Jordan Cunningham holds narrow lead over Dawn Addis in race for SLO County Assembly seat
READ MORE
Fact checks on the Cunningham-Addis Assembly race
Tribune reporter Matt Fountain fact-checked three claims made in the race for San Luis Obispo County’s state Assembly seat.
Expand All
In the election for the Central Coast’s state Assembly seat, incumbent Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham is maintaining a 4-point lead over challenger Dawn Addis.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, Cunningham had 52% of the vote to Addis’ 48%, including mail-in votes and with all precincts partially reporting, according the California Secretary of State reports.
Cunningham, a Templeton attorney and former county prosecutor, is seeking a third term and is being challenged in the closely contested race by Morro Bay City Councilwoman Addis, who is a co-founder of the San Luis Obispo Women’s March.
Cunningham released a statement at about 8:20 p.m Tuesday: “This election — like all of 2020 — has been unprecedented. Given the impacts COVID-19 has had on the electoral process, and the major changes in how and when people are casting their ballots, it is likely impossible to determine the winner of this race tonight. I am proud of the race we’ve run, and look forward to seeing the results once both county clerks are finished counting all the ballots.”
Addis released a statement at about 10 p.m. Tuesday: “I have been a public school teacher for 20 years, and I decided to run for State Assembly because Central Coast residents deserve an Assemblymember who fights every day to make their lives better. It is still too early to know who has won this race yet, as there are many ballots left to count. I am so happy to see that Central Coast voters participated in record numbers this year.”
She continued: There has never been an election like this, and the record turnout in our community speaks to the resilience of Central Coast residents and their commitment to democracy. I am so grateful to our poll workers and public servants whose efforts made this historic election possible. In particular I want to thank the frontline workers, nurses, and medical personnel who are still fighting for the health of our communities. We will be updating everyone as the results continue to be released by email and on Facebook at Facebook.com/addis4assembly.”
The 35th Assembly District, which has been represented by Cunningham for almost four years, encompasses all of San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County.
The race generated more than $1.3 million in campaign donations and was one of the most visible in local advertising.
As of the most recent voter registration demographics, the district’s registered voters were comprised of 37.5% Democrats, 34.1% Republicans, and 21.6% no party preference voters.
Results from 17th State Senate District
In the race for the 17th State Senate District, Democrat John Laird of Santa Cruz, the state’s former natural resources secretary, is headed to a solid win over Republican opponent and Carmel businesswoman Vicki Nohrden, 68% to 32%, with mail-in votes and all precincts partially reporting.
The district has been represented by termed-out Sen. Bill Monning, a Democrat, since 2012. It encompasses all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties, as well as portions of Monterey and Santa Clara counties.
According to voter registration statistics, the district is strongly blue, with Democrats making up 47.8% of voters. Republicans comprise 23.8% of the district, and 22.4% are no party preference voters.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:39 PM.
