SLO County cast more ballots in 2020 election than ever before. Here are final results
San Luis Obispo County residents shattered election records this year, turning to vote in never-before-seen numbers.
On Wednesday, San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong announced the results of the 2020 local elections have all been certified and confirmed several new voter records.
According to Gong, 162,615 ballots were cast by the record-high 184,050 registered San Luis Obispo County voters in November.
That’s the most ballots ever cast in San Luis Obispo County history, Gong said.
The county also shattered its all-time voter turnout rate record with 88.35% of registered voters casting ballots. The previous record was 83.14% set in 2008.
Gong said this puts San Luis Obispo County among the top five counties for voter turnout in the entire state.
“I believe the additional efforts made to voter outreach and education helped move the needle on voter turnout,” Gong said in a news release.
The 2020 election also represented a monumental shift in the way people voted. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, California residents were all sent vote-by-mail ballots and encouraged to avoid in-person voting.
In San Luis Obispo County, 152,741 people voted by mail, or roughly 93.9% of voters. This was the highest number of vote-by-mail ballots ever cast in any local election.
According to Gong, only 9,874 people — about 6.1% of voters — cast their ballots in person.
“The 2020 presidential general election is one for the ages,” Gong said. “With unprecedented circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic, all voters in California were sent vote by mail ballots and fundamental changes were made to precinct operations to maintain a safe voting environment across the state.”
“Many other counties throughout the state suffered devastating wildfires and public safety power shutdowns,” he said. “With much political unrest throughout the nation, this election was among the most divisive and the most closely watched in the modern election era. Yet counties, large and small, performed admirably despite the challenges they faced.”
Gong also certified the results of all San Luis Obispo County elections on Wednesday, bringing an end to a number of very close races.
People will have until Monday at 5 p.m. to request a recount, Gong said.
Here is a roundup of the final election results.
Atascadero
Mayor Heather Moreno secured re-election with 7,347 votes, about 43.6% of ballots cast. Charles Bourbeau and Mark Dariz won the two open seats on the Atascadero City Council, with 6,862 and 6,170 votes, respectively.
Atascadero’s Measure D sales tax measure passed with 58.5% of the vote.
Grover Beach
Grover Beach Mayor Jeff Lee won re-election with 4,329 votes or 69.8% of the vote.
For City Council, Karen Bright and Anna Miller won the two open four-year seats with 29.9%% and 22.8% of the vote, respectively.
For the open two-year short term on the council, Robert Robert secured a narrow win over David Duringer.
According to the final results, Robert had 1,942 votes or 34.5%, compared with Duringer’s 1,889 votes (33.5%).
The city’s Measure F sales tax measure passed with 52.7% of the vote.
Morro Bay
Morro Bay Mayor John Headding narrowly secured a win with 3,476 votes or 50.8% of ballots.
Robert “Red” Davis and Laurel Barton won the two open city council seats with 27.6% and 26.7% of the vote, respectively.
Morro Bay’s Measure E sales tax measure passed with 58.5% of the vote.
Paso Robles
In Paso Robles’ District 4 election, Councilman Fred Strong easily secured his spot, with 61.6% of the vote, or 1,698 votes.
Paso’s Measure J sales tax measure passed with 56.6% of the vote.
Pismo Beach
Pismo Beach Mayor Ed Waage won re-election with 59.7% of the vote.
In the City Council race, Scott Newton secured a seat with 35.5% of the vote. Incumbent Marcia Guthrie narrowly defeated fellow council member Erik Howell for the final seat with 23.5% of the vote.
In the end, the two were separated by only 41 votes.
Pismo Beach’s Measure B transient occupancy tax passed easily with 80.8% of the vote.
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon won re-election with 52.3% of the vote.
Andrea “Andy” Pease and Jan Marx won seats on the City Council, with 23.4% and 19.4% of the final vote, respectively.
The city’s Measure G sales tax measure passed with 58.2% of the vote.
Community services districts
- Cambria: Harry Farmer, Karen A. Dean and Tom Gray won spots on the community services district’s board of directors.
- Ground Squirrel Hollow: Allen Duckworth, Kevin Mccamy and Scott Simons will join the CSD’s board of directors.
- Nipomo: Richard Eugene Malvarose and Bob Blair won spots on the CSD’s board of directors.
- Oceano: Linda Austin, Shirley D. Gibson and Cynthia Replogle will join the CSD’s board of directors.
- Templeton: Pamela Jardini, Navid Fardanesh and Debra J. Logan won spots on the CSD’s board of directors.
School bonds, districts
- Atascadero Unified School District: Mary Kay Mills, Terri E. Switzer and Corinne C. Kuhnle will join the district’s governing board. The district’s bond measure narrowly missed the 55% required to pass. As of the final results, it had 54.4% of the vote.
- Paso Robles Joint Unified School District: Dorian K. Baker, Chris Bausch, Jim Reed and Nathan Williams won seats on the district’s governing board.
- San Luis Coastal Unified School District: Kathryn Eisendrath Rogers and Eve Dobler-Drew will join the school district’s governing board.
- San Miguel Joint Unified District: Constantino Victor Delgado and Michael J. Sanders will join the school district’s board. Meanwhile, the school district’s bond measure narrowly obtained the 55% required to pass. As of the final results, 55.2% of voters in the district voted in favor of the bond measure.
- Shandon Joint Unified School District: Flint Speer won a seat on the school district’s board. Meanwhile, the school district’s bond measure easily passed with 62.6% of the vote.
- Templeton Unified School District: Nelson Yamagata, Ted Dubost and Mendi Swan won seats on the school district board.
- San Luis Obispo County Community College District: Mary T. Strobridge won a seat on the community college district board.
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