Federal, state and local election results

November 9, 2016

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Following a turbulent 2016 election cycle, Republican billionaire Donald Trump has been hired, and San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill has not been fired.

Trump, a political novice, defeated former secretary of state Hillary Clinton to win the presidency. Pundits are calling Trump’s victory a historic upset.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris, possibly a rising star in the Democratic Party, won the race for the United States Senate seat that Sen. Barbara Boxer is vacating. On the Central Coast, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal defeated Republican Justin Fareed to claim the U.S. House seat that is being vacated by Rep. Lois Capps.

At the state level, Sen. Bill Monning kept his seat in California’s upper legislative house. And in one the most heated local races, Republican Jordan Cunningham defeated Democrat Dawn Ortiz-Legg to claim a seat in the state Assembly even though she out spent him by more than $1 million.

In order to retained his District 3 seat on the board of supervisors, Hill defeated San Luis Obispo Councilman Dan Carpenter in a surprising landslide victory, 57-42. Carpenter had been backed by the impromptu “Fire Adam Hill” movement.

Political consultant John Peschong won the other supervisor race that went to a runoff. Peschong defeated Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin to claim the District 1 seat that Supervisor Frank Mecham is vacating.

San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx warded off a challenge from activist Heidi Harmon to capture a fourth mayoral term. Architect Andy Pease and businessman Aaron Gomez won city council seats in a race that did not include any incumbents.

In the highly anticipated Arroyo Grande council race, former councilwoman and county supervisor Caren Ray, and incumbent Councilwoman Kristen Barneich cruised to victory. Meanwhile, their political foe, Mayor Jim Hill, easily won reelection.

Incumbent mayors Tom O’Malley, John Shoals and Jamie Irons, too, won reelections in Atascadero, Grover Beach and Morro Bay respectively. In Pismo Beach, Councilman Ed Waage won the mayoral seat that Mayor Shelly Higginbotham is vacating.

In the remaining council races, incumbent Roberta Fonzi and former SLO finance director Charles Bourbeau won in Atascadero. Former mayor Debbie Peterson and incumbent Councilman Jeff Lee claimed the two Grover Beach council seats. In Morro Bay, Marlys McPherson and Robert “Red” Davis were the winners. Paso Robles voters reelected incumbent councilmen Steve Gregory and Fred Strong. In Pismo Beach, Marcia Guthrie claimed a council seat and incumbent Erik Howell won reelection.

San Luis Obispo County’s transportation tax, Measure J, received the support of 65 percent of voters. However, the initiative presumably failed because it did not clear the required two thirds voter approval threshold. Some ballots remain uncounted, though, and the result is not yet final.

Among the numerous statewide initiatives, California voters legalized marijuana and rejected a repeal of the death penalty. However, a competing initiative to speed up appeals of death sentences narrowly passed.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature gun control measure passed, as did a $2 a pack increase on cigarette taxes and an initiative that promotes the early release of “non-violent” felons. Additionally, voters approved an extension of a tax on personal income above $250,000, which is intended to fund schools and health care.

Californians rejected a measure that would have required porn actors to wear condoms. Voters also shot down a measure calling for statewide voter approval of bonds larger than $2 billion, as well as an initiative that would have barred the state from buying prescription drugs at prices higher than the amounts paid by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.

Lastly, a statewide measure with local ties passed with 64 percent of the vote. Former state sen. Sam Blakelee’s legislative transparency initiative will require the Legislature to publish the final text of a bill online at least 72 hours prior to formally approving it.

In the community services district races, several candidates are trailing by less than 16 votes leaving the race winners currently undetermined.

In Oceano, three newcomers — Linda Austin, James Coalwell and Andrew Brunet — are in line to pick up the three open seats. However, John Clemons is only 15 votes behind Brunet with some mail-in-ballots still to be counted.

In Cambria, the makeup of the board is also to be determined after further ballots are counted. Currently, the three incumbents — Amanda Rice, Greg Sanders and Gail Robinette — are slated to keep their seats. But environmentalist Harry Farmer is trailing Robinette by just 13 votes leaving the race currently undecided.

With less then 200 votes tallied in the California Valley, the two incumbents who have recently been under fire for allegedly violating campaign rules are trailing. Misty Lambert has four votes and Missy Marrone has 12 votes. Currently, Stephen McVivar leads with 24 votes, Rob Webb is in second place with 20 votes and Vedaa Joyce Link is in third place with 13 votes.