Election results: Atascadero City Council race couldn’t be much tighter. ‘It’s really close’
The three candidates vying for two seats on the Atascadero City Council were still in a dead heat early Wednesday morning, with only 3 percentage points separating them in the final release of Election Night results.
Business owner Seth Peek overtook the other two candidates as the front runner in the race, with incumbent Mark Dariz and planning commissioner Tori Keen right on his heels.
Peek led the race with 34% of the vote, while Dariz maintained his second-place spot with 33.9% of the vote. Keen dropped to third place with 32.1%, according to a ballot count report released at midnight with all precincts reporting.
“This is a very, very close race,” Peek told the Tribune Wednesday morning. “I think its really a testament to all three candidates, that we all did a good job.”
Peek started the night in third place, but when more ballots were counted, he swapped with Keen as the leader of the race.
“I’m pleased. I feel our campaign put in a lot of effort to reach a lot of our local residents,” he said. “My opponents Mark and Tori, we all had a pretty clean race, it was very polite and respectful and I really appreciate that.”
If elected, Peek said he will prioritize economic development, supporting local businesses and public safety.
He had a message for the voters: “Thanks for putting your trust in me,” he said. “I’ll do you good.”
According to the latest results, Peek and Dariz were separated by only 19 votes. Meanwhile, Dariz was ahead of Keen by 207 votes.
On Wednesday morning, Dariz said he felt “a little more comfortable” with the results, but he wasn’t ready to call the race just yet.
“I’ve lost one of these elections so far, so I don’t celebrate until its final,” he said. “There’s a lot of ballots left to count.”
If elected, Dariz said he plans to focus on economic development, the downtown enhancement project, public safety and building the long-awaited fire station. He thanked the voters for their support.
“We had a large turnout, so thanks to the voters for being interested and taking part in this,” Dariz said. “We need the voters to tell us what they want and need.”
With so many ballots left to count, Keen said she was remaining optimistic about the results on Wednesday morning.
“I think it’s still anyone’s game at this point,” she said. “I’m counting on my message of kindness, inclusion and cooperation to win out in the end.”
If elected, Keen said she plans to focus on communication, transparency and wants to instill cooperation, kindness and neighborliness into the City Council’s work.
“My plan is to really try and remind people that we’re all neighbors and that we can put aside the partisan politics and work together to continue to have Atascadero thrive,” she said on Tuesday night. “The current City Council has made really good progress, but there’s still a lot of division and I want to make it clear that I’ll talk to anybody. I’m here to serve the Atascadero community.”
She also thanked Atascadero voters for participating in the election.
“It’s these local races that make the most impact on their lives,” she said. “It’s local races like this that really show how every vote counts.”
Current City Councilmember Charles Bourbeau ran unopposed for mayor. He had 99% of the vote as of midnight, while 52 people voted for unresolved write-in candidates instead.
Meanwhile, 71% of voters supported Measure L-24, while almost 29% of voters opposed it.
The ballot measure aimed to extend a half-cent sales tax to provide $3 million annually to be used “for such things as repair of neighborhood roads, aging infrastructure along with other vital general government needs.”
As of midnight, 8,863 ballots had been counted in Atascadero, or around 43.5% of the registered voter population in the city.
The midnight ballot drop included 7,907 mail-in ballots received up to the weekend before Election Day and 956 ballots cast at the polls.
This story will be updated as more ballot counts are released. Check back to see the latest numbers.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 8:33 PM.
