Election update: Gibson, Ortiz-Legg and Paulding hold leads in SLO County supervisor races
After a new round of votes were counted Friday, San Luis Obispo County supervisors Bruce Gibson and Dawn Ortiz-Legg and Arroyo Grande City Councilman Jimmy Paulding continue to hold onto their leads in the county supervisor races.
The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office counted 5,749 ballots on Friday, bringing the total number of ballots tallied in the primary election so far to 45,526.
That leaves an estimated 42,800 ballots still to be counted, according to previous estimates by the Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
The ballots counted Friday included vote-by-mail ballots turned in on Tuesday, Election Day, or received by the office in the mail, as well as conditional ballots from those who registered to vote on Election Day.
With the latest results release, a number of local races, including those for the three supervisor seats up for grabs this election, stayed virtually unchanged from Tuesday’s results.
Here’s where those races now stand:
Bruce Gibson holds onto majority in District 2 supervisor race
In the closest race, for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors representing District 2, incumbent Bruce Gibson took an early lead over competitors Geoff Auslen and Bruce Jones on election night, and he held onto that lead as of Friday.
Including the latest round of results, Gibson had 53.2% of the vote, while Jones trailed with 16.9%, Auslen with 16.6% and John Whitworth with 13.3%.
If that trend continues and his numbers hold over 50%, Gibson would secure another term on the Board of Supervisors.
As of Friday, the SLO County Clerk-Recorder’s race had counted 9,266 ballots in District 2, bringing voter turnout in that district to roughly 25.2%. That number could change as more ballots are released.
Dawn Ortiz-Legg’s lead widens in District 3 supervisor race
Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg held an even stronger position in the competition for a partial-term seat representing the old District 3 as of Friday.
According to the latest results, Ortiz-Legg had 65.7% of the vote — putting her still well ahead of her opponents and making it likely that she will hold on to her seat. Her lead increased from Tuesday night, when she garnered 64.9% of votes counted.
Ortiz-Legg was followed by Stacy Korsgaden with 31.1% of the vote and Arnold Ruiz with 3.1%.
As of Friday, the Clerk-Recorder’s Office had counted 10,163 ballots in District 2, bringing voter turnout in that district to roughly 26.4%. That number could change as more ballots are released.
Jimmy Paulding ahead of Lynn Compton in District 4 supervisor race
Finally, in District 4, challenger Jimmy Paulding was still positioned Friday to unseat incumbent Supervisor Lynn Compton.
Paulding had a majority of the vote coming out of election night, and as of Friday, still maintained a double-digit lead over Compton — though that advantage narrowed slightly.
As of Friday, Paulding had 57.9% of the 11,527 votes cast in the District 4 election, compared with Compton’s 42.1%.
That’s a difference of 1,773 votes.
Voter turnout in District 4 was up to 28.8% as of Friday — one of the highest turnouts in the county. That number will likely increase as remaining ballots are counted.
How are other SLO County races going?
Meanwhile, a handful of other local races remained virtually unchanged from Tuesday night.
In the race for SLO County clerk-recorder, Elaina Cano continued her lead with 66.9% of the vote, followed by James Baugh with 18.1% and Stewart Jenkins with 15.1%.
For the Office 12 SLO County judgeship, Mike Frye led with 66.8% of the vote, well ahead of contender Paul Phillips’ 33.2%.
One partial-term seat on the Morro Bay City Council was also up for grabs in the primary, a seat that Jennifer Ford seemed to likely to win according to Friday’s results.
Ford held 60.3% of the vote as of Friday, while contender James Costanzo trailed behind with 39.6%.
Lastly, Oceano’s fire tax still seemed headed for failure. As of the Friday release, only 58.8% of voters had said “yes” to the tax, which requires a two-thirds approval.
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 5:45 PM.
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