The early results for the three-way battle for the seat to represent the northern section of Santa Barbara County on the Board of Supervisors show Ricardo Valencia in the lead.

Valencia had 35.9% of the vote, with fewer than 250 votes separating him and candidates Maribel Aguilera-Hernandez and Cory Bantilan, according to County Elections Office results released following the closure of polls at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Aguilera-Hernandez was in second place with 33.5%, and Bantilan was third with 29.9%.

The initial results included 4,101 ballots, with more ballots to be processed and counted throughout the night. There are 31,650 registered voters in the district.

Aguilera-Hernandez is a Santa Maria City Council member and attorney; Valencia is a Santa Maria-Bonita School District board member and Santa Maria High School teacher; and Bantilan is current Supervisor Steve Lavagnino’s longtime chief of staff.

Additional tallies are expected to be released Tuesday night and in the coming weeks with official results to be certified by July 2.

If one candidate doesn’t receive more than 50% of the votes in the Tuesday election, the race will head to a November runoff election involving the top two candidates.

Whether a winner is declared in this week’s primary or November’s election, the new supervisor’s four-year term will begin in January. 

Lavagnino decided against seeking a fifth term as county supervisor, announcing in 2023 his intent to retire. His choice not to run again has set the stage for the first contested election for the seat since 2010.

Following the redistricting effort after the 2020 Census, the Fifth District now covers northern Santa Maria neighborhoods, the city of Guadalupe and the unincorporated community of Tanglewood. 

The district has 31,650 registered voters with 14,235 Democrats, 7,132 Republicans and 7,842 No Party Preference and approximately 2,200 people registered with other parties and categories.

While the Board of Supervisors is a nonpartisan role, Valencia has seen support from Democratic groups while Aguilera-Hernandez received support from Republicans — both outwardly and subtly. 

For instance, the Santa Barbara County Republican Party stopped short of openly supporting Aguilera-Hernandez, but the organization’s voting guide declared, “Do NOT vote for Ricardo Valencia or Cory Bantilan.”

The race to grab the Fifth District seat also has seen a significant amount of funds flow into both campaigns, with Valencia still having more than $102,000 remaining as of mid-May. 

Aguilera-Hernandez had $88,796 in her campaign coffers, while Bantilan ended with  $51,444, and donations continue to pour in for all three candidates.

Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story and other election results. 

The Santa Barbara County Elections Office will release additional election night results later Tuesday night, as staff process ballots received from polling places, mail and drop boxes. It will then release updates in the coming days as additional ballots are processed and counted. The county needs to certify the June 2 election results by July 2.