folks and received much encouragement and support, but in this low turnout election we don’t yet know if most of those people voted” Williams told the Sun in a statement. “Regardless of how it turns out, I am thankful for the support [Santa Barbara] County voters have given me nine times and the chance to do some good in a darkening world.”
—Taylor O’Connor
This article appears in Mar 7-17, 2024.