The same winner emerged from a repeat race of four years ago for Santa Barbara County 3rd District supervisor.
Incumbent Joan Hartmann and challenger Bruce Porter faced off again after vying for the same position in 2016. That race led to a runoff in November—which Hartmann won—after both candidates failed to secure a majority of the votes in the June primary. But a second election doesn’t appear to be necessary this year based on unofficial results from the county.
As of March 4, Hartmann had secured about 52 percent of the vote compared to Porter’s roughly 36 percent, according to unofficial county results. The two other candidates in the race, Karen Jones and Jessica Alvarez Parfrey—who dropped out prior to the election—finished with 7 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
Porter gathered with friends and supporters at CHOMP Burgers, Fries, and Shakes in Solvang to watch the results slowly trickle in. When the county posted early voting results after 9 p.m., the contest was evenly spilt with only 39 votes separating Hartmann and Porter. At the time, Porter said he was content with the race extending into a runoff election in November. But as the results continued to roll in, the gap between the two candidates began to widen.
However, as of press time, Porter wasn’t conceding defeat just yet. His campaign released a statement on March 4 that said it’s too early to call the race because there are still mail-in and provisional ballots to be counted.
“With over 30,000 ballots still to be tallied countywide, it’s too soon to draw any definite conclusions from the current totals,” the statement reads. “The Porter for Supervisor campaign is looking forward to seeing the final results and is preparing for a lively general election in November.”
The morning after the election, Hartmann said she’s ready to move on from what she described as a difficult campaign, but acknowledged that she’ll feel better when the vote totals are officially certified.
If the results hold, she said she’s looking forward to a second term, during which she can continue pushing for priorities she advocated for throughout her first term, such as renewable energy and park improvements, as well as the needs of the various communities in her district.
“Our office is known for being highly responsive, so that’s something we take a lot of pride in,” Hartmann said.
Two other county supervisor races took place on March 3. First District Supervisor Das Williams secured another term after beating out Laura Capps, according to unofficial results.
Meanwhile, Bob Nelson ran unopposed for 4th District Supervisor. Nelson currently serves as 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam’s chief of staff, and he decided to run after Adam chose not to run for re-election.
This article appears in Mar 5-12, 2020.