People packed the patio of Benchmark Eatery on State Street in Santa Barbara on the evening of June 7, all ages and styles of dress surrounded by drinks and food. “Salud Carbajal for Congress” signs leaned against walls and fences.
Occasionally, a pocket of attendees would burst into cheer at poll updates or as someone important entered into view, and by 9:30 p.m. hopeful Democratic Santa Barbara County supervisor and state Assembly member candidates were dotting the crowd: Monique Limón, Joan Hartmann, Das Williams, Janet Wolf—chatting up constituents and devouring oversized onion rings along with room-temperature calamari.
It was 10:22 p.m. when the Democratic Party of Santa Barbara County Chair Daraka Larimore-Hall announced the current poll results for the 24th District Congressional primary: Carbajal had received 32.2 percent of the vote, with Justin Fareed and Katcho Achadjian trailing significantly behind.
Carbajal made his way to the party about 10 minutes later and took the mic at the front of the patio to thank his constituents, volunteers, and opponents.
“I didn’t do this,” he said. “You did this. All of you who stepped in, day in and day out.”
He gave a nod to opponents Helene Schneider and Bill Ostrander, claiming he was a better candidate thanks to their races and acknowledging their shared viewpoints.
“We’re very encouraged,” Carbajal said of the reported results as of press time. “Things are looking good.”
While Carbajal celebrated a healthy lead in the polls during the late night hours of June 7, Justin Fareed was enjoying his own results at a primary party at the Endless Summer Cafe and Bar in Santa Barbara. Things were mildly jovial as Fareed was polling in second place, slightly ahead of Achadjian, a fellow Republican.
By 10:30 p.m., results from the California Secretary of State website showed Fareed edging Achadjian out 21.4 to 20.9 percent with 12.7 percent of the district reporting. Per California’s voting laws, only the top two vote-getters advance, regardless of party, earning the name “jungle primary.”
A former UCLA running back, Fareed compared it to the first quarter of a football game.
“I wasn’t supposed to have a chance in this election,” Fareed told the Sun.
Presuming he maintains his lead over Achadjian, the 28-year-old Fareed said he’ll continue to push ahead to earn the trust of voters, despite facing allegations in the news media over questionable campaign fundraising practices.
The Sun talked to Fareed about recent articles in the Sun, the Los Angeles Times, and Santa Barbara Independent questioning several aspects of his fundraising practices.
The Sun reported on May 26 that Fareed received heavy financial support from Los Angeles, including several maximum donations from two families and employees of their companies, both in the health care industry. Additional reporting by the Independent and the Los Angeles Times reported that 80 percent of Fareed’s campaign cash was coming from outside the 24th District and that some of the donors who gave maximum contributions didn’t know much about the candidate.
Fareed dismissed the allegations as coming from “political operatives” in the Democratic Party and “big party politics.” Not having served any political office, Fareed bills himself as an anti-establishment candidate.
“It’s a last minute attempt by political insiders in D.C. to push a narrative,” Fareed told the Sun. “They’re trying to pigeonhole me, and it’s not going to happen. It’s politics as usual, unfortunately.”
In San Luis Obispo County, Achadjian had a firm advantage over Fareed, but the district-wide story was different. Fareed’s lead on Achadjian surprised some, but Achadjian said he knew it would be a close race.
“We expected that to be the case,” Achadjian said at his election night party in the backyard of a supporter’s private Arroyo Grande residence. “With my full-time job as assemblyman, it was tough to get to everyone, especially the far 40 percent,” he said, referring to southern Santa Barbara County and the piece of Ventura County in the district.
Achadjian was the first candidate to become a target of negative campaigning and attack ads, drawing hits from Carbajal, the Democrats, and Political Action Committees aligned with the Democrats.
“We’ll see if the ads had an impact,” he said on election night. “We kept it clean; that’s how we always did it.”
While the congressional candidates gathered to watch the results for their race come in, what brought many voters out to the polls was the high profile presidential races.
“The presidential race was the first [priority],” said Cheryl Scollan, a 30-year SLO resident.
SLO County voter Michael Silva said the presidential primary is also what brought him out to the polls Tuesday, though he was aware of the congressional race taking place in his own backyard.
“On the presidential race I’m pretty informed,” Silva said. “With the congressional race, I did a little research.”
Sun staff writers David Minsky and Brenna Swanston and New Times staff writer Jono Kinkade contributed to this report. Email comments to the editor at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 9-16, 2016.