It takes a lot to surprise this old bird, but the midterm elections on Nov. 6 did just that.
Well, I wasn’t surprised by all of it.
I rightly predicted (“Political exhaustion,” Nov. 8) that Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) would send his challenger Justin Fareed home, again, and help shore up the Democratic Party majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Fareed played straight out of President Donald Trump‘s new Republican playbook throughout the race, spending most of his time talking about law enforcement and immigration. Then, sometimes, infrastructure.
You’d think Fareed would have checked the returns from 2016, when Santa Barbara County voters chose Hillary Clinton over Trump at about a 2-to-1 margin. Not only did Fareed lose by more votes in this county by the current tally, SLO County‘s early results show Fareed lost the popular vote by around the same margin he won there in 2016.
I don’t know which 24th District Fareed thought he was running in, but I think he needs a new idea of “Central Coast values” for his next race. Or maybe, instead of running for a touchdown, he could kick a field goal.
Fareed for school board, 2020!
The Dems taking the House and Carbajal’s boost is illustrative of that “Blue Wave” lefties and anti-Trumpers had been calling for all year. That wave, which some characterized as a “ripple” after Republicans won seats in the Senate, was expressed in local elections as well.
The Santa Maria City Council election was historic before it began because of the new district elections, which advocates argued would provide better representation in the city. While there’s still plenty of votes to be counted, the District 3 race saw young Latina candidate Gloria Soto pull ahead of incumbent Michael Moats. Moats hasn’t conceded, and I’m sure Soto is hoping her lead among Election Day voters will continue through to the final results in December.
This race is more like a football game you’d want to see, a nailbiter that could change at any moment.
And it looks like Lompoc saw at least one upset if the current projection holds: City Councilmember Jenelle Osborne appeared to beat out Councilmember Jim Mosby for the mayorship. Incumbents Victor Vega and Dirk Starbuck held their district seats comfortably, so the voting block of Mosby, Starbuck, and Vega will continue to be decisive in Lompoc.
Osborne and Mosby were running to fill the seat left by current Lompoc Mayor Bob Lingl, who is basically hanging up his finger guns out of frustration with Mosby, Vega, and Starbuck. They have all voted as a block against Lingl and Osborne, though she has joined the three in votes important to Lompoc’s constituents, like allowing the recreational cannabis industry into town. Well, now the council must appoint a new member to fill her seat, with no indication of who they might agree on to join the team.
So, will Osborne find common ground with Lompoc’s current council as mayor? Will Santa Maria’s Soto be able to make changes with the business-as-usual council’s help? Will Carbajal ever see a bill pass to the Senate?
Well, I won’t be shocked if the answer is “no” to any of those, but I have been surprised before.
The Canary can’t wait for all the final vote counts. Send your thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 15-22, 2018.