SLO elects first all-female City Council in 144 years of city history
Voters in the city of San Luis Obispo have elected the first all-female City Council in the city’s history, officials confirmed Wednesday.
“I was able to go back to 1876” when San Luis Obispo first began holding elections, City Clerk Teresa Purrington said, “and yes this will be the first all-female City Council.”
According to Tuesday’s unofficial final election results, local voters re-elected San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon and San Luis Obispo City Council member Andrea “Andy” Pease, and returned candidate Jan Marx to a council seat. Marx previously served 12 years on the council — six as mayor and six as a council member.
“I think it’s pretty neat,” Pease said. “That being said, it should not be surprising. I think we had a strong group of women running in this election and two strong (incumbents) currently on council.”
As of 11:13 p.m. Tuesday, Harmon dominated the mayoral race with 53.9% of the vote, followed by Cherisse Sweeney at 32.2%, Sandra Marshall at 12.2% and Don Hedrick at 1.5%.
The council race of eight was led by Pease with 24.6%, followed by Marx with 20.5%.
The frontrunners were trailed by 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%.
Erica Stewart and Carlyn Christianson currently sit on the City Council. Stewart became the first Black council member in San Luis Obispo when she was elected in 2018.
Councilman Aaron Gomez opted not to seek re-election after serving a four-year term that started in 2016 and ends in December. Gomez is the only male representative on the current council.
Past councils always have included male representatives, including Dan Rivoire, John Ashbaugh, Dan Carpenter, Paul Brown, Dave Romero and Allen Settle in more recent years.
Harmon has been an outspoken advocate for women during her time on the council.
“This is a moment in history where we need the feminine in positions of leadership more than ever and I’m proud to be leading the first all-female council in the history of this city,” Harmon told The Tribune on Wednesday.
She’s known for wearing a rose as a symbol of femininity.
“I’m really excited about and interested in what might happen if we have more people coming from a feminine perspective in positions of power — be that politics, business or any aspect of life,” Harmon told The Tribune in 2018. “The rose in many ways is a symbol of not shying away or apologizing for that feminine perspective.”
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