Elections chief Joseph Holland has confirmed his loss in the race for county clerk, recorder and assessor—and certified final tallies in local, state and federal contests up and down the Santa Barbara County June 2 primary ballot.
Challenger Melinda Greene, chief deputy clerk-recorder and CFO, won 60.22% of the vote to beat the incumbent Holland by 19,877 votes. Holland, who served for 24 years but hadn’t worked in the elections office for about 18 months, captured 39.48%.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” Greene said Monday. “I promise this community that I’m going to work hard and innovate.”
Valencia vs. Aguilera in Fifth District runoff
In the three-way race for Fifth District county supervisor, Santa Maria high school teacher and school board member Ricardo Valencia won 41.87%, surpassing Maribel Aguilera by 879 votes and Cory Bantilan by 1,253.
“I’m incredibly grateful, incredibly humbled to have earned the trust of voters,” Valencia said, adding he’ll continue to focus on boosting wages, increasing affordable housing, expanding childcare and challenging ICE detentions. “I’m looking forward to continuing to build on our momentum.”
Aguilera, an attorney and Santa Maria City Council member, took 31.15%. Bantilan, a top aide to Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, garnered 26.59%.
In a matchup that’s appeared likely since the early primary election results, Aguilera and Valencia will face each other in a runoff election in November. The winner will succeed Lavagnino, who’s retiring after more than 15 years in office.
“I’m super excited that we’re going to November,” Aguilera said. “I look forward to talking to the voters and getting them engaged.”
For Bantilan, it’ll be a little odd “watching it from the sidelines,” he said. “Whoever wins, I wish them luck.”
Capps in Second District landslide
In another prominent race called early the night of the primary, incumbent Second District Supervisor Laura Capps won 78.34%, handily beating challenger Elijah Mack, a graduating college student, by 13,922 votes. Mack got 21.35%.
In other results, challenger attorney Luis Esparza won 51.5% to beat Thomas Adams Jr. by 3,022 votes in a race for Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge. Adams took 48.2%.
In the city of Santa Barbara, Measure A won with 67.55% of the vote in support. The measure allows Santa Barbara to enter 99-year leases with its tenants, above the previous limit of 50 years.
In Lompoc, Measure B lost with 53.06% of the electorate in opposition. The measure would have created a half-cent special sales tax to raise about $3.8 million to fund street and road repairs.
Carbajal vs. Smith in Congressional runoff
In a race for the 24th Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Salud Carbajal won 54.77% to beat several challengers including Republican Bob Smith, who took second with 35.18%. Carbajal and Smith will compete in a November runoff.
In the 37th District State Assembly race, incumbent Gregg Hart won 63.69%, beating challenger Sari Domingues by 29,261 votes. Domingues won 35.95%.
Kyle Slattery won 51.72% to beat incumbent Betsy Schaffer by 3,525 votes in the race for county auditor-controller. Schaffer captured 47.93%.
Turnout up
Countywide, voters cast 111,710 ballots—a 44.63% turnout. While it initially appeared turnout might be low, the counting of 103,391 mail-in ballots, many of them after election day, boosted the percentage.
By comparison, 39.85% of eligible county voters participated in the last off-year California primary in June 2022.
