Former councilman Randy Rowse was ahead in the mayor’s race, and the three incumbent Santa Barbara City Council members were on their way to re-election, according to semi-official results from the Santa Barbara County Elections Office Tuesday night.
Kristen Sneddon was leading Barrett Reed for the District 4 seat, Eric Friedman will be re-elected to represent District 5 since he ran unopposed, and Meagan Harmon was well ahead of the field of four candidates for the District 6 seat.
The counts included 19,587 ballots, which is a 35.4% citywide turnout rate.
The Santa Barbara City Clerk’s Office later released information saying there are another 4,600 ballots that need to be processed and counted citywide, including ballots cast at Voter Services Centers and ballot drop-boxes. That would bring citywide turnout to 43%.
All voters can cast a ballot for mayor, but the district elections system means residents can only cast a vote for the City Council district in which they live.
The turnout varied by district: District 4 had a 45.2% turnout rate, District 5 had a 40.8% turnout rate, and District 6 had a 29.3% turnout rate so far.
Final results should be available by the end of Thursday, according to the county, which assists the city in its municipal elections.
Below are all of the semi-official election night results, which can also be viewed online here.
Santa Barbara Mayor
| Candidates for Santa Barbara Mayor | Votes | Percent of the Vote |
| Randy Rowse | 7,895 | 40.40% |
| James Joyce III | 5,072 | 25.96% |
| Cathy Murillo | 4,769 | 24.42% |
| Deborah Schwartz | 1,319 | 6.75% |
| Mark Whitehurst | 311 | 1.59% |
| Matt Kilrain | 131 | 0.67% |
| Write-in | 43 | 0.22% |
Santa Barbara City Council Member District 4
| Candidates for District 4 City Council | Votes | Percent of the Vote |
| Kristen Sneddon | 3,205 | 60.77% |
| Barrett Reed | 2,055 | 38.96% |
| Write-in | 14 | 0.27% |
Santa Barbara City Council Member District 5
| Candidate for District 5 City Council | Votes | Percent of the Vote |
| Eric Friedman | 2,715 | 96.00% |
| Write-in | 113 | 4% |
Santa Barbara City Council Member District 6
| Candidates for District 6 City Council | Votes | Percent of the Vote |
| Meagan Harmon | 1,325 | 52.94% |
| Nina Johnson | 850 | 33.96% |
| Jason Carlton | 243 | 9.71% |
| Zachary Pike | 75 | 3.00% |
| Write-in | 10 | 0.40% |
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.