New districts, 2 seats: Here’s who is running to represent SLO County in Congress
As voters gear up for the primary election on June 7, some San Luis Obispo County residents will find themselves in a new congressional district.
With the re-drawn district map, two Congress members will represent SLO County instead of one.
The 24th Congressional District used to include all of SLO County. The new boundaries, however, moved northern cities such as Paso Robles and Atascadero into the new District 19, while the rest of the county remains in District 24.
In June, the top two vote-getters for each seat will move on to the general election in November. In total, eight candidates are competing for two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Here’s who is on the ballot.
Who’s running for 19th Congressional District?
Four candidates are competing for a two-year seat to represent the new 19th Congressional District.
Jimmy Panetta currently represents District 20, which includes Monterey, San Benito and parts of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
This election, he’s running to represent the new District 19 — which covers northern parts of San Luis Obispo County including Cambria, Atascadero and Paso Robles, then moves north to pick up Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.
Also on the ballot are small business owner and conservative talk show host Jeff Gorman; community organizer Dalila Epperson and Monterey Bay Conservancy founder and CEO Douglas Deitch.
What about District 24?
District 24, which used to represent all of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and parts of Ventura County, shifted slightly south — giving parts of northern San Luis Obispo County to the new District 19. The rest of San Luis Obispo County remains in District 24.
Incumbent Salud Carbajal is running for a fourth two-year term in Congress.
Competing for his seat are Brad Allen, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and businessmen Jeff Frankenfield and Michele R. Weslander Quaid, who formerly worked for the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence Community and Google and now is an entrepreneur, educator and certified professional coach.
