SLO County supervisor candidate drops out of race for District 5 seat. Here’s why
A candidate had dropped out of the race to represent District 5 on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors.
Santa Margarita resident Erik Gorham withdrew his candidacy for District 5 supervisor to prevent further division in the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County, he told The Tribune on Friday.
District 5 includes Atascadero, Santa Margarita, Garden Farms, the Carrizo Plain and parts of Cal Poly and Templeton.
Gorham said he thought personal attacks between Republican candidates for a supervisor seat during the primary election last year divided the party — a rift that hasn’t yet fully healed, he added.
In June 2022, three Republicans — Atascadero business owner Geoff Auslen, U.S. Marine Corps veteran John Whitworth and retired orthopedic surgeon Bruce Jones — challenged incumbent Supervisor Bruce Gibson for the District 2 seat.
A slew of personal attacks, name-calling and a lukewarm endorsement leading up to the election left the party with some marked tension, said Gorham, who helped managed Jones’ campaign. Ultimately Gibson won the District 2 seat by 13 votes.
Gorham said this time around, he didn’t want to further divide the party by running against Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno, another conservative.
“It would be the same kind of battle between our own party,” he said. “I just didn’t want to play that out again where we’re fighting among ourselves for a supervisor.”
Now, Moreno and Mayor Pro-Tem Susan Funk will compete to replace current Supervisor Debbie Arnold on the board.
Why Gorham withdrew from District 5 race
When Gorham originally threw his hat in the ring for supervisor, he said he knew Moreno would gain support from conservatives in Atascadero.
However, Gorham said, he thought he could gain competitive support from more rural areas of the district such as Templeton and Santa Margarita.
Still, Moreno had a more competitive edge in the district, Gorham said.
“When it comes down to it, Atascadero is the biggest voting bloc in District 5, and Heather’s much more well known than I am in Atascadero,” Gorham said.
From Jan. 1 to June 30, Gorham raised only $6,500 — and the bulk of that funding was a $5,500 donation from Jones. Meanwhile, Moreno raised a total of $142,768.29 and Funk a total of $92,816.35.
Gorham said he decided two months ago that he would withdraw from the race, so he didn’t fundraise for his campaign after that point.
He would have announced his decision earlier, he said, but he “was letting a couple of things play out.”
Gorham will likely endorse Moreno after meeting with her to discuss her policy goals, he said.
“I think this election, through Heather, could probably mend a lot of fences” in the party, Gorham said.
Former supervisor candidate may run for Atascadero school board
Now that he’s out of the supervisor race, Gorham said he’s considering running for a seat on the board for the Atascadero Unified School District.
“I think the Atascadero school board actually is one of the few that’s been run fairly well and without controversy,” Gorham said.
Gorham’s priorities include improving test scores and encouraging parents to get involved in their students’ education.
“We have a lot of kids that are leaving high school, they’re leaving eighth grade, and they’re not very proficient,” Gorham said.
LGBTQ+ issues have been major topics of discussion for North County school boards this summer: The Templeton Unified School board has examined transgender students’ use of restroom and locker room facilities, while the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board looked at removing some student protections from district regulations.
However, Gorham said he felt the focus on LGBTQ+ issues has distracted school boards from basics such as “reading, writing and arithmetic.”
“This is our future. These are the people ... that are going to be paying into Social Security and taking care of us,” Gorham said. “I think we need a well-educated youth to move our country forward.”
