Live election updates: See who is ahead in SLO County races
It’s Election Night in San Luis Obispo County and results in California’s primary election are expected to start rolling in after 8 p.m.
Registered voters had a chance to vote on legislative and congressional seats, county offices and supervisor races, as well as who should be the next governor of California.
In San Luis Obispo County, voters also weighed in on both the District 2 and District 4 supervisors races as well as the contentious clerk-recorder’s race.
Follow along with The Tribune for live updates as results are released throughout the night.
Dawn Addis jumps ahead in race for SLO County’s main Assembly District
Update, 8:50 p.m.:
Dawn Addis jumped ahead in the race for San Luis Obispo County’s main State Assembly District after the first release of vote totals on Tuesday night.
As of 8:06 p.m., after the first release of vote totals, Addis, a Democrat led the race for the 30th Assembly District seat with 51.7% of the vote, according to the California Secretary of State’s office. Republican Shannon Kessler was trailing with 40% of the vote, while Susannah Brown was at 8.3%.
Who’s ahead in SLO County races?
Update, 8 p.m.:
Several SLO County candidates took early leads in the first election results drop at 8 p.m., while others were running neck and neck.
According to the Clerk-Recorder’s Office, 32,400 ballots, or roughly 17.8% of registered voters, had been counted ahead of the polls closing at 8 p.m.
In the race for District 2 supervisor, Michael Erin Woody was slightly ahead with 50.9% of the 5,900 ballots counted as of 8 p.m., coming in just in front of Jim Dantona, who was close behind with 49.1% of the vote.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Paulding led in the race for District 4 San Luis Obispo County supervisor with 53.2% of the 7,801 votes counted in the initial return. Adam Verdin trailed behind with 46.8% of the vote in the early returns.
In the Clerk-Recorder race, Elaina Cano led the race with 63.6% of the 27,488 votes counted as of 8 p.m. Vanessa Rozo and Gaea Powell were trailing with 40.2% and 10.8% of the vote, respectively.
What races are on the primary election ballot?
A slew of statewide and local primary races appear on the primary ballot this June.
At the state level, voters will choose who should be California’s next governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, state controller, state superintendent of public instruction and insurance commissioner.
In San Luis Obispo County, two supervisor seats are up for grabs on Tuesday.
In District 2, Democrat and local business leader Jim Dantona is running against independent Morro Bay engineer Michael Erin Woody. The two candidates are vying to represent the North Coast and replace Bruce Gibson on the Board of Supervisors.
Over in District 4, the one-term incumbent Democrat Jimmy Paulding is facing Republican business owner Adam Verdin to represent the county’s southern coastal communities to far eastern areas.
Voters also will get to select the county’s top elections official. Elaina Cano, the incumbent, has held the seat since 2021. She’s running against Gaea Powell, a former Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate who currently faces a trial for eight felony charges of election and voter fraud, and Vanessa Rozo, a local business owner and paralegal from Grover Beach.
The 19th House District and 24th House District are also on the ballot, as well as the 30th and 37th Assembly District seats.
Candidates are running unopposed to be the county’s next superintendent of schools, assessor and auditor-controller.
How was Election Day going at the polls?
San Luis Obispo resident Dawn Turner volunteered as a poll worker at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Building on Tuesday morning.
The Monday Club adopted the poll, which means they provided the county with trained volunteers to operate the site.
Turner volunteered as a poll worker to give back to her community and to celebrate the legacy of suffragettes who fought for her right to vote, she said.
“There was a time when women couldn’t vote,” she said. “This is just a way to honor that and give back.”
On Monday at about 9 a.m., the polling place was rather quiet. A handful of people had stopped by to drop off their mail-in ballots, and even fewer people had voted in person, she said.
“I expect it to pick up some,” she said.
Meanwhile, the San Luis Obispo County Government Center was bustling with a bit more activity.
People drove by on their way to work to drop off mail-in ballots outside the building, and others went inside to cast a ballot in person, poll worker Camellia Pruett said.
Polling places were giving out “I Voted” stickers drawn by local elementary school students, and they were rather popular, she said.
San Luis Obispo resident Michelle Ritter-Taylor dropped off her ballot at the San Luis Obispo County Government Center on Tuesday morning.
“Everybody should vote,” she said. “It’s really the most important way that we have a say.”
How turnout looked for the 2026 Primary Election
Meanwhile, as of Monday, just over 25% of vote-by-mail ballots had been returned in SLO County, according to Erin Clausen, the public information officer for the Clerk-Recorder’s Office. The current statewide average of returned ballots is 16%.
Clausen said SLO County’s turnout rate is among the highest statewide, though it’s still relatively low at this point.
“Primaries typically have lower turnout, and it remains to be seen if voters here and elsewhere have been waiting to vote in this one,” she told The Tribune.
Vote results will start to be released at 8 p.m. with updates around every two hours until all poll ballots have been counted, Clausen said.
After that, the elections office will process the remaining mail-in and conditional ballots over the coming days, providing updates on the count until all the votes have been tallied.
The office has 30 days to certify the results, meaning the election will be finalized by July 2.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Live election updates: See who is ahead in SLO County races."
