Vote counting is a tricky business. But only for those of us waiting to know what the results are.
You can be in the lead for almost a week, only to have your hopes dashed with the newly released vote counts. That happened in at least two of the races I’ve got my eye on this election cycle.
Santa Maria Airport District board member Michael B. Clayton was keeping his 4th Division seat until Nov. 10 around 2:30 p.m. Then, all of a sudden, he was losing.
Self-proclaimed “airport baby” Alejandro Arredondo snatched that lead away from the incumbent who believes Santa Maria’s airport could become an “international airport” one day. Arredondo had 126 more votes for that coveted airport district seat—an opportunity to turn the local airport into something with economic value!
Arredondo seems to have less of a grandiose approach to the airport’s potential. As someone who grew up at the airport in his family’s business ArtCraft Paint, he understands the business better than most.
He wondered, as we all wondered, why the airport didn’t attempt to maintain Santa Maria to Phoenix flights, which lasted only a few months.
“I know we can make this airport … the economical hub of Northern Santa Barbara County. And I still believe that very strongly,” he said.
He’s not alone in seeing the potential a local airport can provide. One only has to gaze north to San Luis Obispo County to see how an airport can become a driving regional economic force.
In Lompoc, Mayor Jim Mosby maintained his loss, even widening it with the most recent counts from around 1,300 to 2,000 votes. It looks like Jeremy Ball is very likely the city’s new fearless leader, and he’s got big plans! As long as the vote counts go his way.
Mayor will almost certainly go his way, unless there’s some crazy fluke and every single vote counted in the next two weeks goes to Mosby—which they won’t. What Ball has his eye on is the rest of the City Council dais.
“There’s a chance that we might be able to pick up not only my seat but Sarah Anne Read, who just won, and also Sharlameigne,” he said. “She’s only 25 votes behind Victor Vega, and they’re still counting.”
He said that Nov. 9. By Nov. 10 at 2:30 p.m., things had changed. Vega (who’s been in his 2nd District seat for what seems like forever) was losing to Sharlameigne Segovia by 12 votes. It’s tight over there in Lompoc. A real nail-biter, folks!
Read was trouncing Nick Gonzales in the 3rd District, a lead she maintained after the updated counts came out.
All three seats won for the liberal side of things would certainly change the way the council votes, and Ball’s counting on it!
“That would give us a little bit more opportunity to be specifically aggressive in some areas. If not, if Victor Vega wins, I think he’s a great person too. He’ll be just fine to work with, but we may have to temper a few of the things that we had in mind,” Ball said.
Do tell! He didn’t elaborate, but I’m all ears over here.
What, oh what will the next two years be like in Lompoc?
The Canary knows that only time will tell. Send some to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in November 12 – November 19, 2026.
