Laird staffer to run for SLO County Board of Supervisors — but not when you think
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kara Woodruff filed candidacy for SLO County Board of Supervisors in 2028.
- She will remain on Sen. John Laird’s staff, reduce hours and avoid conflicts.
- Woodruff challenges District 3 incumbent Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg for a second time.
A staffer for state Sen. John Laird plans to run for office in San Luis Obispo County — but not when you would expect.
Kara Woodruff — Laird’s current district director and senior policy advisor — will run for the SLO County Board of Supervisors, challenging current District 3 Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg for her seat in 2028.
District 3 includes Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Shell Beach, Avila Beach, Edna Valley and part of San Luis Obispo.
The senate staffer said she will officially launch her campaign in July and will not be officially campaigning until then, but she has already filed her paperwork to run in 2028 and her campaign website is up and under construction. Ortiz-Legg will also run.
She also noted that she does not plan to leave Laird’s office any time soon.
“It is a joy and so rewarding to work for him, and I plan to stick with Senator Laird until he terms out,” which coincides with the starts of the District 3 term in January 2029, she told The Tribune in an email. She’ll reduce her work schedule for Laird’s office to “something less than full-time” during her campaign to avoid conflicts.
Who is the 2028 District 3 candidate?
Woodruff is a Cal Poly graduate and has been a resident of SLO for over 30 years.
Before joining Laird’s office in 2021, she was an environmental lawyer, a board member for El Camino Homeless Organization and a financial planner and chief compliance officer for a local investment firm for nearly two decades. She is also a mother of two daughters raised in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District.
As a lawyer and a conservationist for local land conservancies, she helped to preserve over 100,000 acres in SLO County.
“I love the Central Coast and San Luis Obispo County in particular,” Woodruff said. “I want to work to protect the things we love here — such as the small town feel, open space, quaint cities, beautiful coastlines, strong educational institutions, clean air and a welcoming, community spirit — while addressing the things that need improvement — such as the high cost of housing, aging infrastructure, homelessness, stressed transit systems, underfunded schools and the challenges that residents face in finding good healthcare, senior care and child care.”
Woodruff previously attempted to land a seat on the board in 2020 following the sudden death of former District 3 Supervisor Adam Hill. Both Woodruff and Ortiz-Legg applied for the open seat, and Gov. Newsom ultimately appointed Ortiz-Legg.
The primary election for the District 3 seat is on March 7, 2028.
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
