Santa Barbara County counting ballots as candidates in tight races watch and wait

As candidates in tight races took a wait-and-see approach, Santa Barbara County elections officials signaled Wednesday that it could be days or even weeks before local results of Tuesday’s mid-term contests are finalized.

“We had a very large turnout, but everything went very smoothly at the polls,” said Preston Moore, candidate and voter services supervisor at the county Elections Division.

With a significant number of mail-in ballots dropped in ballot boxes or returned to polling places Tuesday, officials on Wednesday were working to estimate how many votes still needed to be counted, Moore said.

County officials planned to issue their next periodic vote count update on Thursday, with ongoing updates expected on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the tally is finalized.

Determining winners — particularly in tight races like the contests for Santa Barbara mayor or the Fifth District Santa Barbara County supervisor — and certifying the election could take nearly a month.

In Santa Barbara, Eric Friedman was leading Kristen Sneddon in the mayor’s race as of Tuesday afternoon. Friedman had 46.5% of the vote and Sneddon had 44.7 percent of the vote.

“I am cautiously optimistic,” said Friedman, who serves on the Santa Barbara City Council. “There are still some votes to be counted so until every vote is in, it’s wait and see.”

Sneddon expressed hope.

“I feel really good about the direction the nation is taking and have confidence the city will be in good hands with the incoming council,” said Sneddon, who’s also a council member. “There were so many volunteers who worked tirelessly on all these campaigns and I am very happy with the outcomes so far. Anytime we have a record turnout is a win for the city.”

In the closely watched Fifth District race, both candidates said they were patiently waiting and optimistic the North County vote will—eventually—swing in their favor.

“I’m excited to continue to hold this early lead,” said high school teacher Ricardo Valencia, who at last count led attorney Maribel Aguilera by 276 votes. “We ran on a platform that was honoring the needs of the community, so it doesn’t surprise me that we have the early lead.”

As of 1:48 a.m. Wednesday, Valencia had won 51.72% and Aguilera 47.72% of 6,897 ballots counted so far in the Fifth District. The county mailed 32,048 ballots to registered voters there. How many outstanding ballots remained uncounted was still undetermined.

Valencia, a Democrat who serves on the Santa Maria-Bonita school board, praised voters for turning out despite concerns over potential election interference.

“Despite the fear mongering, people throughout our county and our nation showed up for humanity and dignity,” he said.

Aguilera struck a similar tone.

“It’s a super close race. We knew that going in,” said Aguilera, a business and real estate lawyer who servers on the Santa Maria City Council and works as a court-appointed child advocate.

“I’m just super grateful to my supporters and all the voters,” said Aguilera, who despite a busy Election Night was back in court Wednesday morning. “We’re patiently waiting for the ballots to be counted.” 

– News-Press Editor Joshua Molina contributed to this report