Heather Moreno, Charles Bourbeau re-elected in Atascadero as 2 battle for remaining seat
Heather Moreno has won a second term as Atascadero mayor, with Charles Bourbeau likely taking the top spot in the City Council race, according to final unofficial election results.
Mark Dariz and Tori Keen are neck-and-neck in the race for the second council seat, with Dariz narrowly in the lead.
Although the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office released final results on election night, some close races are subject to change as additional mail-in and provisional ballots are counted.
Atascadero residents also decisively approved a measure to raise the city’s sales tax rate by 1 cent. Measure D-20 won with 60.6% of the vote in favor and 39.4% against it.
Incumbents win mayoral, council races
Mayor Moreno faced two challengers — Jerry Tanimoto and Josh Donovan — in her second mayoral election. Moreno, a former councilwoman, ran unopposed to win her first term in 2018.
This year, she is poised to win with 43.4% of the vote. Tanimoto came in second with 35.4% of the vote, and Donovan trailed with 21.2%, according to unofficial election results.
“I’m grateful for the broad coalition of support that I received and am looking forward to building upon the success of the last two years,” Moreno said in a text message. “With the passage of D-20 and the update of our General Plan next year, we have a lot of work to do. I will bring our community together as we budget for investments in public safety, infrastructure, and other important services, and plan for Atascadero’s future.”
Incumbent Councilman Bourbeau appears to have won his bid for a second term representing the city. He was running against Keen, Dariz, Nicholas Mattson and Bret Heinemann.
Bourbeau won the most votes, taking 27.8% of ballots cast.
“I’m grateful,” Bourbeau said. “It looks like (voters) decided to give me another term. I’m gratified by that.”
Bourbeau said he’s looking forward to holding workshops and gathering public input on how to best use new sales tax funding.
“I need to keep focusing on economic development, particularly in the downtown area,” he said when asked about his priorities for the next four years.
A tight race for the second council seat
The race for the second seat is currently too close to call. Right now, Dariz is in second place with 24.5% of the vote, and Keen is close behind with 24.3%. Dariz and Keen are separated by 40 votes.
The other two candidates are trailing, with Mattson in fourth with 17.5% of the vote, and Heinemann in last place with 5.9%.
Both Dariz and Keen are waiting to see what happens as additional ballots are counted.
“I’m proud of the campaign I ran and am thankful and encouraged by all the support,” Keen said in a text message. “No matter who wins, I hope the council will work to represent the diverse views of Atascadero.”
Dariz said he knows the race is out of his hands, although he wants to remain confident about his current position.
“With only a 40 vote lead it can still go either way,” Dariz said in an email. “For now, I will just wait for the official results and accept the outcome, whatever it may be. A little bit of excitement makes it that much more memorable.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:39 PM.
