Kristen Sneddon has charged ahead and overtaken Eric Friedman in the race for Santa Barbara mayor, according to a Nov. 10 elections results drop released by the Santa Barbara County Elections Office.

Sneddon now has 296 more votes than Friedman, leading him by nearly 1 percent.

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Sneddon holds 45.95 percent of the votes, with Friedman trailing closely behind with 44.98 percent.

Sneddon and Friedman both serve on the Santa Barbara City Council. The latest election results came in the middle of Tuesday’s city council meeting. Mayor Randy Rowse called a recess after general public comment concluded for councilmembers to look at the results.

“I am obviously optimistic,” Sneddon told the News-Press during the council recess. “There are still votes to count. I really feel for all of us in the City of Santa Barbara having to wait and not know. I think we will need to wait a little bit longer. I do feel optimistic.”

Sneddon said that her son texted her the update during public comment.

The race still remains too close to call, with nearly 15% of ballots left to be counted countywide.

Friedman took an early lead in the mayoral race, with vote tallies on Election Night initially showing Friedman leading Sneddon by 1.8 points.

New election results will be available by Thursday, Nov. 12 by 3 p.m.

Julianna Lozada is a Santa Barbara-based reporter. She previously wrote for Southern California News Group as well as the Beverly Hills Courier and Santa Clarita Valley Proclaimer. She holds dual degrees from Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University.

Sofia Wallace is a Sara Miller McCune News-Press Summer Fellow and 2026 graduate of UC Berkeley where she reported for The Daily Californian, and majored in Media Studies with a minor in Journalism. She is a graduate of San Marcos High School.