Longtime incumbent Joe Holland had an easy win in the race for the Santa Barbara County clerk-recorder-assessor and registrar of voters seat Tuesday night, receiving 87.7 percent of the vote over auditor appraiser Donald “Baz” Ofiaeli in preliminary results. 

Semi-official election night results from the County Elections Office showed Holland with 87.7 percent of the vote and Ofiaeli with 12.1 percent. 

Holland has served as the county’s Clerk-Recorder-Assessor since 2002.

County District Attorney Joyce Dudley, Treasurer-Tax Collector Harry Hagen, and Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido all ran unopposed in the Tuesday election. 

Dudley and Hagen ran for re-election, and Salcido was running for the first time after being appointed to the post following Bill Cirone’s retirement.

Second District County Supervisor candidate Gregg Hart and Fifth District County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino also ran for office unopposed.   

In contested county races, Sheriff Bill Brown was on his way to re-election and Assistant Auditor-Controller Betsy Schaffer was ahead in the race for the open auditor-controller seat. 

Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.

State Assembly and Congressional primary races

First-term incumbent Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, dominated the primary race for the 37th District State Assembly seat, with 80.8 percent of the vote.

Three Democrats appeared on the primary election ballot, including Sofia Collin of Santa Barbara and David L. Norrdin from Ventura County.

Norrdin trailed behind in second with 9.7 percent of the vote and Collin received 6.6 percent.

Interestingly, an unusually high number of votes — almost 3 percent — were write-ins, presumably mainly from Republicans and others who did not want do vote for a Democrat.

Collin is a Santa Barbara City College tutor and associate property manager at SIMA Management Corp., and Norrdin is listed as a retail salesperson on the ballot. 

Limón was elected to the position in 2016, and previously served on the Santa Barbara Unified District School board of trustees.

District 37 includes most of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

In the the 35th State Assembly District, Republican incumbent Jordan Cunningham came in first in the primary in his re-election effort facing fellow San Luis Obispo County resident Bill Ostrander, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2016.

In Tuesday night totals, Cunningham had 56.1 percent of the vote and Ostrander had 43.9 percent of the vote. 

District 35 includes all of San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County, including the Santa Maria and Lompoc valleys.

The top two candidates in the 35th Assembly District and 37th Assembly District races will advance to November’s general election ballot, regardless of political party, due to California’s top-two primary system.

In the congressional primary race, incumbent Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, was the front-runner for the 24th District seat with 52.6 percent of the vote, according to Tuesday night election result totals. 

Republican candidate Justin Fareed of Santa Barbara came in second Tuesday with 36.9 percent of the vote, and Republican Michael Erin Woody of Morro Bay was third with 10.5 percent.  

For the Congressional district primary, the top two vote-getters move on to the general election in November.

The 24th District includes San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties and a small portion of Ventura County.

Local Measures

» Measure T, a proposed general tax on cannabis operations in unincorporated Santa Barbara County, was easily passing Tuesday night, according to the Santa Barbara County Elections Office.

With 97.4 percent of precincts reporting, 75.9 percent of voters voted “yes” and 24.1 percent voted “no.”

As a general tax, Measure T requires a majority of voter approval to pass, or 50 percent plus one vote.

Measure T revenue is expected to fund government purposes such as “law enforcement, health care, parks, roads and others,” with no end date, according to the abbreviated ballot measure text.

County officials estimate Measure T could bring in between $5 million and $25 million annually.

Voters were asked whether they wanted the county to impose an operations tax on marijuana operators’ gross receipts at 1 percent on nurseries and distributors, 3 percent on manufacturers, 4 percent on cultivators and 6 percent on retailers and microbusinesses.

» The Hope School District Measure S parcel tax, a $79 education parcel tax parcel that would continue for five years, was narrowly passing Tuesday night.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, 67.6 percent of voters voted “yes” and 32.4 percent voted “no.”

The measure requires approval by two-thirds of the Hope School District voters to pass, and would implement a $79-per-parcel tax for five years. 

According to the district, Measure S would generate about $360,000 to support academic excellence; maintain safe facilities; fund science, technology, engineering and math programs; protect art/music programs; and provide stable funding the state cannot eliminate. 

None of the money would be used on administrative salaries, pensions, or benefits, and an independent Citizens Oversight Committee would be established to oversee spending the parcel tax proceeds, according to the ballot language. 

» The Lompoc Unified School District Measure Q, a $79 million schools improvement bond paid off through property taxes, was failing to pass Tuesday night, according to the County Elections Office. 

With all precincts reporting, the numbers showed 50.3 percent of voters saying “yes” to the bond while 49.7 percent voted “no.”

The measure needs 55-percent approval to pass.

According to LUSD leaders, Measure Q is slated to fund replacement of leaky roofs; provide safety and security upgrades; update technology; provide fire and earthquake safety; and equip classrooms with 21st century learning materials.

According to the district, the money would not be used on administrative salaries or operating expenses.

The tax would be imposed on property owners at a rate of about 6 cents per $100 of assessed value until 2054, according to the district.

The measure establishes an independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee which would be required to perform annual financial audits of the bond proceeds.

» Measure R, a utility-user tax to fund the Isla Vista Community Services District operation, saw a huge victory on Tuesday.

As of 10 p.m., with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, 82.7 percent of voters voted “yes” and 17.2 percent voted “no.”

The measure requires a two-thirds majority vote, 66.67 percent, to pass.

Measure R would give the IVCSD authority to impose a utility user tax of 8 percent of the service charge for utilities of gas, water, electricity, sewer and garbage disposal.

The measure seeks to fund local improvements to parking, public safety, lightning and sidewalks; provide tenant mediation services; create a municipal advisory council; and operate community facilities and events. 

The measure is anticipated to generate approximately $642,000 annually until voters decide to end it.

The measure was placed on Tuesday’s ballot for the second time after the tax failed to pass in 2016.

— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

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