Luz Reyes-Martin and James Kyriaco are on their way to winning seats on the Goleta City Council.
Reyes-Martin was ahead of incumbent Roger Aceves in the race for a Goleta City Council seat in Tuesday night election results, garnering 56.0% of the vote.
“I am just filled with so much gratitude,” Reyes-Martin said to a jam-packed room of supporters at the Timbers Roadhouse restaurant Tuesday night. “I am just thrilled to have the opportunity to get to represent my neighborhood, my community on the Goleta City Council.”
She said she and her colleagues on the City Council are going to do some “great work.”
“We are going to continue to make sure Goleta continues to be a leader on climate change, a leader on so many issues we all care about,” Reyes-Martin said.
Kyriaco was equally enthusiastic about his lead in the District 2 race, with 57.8% of the vote compared to Sam Ramirez, who had 41.9% of the vote.
Kyriaco repeatedly said, “are you fired up?” while calling out the names of Democratic candidates.
He thanked his wife Angie, who has “been with me through thick and thin.”
“Goleta is a city that needs to shine for all of us,” said Kyriaco, an incumbent on the City Council. “And for 20 years, it has only shined for some of us. But that is something that is going to change with this council.”
He also cheered the passage of Measure B, the 1% sales tax that was heavily supported by voters.
Reyes-Martin waged a heavy duty campaign in her attempt to win the seat. She has raised about $60,000 and Aceves raised about $38,000.
Aceves, a retired police detective, was first elected to the City Council in 2006, and has served four terms. He’s a Democrat and has lived on the South Coast for more than 40 years.
On the City Council, he is mostly governs from the center, and stands on a board of Democrats that lean farther left. In his 16 years on the council, Aceves has never missed a meeting.
He’s a frequent face around Goleta, volunteering at the Goleta Train Depot during the holidays, and has served on the boards of the Pacific Pride Foundation, Old Spanish Days Fiesta, and is currently the board president of the United Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara County.
Reyes-Martin works as the vice president of community engagement for Planned Parenthood California Central Coast. She currently serves on the Goleta Union School Board.
She is a graduate of Stanford University and USC, with degrees in planning and public administration, Reyes Martin is also deeply involved in volunteer work in the community.
She has served as chair of the Sierra Club, as a board member for the CALM, Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, and as a volunteer bilingual public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management.
Kyriaco is a political veteran who earned his start as a consultant for then-Santa Barbara City Councilmen Brian Barnwell and Roger Horton. He worked as a field representative for then-Santa Barbara County Supervisor Janet Wolf and, most recently, as a human resources professional for Santa Barbara County and now the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network.
Kyriaco handpicked Sam Ramirez as his appointee to the Planning Commission and 18 months later, Ramirez decided to challenge Kyriaco for the council seat.
Ramirez is relatively new to the South Coast. He served two terms on the Delano City Council and now works for the City of Santa Barbara as an analyst.
His campaign was based around his independent political status and his plan to bring a Latino presence to represent the majority-Latino District 2, which stretches along the south side of Highway 101 from roughly South Patterson Avenue west through Old Town to Storke Road.
After polls closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, the County Elections Office released results for all the ballots that had already been received and counted. A semi-official tally was posted late Tuesday night.
Results will be updated again on Nov. 15, which is the deadline for vote-by-mail ballots to be delivered to the County Elections Office as long as the ballots are postmarked on or before Election Day.
The Santa Barbara County Elections Office will certify the Nov. 8 election results by Dec. 8.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
