The Nov. 5 ballot will be loaded with local contests.
On the South Coast, City Council races in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria lead the ballot, as well as battles for school board seats.
This is the first year Santa Barbara City Council seats will be contested during a presidential election. The city had previously held its elections in odd years, but now the council and presidential races are in sync.
Expect drama.
In Santa Barbara incumbents Alejandra Gutierrez and Oscar Gutierrez will look to hold on to their seats in Districts 1 and 3, respectively.
Labor organizer Wendy Santamaria and community activist Cruzito Cruz will challenge Alejandra Gutierrez.
While Cruz has run several times for City Council in the past, Santamaria has gained early momentum in the District 1 race. She has endorsements from the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Community Action Fund, Santa Barbara Unified School Board Member Gabe Escobedo, and other current and former elected officials.
She has raised about $8,000 so far.
Gutierrez, according to her campaign contributions, is supported heavily by real estate interests, including $1,000 from Radius Commercial Group co-founder Steve Golis, $500 from Realtor Mitchell Stark and $500 from Westerly Real Estage Group.
Gutierrez has raised about $16,600 total so far in her bid for re-election. She also has secured support from attorney Jason Dominguez, whom she unseated when she ran for office for her first term.
Rent control, and whether the city should establish a 2% cap on the annual amount property owners could raise rents, are heated issues.
Santamaria supports rent control, but Gutierrez does not.
In District 3, martial arts instructor and black belt Tony Becerra is challenging incumbent Oscar Gutierrez, his former student.
Becerra is a household name on the Westside, having trained generations of families. Although he qualified for the ballot, he has not filed any fundraising statements yet. He also is supported by Golis.
Oscar Gutierrez grew up on Santa Barbara’s westside. He raised about $6,500 through June 30, the latest publicly reported filing period. His largest donations came from Tony Borgatello for $1,500, and $1,000 contributions from Greg Hunter and Kim La Grant Hunter. In July, Gutierrez told Noozhawk his numbers are up to about $15,700, with a $5,500 donation from NFL player Alex Mack, whom Gutierrez played football with at San Marcos High School.
Diego Sifuentes has pulled papers to run in District 3, but as of 6 p.m. Monday the county had not verified all of his signatures to qualify for the ballot.
(Update: Sifuentes did not qualify due to a lack of qualified signatures).
In District 2, incumbent Mike Jordan is running for re-election. He has raised $30,300 so far for his re-election bid.
Jordan has endorsements from a wide swath of the community, including gas station mogul John Price, who gave $2,000. Other contributions included $1,000 from Montecito resident John Sanford and $500 from John Campanella.
Jordan’s City Council colleague, Meagan Harmon, gave him $100, as did Gail Teton-Landis, former chair of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party.
A candidate named Terra Taylor has also qualified for the ballot, but very little information was available about the candidate as of press time.
Another candidate, Doug Weinstein, is also running, but the county had not yet verified his signatures to qualify for the ballot. Update: Weinstein did not qualify due to a lack of qualified signatures)
In Goleta, Mayor Paula Perotte faces a challenge from Goleta community activist Rich Foster.
In Goleta’s District 3, Legal Aid Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Smith is running against neighborhood activist Ethan Woodill for an open seat.
Smith has raised about $8,000, with a $2,500 contribution from William Smith, and an array of $250 contributions from individuals such as assemblyman Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara, Goleta City Councilman Kyle Richards, and $250 from First District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Das Williams.
In District 4, incumbent Stuart Kasdin is running for a third term. He faces a candidate named Eric Martin Gordon. Kasdin and Gordon did not report any financial contributions.
Perotte, Smith and Kasdin are all endorsed by the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party.
Perotte has raised about $7,000, with a $1,000 contribution from former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Susan Rose, and $500 from community activist Lee Heller.
Foster has raised about $2,150, with $1,700 from Stand Up Santa Barbara PAC, Elrawd MacLearn.
The deadline for candidates to file in Carpinteria is Wednesday. Check back with Noozhawk in the coming days for stories on the school board elections.