Heidi Harmon keeps SLO mayor seat, Andy Pease and Jan Marx lead race for council
With final unofficial election results in, incumbent San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon kept her seat by a large margin, while incumbent Councilwoman Andy Pease and former city mayor Jan Marx were ahead in the race for the two open seats on the City Council.
The latest numbers released at 11:13 p.m. Tuesday included mail-in and early-voting ballots cast in the weeks leading up to Election Day. They amount to 64.5% of the ballots sent to registered voters, 20,035 of 30,597 voters.
In the mayor’s race, Harmon led with 53.9% of the vote, followed by Cherisse Sweeney at 32.2%, Sandra Marshall at 12.2% and Don Hedrick at 1.5%.
“We believe we’re well on our way to victory and I am so proud to be called to serve as mayor of SLO once again,” Harmon wrote in an email to supporters Wednesday morning.
Harmon urged unity at a time when people may choose to take to social media to attack opposing viewpoints.
“As I see it, we have a choice right now: We can take to our phones and Facebook and maybe the streets...and tweet out hatred and some ugliness and easily, we can further the political divide,” Harmon wrote. “Or we could take the harder road, the one less traveled. The road of love, the road of compassion, of not leaving things unsaid. A journey where we are neighbors and friends first and Americans second. A path free from partisan politics where we come together to create a politics of belonging and a community of care.”
Pease called the election results “a confirmation that the council direction is where the community wants to go.”
“Voters are supporting the council’s policies on local business and economic recovery, climate action, housing, and diversity and inclusion,” she said late Tuesday.
If the current vote stands, the San Luis Obispo council would consist entirely of women.
SLO Council race results
In the San Luis Obispo council race, Pease led the pack of eight candidates with 24.6% of the vote for two open seats, followed by Marx with 20.5%.
Also in contention were Abrianna Torres with 16.8%, James Papp with 11.5%, Kelly Evans with 11.1% and Robin Wolf with 5.8%. Rounding out the field were Erik Long with 5.6% and Jeffery Specht with 4.1%.
The city’s proposed 1.5-cent sales tax increase, Measure G, looked likely to pass according to unofficial final returns, with 59.6% of voters voting yes compared to 40.4% of voters voting no.
“I think voters recognize this is an unprecedented moment with so much at stake in this election,” Harmon said. “We need critical thinking to address complex issues in a robust way. ... There are many people who are resistant to change and we’re not going back to a toxic nostalgia. We need to remember that white people stole from the Chumash and established the mission that we lift up as the centerpiece of the community.”
Harmon said that she wants to support measures that encourage a city, not just for the elite and white people, but people of a variety of social classes and races. She cited her hopes for establishing more opportunities for public land trusts that could provide housing for lower income people through partnerships with nonprofits.
Harmon also cited diversity and inclusion, homelessness, housing and climate action among her priorities, saying she hopes the community can come together amid deep divides and resistance to change. Harmon also wants to establish a police oversight commission.
“We’re at risk of allowing SLO to become irrelevant,” Harmon said. “We need younger people, we need working people and creative people .... We need to work to enable those types of people to be able to live here.”
Added Harmon, “We need to take a pause to figure out who we are, who we think we can be, and who we want to be ... Diversity is such an important issue because we’ll never become a tech hub or build our green economy without it.”
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Mayor, council candidates concede
Cherisse Sweeney, who ran as a nonpartisan candidate, issued a concession statement via email on Wednesday, saying she strove to build community “using principles, values, data, and facts to make informed and practical solutions.”
“A humble thank you for the outpouring of inspiring support,” Sweeney wrote. “Connecting with thousands of San Luis Obispo residents during this journey has revealed that change and intelligent conversations must continue to take place. The council has heard our message and we now must trust they will be as committed to guiding our city to a brighter future.”
Torres, who also ran as a nonpartisan candidate, wrote in an email that her campaign was a “tough battle.” But, she added, she feels she garnered the support of many San Luis Obispo residents in “an effort to rebuild and unite our community.”
“The fight has just begun,” Torres wrote. “We must continue to listen to our community, focus on creating practical solutions, and put an end to the divisive rhetoric once and for all.”
Papp said he was proud of running an issues-based campaign that focused on homeless, affordable housing, architectural preservation, and reducing city spending on top management.
“I realized that I needed $20,000 (in campaign donations) and two mailers to win,” Papp said. “..I realize that to win you need a lot of junk mail.”
Papp said he believes the city staff needs to be questioned more on its growth decisions, and the current City Council allows too much development without significant planning oversight. Papp said he plans to run again in two years.
“The current council approves whatever the city manager tells them too, and that’s a problem,” Papp said. “Debate within the council is needed.”
Race hotly contested
This year’s mayor and City Council races were among the more hotly contested in recent memory — marked by racial justice protests, small business challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic and affordable housing needs.
Four candidates are competing to serve a two-year term as San Luis Obispo mayor, and the San Luis Obispo council race has two open seats with a field of eight candidates vying for a four-year term.
Harmon narrowly won her first election to become mayor in 2016, beating incumbent Jan Marx by 47 votes. Harmon earned nearly 60% of the vote in 2018, topping challenger T. Keith Gurnee by an overwhelming margin.
This year’s candidates differed on their approaches to the sales tax measure, the city’s response to downtown business and homelessness and how best to address concerns around diversity and inclusion after a summer of unrest. The San Luis Obispo Police Department used tear gas against protesters on June 1 and arrested eight people after a controversial July 21 protest — five of them people of color.
This year’s race also saw differences in the candidates’ experience levels.
Marx, campus dean and professor of the San Luis Obispo College of Law, sought a return to the council after serving for 12 years, six of them on City Council and six as mayor.
“I’m happy so many people were willing to serve the public, and though only two of us can win, my hope is that people who don’t succeed in this election for council or mayor will try to work in the city on advisory bodies and not be discouraged,” Marx said. “There are many ways to help the city through this difficult time.”
Marx cited local economic sustainability, the city’s COVID-19 response and social justice among the key issues ahead for San Luis Obispo.
Pease, an architect focusing on green building, was running for a second term after first being elected to the council in 2016.
Pease cited COVID-19, climate action, diversity and inclusion and addressing homelessness as key priorities for the next four years.
“This election has been more partisan this time around than in the past,” Pease said. “Local policy often doesn’t fall along party lines. I can have philosophical differences with people in my own party when it comes to things like traffic and growth...I’m more hopeful that after the election we can put aside the national debate and come together to find common ground.”
Experienced politicians’ campaigns were challenged by newcomers including Torres, a business consultant and public safety advocate who raised the most donation money of the eight running and Evans, a 23-year-old progressive who earned the endorsement of the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Party.
Torres and Sweeney ran as nonpartisan candidates, backed by the Facebook group Take Back SLO that largely criticized the Black Lives Matter protest movement.
According to the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s website, the city of San Luis Obispo has 15,550 registered Democrats and 6,039 Republicans, with the rest split between other political parties and 7,148 who registered as nonpartisan.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
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