At long last, election season is over. Here are the results:
• Former Democratic governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown beat Republican businesswoman Meg Whitman for the governorship 53 percent to 41 percent. Santa Barbara County voters selected Brown over Whitman by a thin 48 to 46 percent.
• For the U.S. Senate, incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer beat out Republican challenger Carly Fiorina 52 to 42 percent. Again, the race was much closer in the county, with Boxer taking only a 2 percent lead over Fiorina, 48 to 46 percent.
• In Congress, incumbent Democrat Rep. Lois Capps held on to her 23rd District seat, walloping Republican challenger Tom Watson 57 to 38 percent. The vote went similarly in Santa Barbara County, with Capps taking 55 percent to Watson’s 40 percent. Of course, unchallenged incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy held on to his seat.
• In the 33rd District Assembly race, Republican businessman Katcho Achadjian triumphed with 57 percent of the vote over Santa Maria City Councilwoman and Democratic candidate Hilda Zacarias, who earned 37 percent. The numbers were similar in Santa Barbara County, with Achadjian winning out 59 to 34 percent.
• Statewide, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom beat out Santa Maria native Abel Maldonado for lieutenant governor with 50 percent to Maldonado’s 39 percent. However, Santa Barbara County voted for their homegrown politico over Newsom, 48 to 41 percent.
• Longtime Santa Maria City Council member Alice Patino retained her seat at the city’s helm. She’ll be accompanied by former Santa Barbara County supervisorial aide Jack Boysen—one of the Santa Maria Police Officers Association’s picks for the position. The association’s other endorsee, Terri Zuniga, came in at a distant fourth behind former Councilmember Marty Mariscal.
• Incumbents on the Lompoc City Council didn’t fare as well as Patino. In the mayoral race, John Linn beat out incumbent Cecilia Martner by a considerably large margin. And political newcomers Dirk Starbuck and Ashley Costa replaced former Mayor Mike Siminski and councilmember Ann Ruhge on the council.
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 4, 2010.