Incumbent Joan Hartmann made an impressive showing Tuesday night in the race for the Third District seat on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, garnering enough votes that it appears she will avoid a fall runoff.

With all precincts reporting, Hartmann had 60.4% of the vote, while Frank Troise, a Santa Ynez Valley businessman and financial expert, received 24.2%.

Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne picked up 15.1%.

Hartmann needed just 50% plus one vote in Tuesday’s primary to win re-election outright.

Otherwise, she would have faced the second-place finisher a runoff in the November General Election.

Hartmann was seeking her third 4-year term in office.

The redistricting of the Third District eliminated about 10,000 Isla Vista voters, many of whom are left-leaning, raising questions about whether Hartmann, a Democrat, could easily win re-election.

“I am a Democrat and we are Democrats but I walked every door, I talked to anybody who would be willing to talk to me. I didn’t want to seed the Republican vote. Most of these issues are not partisan. What they want is for us to be responsive,” Hartmann said.

She gave a brief speech to supporters at the Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County election watch party at The Leta Hotel in Goleta Tuesday night.

“We’ve been at this for two years, and it paid off, and we’re so excited,” Hartmann said. “And that was our big challenge. Could we manage this redistricting Third District and keep it blue and keep the balance of the board the way that it is?”

Troise, a Republican, had struggled to raise campaign money and overcome a lack of name recognition.

Osborne, a registered independent, jumped into the contest late, and positioned herself as a moderate candidate. Her campaign candidacy surprised Hartmann.

The Third District traditionally has been a swing seat on the Board of Supervisors, which tends to break between more liberal South Coast members and more conservative North County members.

There is a total of 51,275 registered voters in the Third District.

Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.