Clerk-recorder releases final SLO County election results. Here’s how the races ended up
The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office has released the final results of the Nov. 8 election, showing Bruce Gibson defeated Bruce Jones by 13 votes in the marquee race for District 2 supervisor.
Gibson won with 11,722 votes, or 50.03%, to Jones’ 11,709 votes, or 49.97%.
The final batch of ballots brings SLO County’s voter participation rate to 66% with 121,156 ballots cast out of 182,291 sent out, according to the Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
Here’s a look at the final totals for other races around SLO County.
Erica A. Stewart wins race for SLO mayor
SLO Mayor Erica A. Stewart finished with 70.8% of the vote in winning her race for a new term.
Her three challengers trailed far behind, with Richard Orcutt at 14.3%, Jeffrey Specht at 13.3% and Donald Hedrick at 1.7%.
Michelle Shoresman and Emily Francis won the two open SLO City Council seats, with 35.3% and 32.2% of the vote, respectively.
Joe Benson followed with 19.2% and James Papp with 13.3%.
Measure C-22 passes
San Luis Coastal Unified School District voters approved Measure C-22, a bond measure that will tack on $49 in property taxes per $100,000 of the assessed value of residents’ homes. The funding would be used to update school infrastructure, such as leaky roofs and outdated athletic facilities.
The measure passed with 63.1% in favor and 36.9% against, according to the final count. The measure needed 55% to succeed.
Carla Wixom wins Morro Bay mayor race
For the first time ever, Morro Bay elected an all-female City Council.
Business owner Carla Wixom won the mayor race with 59.2% of the vote, unseating incumbent John Headding, with 40.8%. Wixom won by 1,031 votes.
Meanwhile, Zara Landrum and Cyndee Edwards won the two open seats on Morro Bay City Council, picking up 25.1% and 21.5% of the vote, respectively.
Sarah Smith Robinson followed with 20.6%, Casey Cordes with 18.6% and Dave Duringer with 14.4%.
Edwards beat Robinson for the final City Council seat by only 88 votes.
Measure B-22, which would create a tax to fund harbor infrastructure improvements, suffered a resounding defeat, with 64.2% of voters against and only 35.8% in favor.
Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin wins another term
Mayor Steve Martin secured another term with 54.7% of the final vote total over challenger Michael Rivera with 45.3%, a difference of 994 votes.
Voters passed Measure F-22, which will raise the city’s transient occupancy tax in Paso Robles from 10% to 11%. According to the final count, 58.9% of voters said “yes” to the measure, while 41.1% voted against it. It needed a simple majority to pass.
Incumbents re-elected in Atascadero
Incumbents Heather Newsom and Susan Funk each won new four-year terms on the Atascadero City Council. Newsom won 43.8% of the vote, and Funk won 42.5%.
Bret Heinemann trailed with 13.7%.
Arroyo Grande Mayor Caren Ray Russom wins re-election
Arroyo Grande Mayor Caren Ray Russom will retain her seat after building a commanding lead over challengers Gaea Powell and Dale T. Hanson.
Russom secured 62.4% of the final vote, while Powell trailed behind at 27.5% and Hanson at 1-.1%.
James Robert Guthrie won the race for the District 4 City Council seat with 63.2% of the vote. Ben Franco had 36.8%.
Kathleen Secrest ran unchallenged for the District 1 seat.
Arroyo Grande voters rejected Measure D-22, which would have raised the city’s sales tax by 1 percentage point. According to the final count, 54.4% of voters opposed the measure, while 45.6% supported it.
Karen Bright wins Grover Beach mayor
Karen Bright won the Grover Beach mayor race with 52.7% of the vote, a 333-vote victory over Stacy Korsgaden, who took 47.3% of the vote.
Daniel Rushing won the District 2 City Council seat with 58.8% of the vote to Ron Arnoldsen’s 41.2%.
Reiss and Inman elected to Pismo Beach City Council
Mary Ann Reiss and Stacy Inman won the race for the two open seats with 27.5% and 24.0% of the vote, respectively.
Kevin Carl Kreowski trailed in third with 21.6%, followed by Erik Howell with 18.8% and Debora Ann Lossing with 8.1%.
Winners of key Cambria races
Debra Scott won the Cambria Community Services District director race with 40% of the vote, and Michael Thomas followed with 36.9%. Jim Bahringer trailed in third with 23.1%.
Cambria voters struck down Measure G-22, which would have raised $8.5 million from added property taxes to replace the aging headquarters of the Cambria Community Healthcare District. It needed a two-thirds vote to pass, but only 61.4% voted in favor while 38.6% opposed it.
Democrats win District 30 and 37 State Assembly races
Democrat Dawn Addis won her District 30 State Assembly seat by a margin of 60% to 40% over Republican Vicki Norhden.
Addis also led in SLO County, where she picked up 52.3% to Norhden’s 47.7%.
Democrat Gregg Hart won the District 37 race with 57.9% of the vote. Republican Mike Stoker garnered 42.1% of the vote.
Hart actually trailed in SLO County, however, with 43.3% of the vote to Stoker’s 56.7%.
Incumbents win District 19 and 24 congressional races
The final tallies in the congressional races showed Democratic Congressman Jimmy Panetta winning re-election to the District 19 seat with 68.7% of the votes, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office.
Republican Jeff Gorman followed with 31.3%.
In District 24, Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal finished with 60.5%, defeating Republican Brad Allen, who had 39.5%.
This story was originally published December 7, 2022 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Clerk-recorder releases final SLO County election results. Here’s how the races ended up."
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated that Michelle Shoresman garnered 32.3% of the vote in the San Luis Obispo City Council race. Shoresman actually won 35.3% of the vote. The error has been corrected.
