After grueling campaign, Devon Wardlow wins election in Santa Barbara City Council District 4

Devon Wardlow, a city planning commissioner and AI traffic company policy lead who battled scrutiny over her career on the campaign trail, was elected to the Santa Barbara City Council Tuesday night in a hard-fought and intensely competitive District 4 council race.

She defeated grassroots candidate Genevieve Taft-Vazquez, business owner Monte Wilson and attorney Jason Dominguez. 

“I’m really excited,” Wardlow said. “I’m excited about the whole nation. I mean, we’re seeing Democrats sweep the nation. It’s a really exciting night for everybody.”

Wardlow raised more money than any other council candidate in every race, reporting more than $84,000 in campaign contributions. She was the perceived frontrunner with the most endorsements in the race—including nods from the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, the Santa Barbara Independent, the Sierra Club and the Santa Barbara City Fire Department. 

Along with other Santa Barbara County Democratic Party-endorsed candidates, Wardlow celebrated her victory at Validation Ale.

As of 8:35 p.m., Wardlow had 51.9 percent of the vote. Monte Wilson had 25.4 percent and Taft-Vazquez had 13.8 percent.

Wardlow said the issues she will prioritize once she takes office are wildfire preparedness, moving forward with the State Street Master Plan and climate resiliency.

But she said one of the most poignant issues she heard throughout her campaign was how to make government work better for locals.

“It’s been an intense experience, and I’m really greatful for all the support,” Wardlow said about her campaign.

Wardlow grew up in Santa Barbara and graduated from Santa Barbara High School and UC Santa Barbara. She launched her public policy career at the nation’s capital as an intern and special assistant in the Obama administration following a program she pursued at Dartmouth College. 

She subsequently worked at Facebook and Lyft on public policy and later returned to Santa Barbara, where she transitioned to working as vice president of public affairs at a California cannabis company — a position that ruffled some feathers of local political groups.

Wardlow now serves as head of public policy at Obvio, an AI traffic safety technology company whose systems are designed to identify traffic violations. 

Wardlow has been a member of the city Planning Commission since 2018, where she has been a strong supporter for building housing.

Wilson, who fell short of winning District 4, watched election results at the Santa Barbara Public Market and said he wished Wardlow luck. He added that “she’ll have her hands full” on the City Council.

“I’m not surprised by it,” Wilson said after seeing the results. “We knew going into this that the Democratic Party endorsed candidate was hard to beat.”

Wardlow’s transition from the cannabis industry to traffic safety drew scrutiny from her competitor, Taft-Vazquez, as well as members of Santa Barbara Democratic Women. Her ambiguous response to questions over whether or not she was a “registered lobbyist” also drew criticism. 

“I’m focused on policy solutions, not discrediting other candidates,” Wardlow told the News-Press in response to the criticism. 

Taft-Vazquez, on the other hand, built her campaign as a neighborhood mom embedded in her community. She took a moderate stance on some of the city’s issues, including opposing the rent stabilization ordinance. She supported State Street’s closure to cars and building more housing downtown. 

She was born and raised in the Lower Riviera neighborhood of Santa Barbara, which is located in her district, and attended Yale University.

Her career spanned nearly 30 years of working in corporate sustainability, including almost 17 years at Coca-Cola. She returned to Santa Barbara in 2019. She lives in the Riviera neighborhood and serves on Santa Barbara’s neighborhood advisory council. 

Vazquez was in good spirits despite her third-place defeat.

“I feel like what we did in three months is what other candidates did in a year,” Taft-Vazquez said.