The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce Business Action Fund and the Santa Barbara Police Officers Association endorsed several people in contests across Santa Barbara County.
The two organizations backed Eric Friedman for Santa Barbara Mayor and Cevin Cathell District 5, Alexander Stoeber (District 6), and Monte Wilson (District 4), for City Council. The groups held a press conference Wednesday at the Chromatic Gate on Santa Barbara’s waterfront to make the announcement.
Kristen Miller, president and CEO of the Chamber said the two organizations endorsed the same people and decided to make the joint announcement together. She said the Chamber supports candidates who will champion the business community, economic development and “strong, common sense government.”
“This year, we worked with the Santa Barbara Barbara Police Officers Association to ensure that the candidates we are supporting also value police, first responders and particularly fiscal responsibility to ensure the police department can efficiently serve our community,”
Miller said.
The chamber and POA at the press conference also endorsed Luz Reyes-Martin (District 1) and James Kyriaco (District 2), who are running for re-election on the Goleta City Council. In Carpinteria, the two groups endorsed City Council incumbents Monica Solorzano (District 1), and Julia Mayer (District 3). They also endorsed Maribel Aguilera for the 5th District Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors seat.
“We believe these candidates will help the future of our community and support public safety in Santa Barbara in a positive and fiscally responsive way,” said Sgt. Adam Mick, president of the Police Officers Association.
Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County: The group last week announced that it could not reach a consensus for an endorsement in the Santa Barbara mayor’s race, and Districts 4 and 5.
“When the votes were counted, we didn’t reach the 60% supermajority our bylaws require in three races: Mayor, City Council District 4, and City Council District 5,” said Claudette Roehrig, president of Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County, in an email. “Our 60% threshold is intentionally a high bar—it works a bit like a filibuster. It’s there so that when we do put our name behind a candidate, it means something: real, broad consensus among our directors, not just a slim majority carrying the day.”
In the mayor’s race, Friedman is facing Kristen Sneddon and Wendy Sims-Moten.
“In each of these three races, more than one Democrat running for the same seat earned genuine, committed support on our Board,” Roehrig said. “Good people, thoughtfully argued for, split our vote — which is exactly what should happen when the field is this strong.”
She said the lack of consensus shows the “many good options Santa Barbara Democrats have this year. That’s a genuinely good problem to have.”
Roehrig ended her email with some real talk: “It is a problem, in a practical sense, when several strong Democrats run for the same seat. Splitting our vote among candidates who all deserve support can make it harder for any one of them to win outright, and that’s worth all of us thinking about as we get closer to November.
In District 6, the organization endorsed Gabe Escobedo, a member of the Santa Barbara Unified School Board.
Santa Barbara County Democratic Party: The official county party did not have the same internal struggle of its endorsed candidates. The party endorsed Sneddon for Mayor, Devon Wardlow in District 4, Ian Baucke in District 5, and Escobedo in District 6.
Christian Alonso on Santa Barbara Newsmakers: Jerry Roberts and the chair of the local Democratic Party, Alonso, engaged in deep conversation about the party’s power in local elections.
Among the notable conversation points: Democrats make up about 58% of registered voters and Republicans about 15%. Although local races are technically nonpartisan, voters tend to vote their party registration, particularly when the Dem Party mails slate cards, places literature on people’s doors and makes phone calls on behalf of their chosen candidates.
Alonso also notes that although the Election Day is officially Nov. 3, the real election day is Oct. 5, when Vote-by-Mail ballots go out, which is why the Democratic Party makes endorsements several months before the election.
