It looks like Santa Barbara council member Kristen Sneddon will become the city’s next mayor, according to the latest ballot count released Tuesday.
Sneddon expanded her lead and is now ahead of Eric Friedman by 579 votes. She has a total of 16,202 votes so far, compared to Friedman’s 15,623 votes.
Last week it seemed as though Friedman could take home the win. He was leading on election night and in updated results released Nov. 5.
Then everything changed on Tuesday, when Sneddon pulled ahead by 296 votes.
“I feel cautiously optimistic and am still going to wait for the final count,” Sneddon told Noozhawk minutes after hearing about Tuesday’s results.
On Thursday Friedman spoke to Noozhawk to share his thanks to Sneddon and mayoral candidate Wendy Sims-Moten for how they ran their campaigns.
“I thought both brought a tone to the campaign of focusing on the issues, and in the end, I have no regrets about running,” Friedman said.
He also had well wishes for Sneddon and the new councilmembers.
“I wish Kristen Snedden well as mayor and the new council members as they tackle some of the issues that are very important to us,” Friedman said. “I know they’re going to hit the ground running come January.”
Friedman also told Noozhawk that he was glad the race was over and that the city can move forward. He thanked his family and the community for the support during the race and said he appreciated being a part of a “spirited” and engaged campaign.
“It has been a real honor to serve in city government, on the city council and have all the accomplishments that we all had together,” Friedman said.
As of Thursday, Sneddon had 46.2% of the vote, Friedman had 44.6% of the vote, Sims-Moten had 6.4% of the vote, and candidate Matt Kilrain had 2.4% of the vote.
The Santa Barbara County Elections Office has about 3,500 unprocessed ballots left, and had counted 20,384 since the Tuesday update.
Santa Barbara city turnout for the mayor’s race was 68.8% so far, even higher than the countywide turnout of 62.9%, according to elections officials.
The county will release additional updates Tuesday by 3 p.m. as more ballots are counted. Final results must be certified by Dec. 3.
Updates on Supervisor and Council Races
Candidates and school bond supporters have been anxiously awaiting updates for close races.
Ricardo Valencia seemed to secure the Fifth District Supervisor seat, with a growing lead over Maribel Aguilera. He had 53.7% of the vote as of Thursday.
City Council races in Buellton and Lompoc remain too close to call.
In Buellton, Mark Williams continues to lead by 27 votes over Billy Silvola for the District 1 seat.
In Lompoc, Sharlameigne Segovia remains ahead of Victor Vega by 38 votes for the District 2 seat.
The $80-million bond for the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District, Measure D, looks set to pass with 56.3% of the vote. The bond needs 55% approval.
Noozhawk staff writer Rebecca Caraway contributed reporting to this story.
