More election results just dropped. See who is ahead in SLO County races
Election Day has come and gone in San Luis Obispo County, but at least two local races were still leaving us guessing as to who will take the winning spots in office.
In what’s turning into a nail-biter of a contest, the District 2 race flipped from Michael Erin Woody — the leader in the early returns — to Jim Dantona. The District 4 supervisor race, meanwhile, saw incumbent Jimmy Paulding widen his lead over challenger Adam Verdin.
Other races like the clerk-recorder’s face-off and who will appear on the General Election ballot in November for Congress and the state Assembly remained largely unchanged from Election Night results.
See a roundup of all the latest vote totals below. Note: These are still subject to change in the coming days as more vote-by-mail and conditional ballots are counted. The county has until July 2 to certify the election.
Dantona jumps ahead of Woody in tight race for District 2
Dantona jumped into the lead for District 2 San Luis Obispo County supervisor after the latest release of results Thursday afternoon.
With 8,332 ballots counted in the district, he led with 51.3% of the vote over Woody, who trailed with 48.7%.
The two were separated by 210 votes, almost completely reversing the 241-vote lead Woody had built up to Thursday.
“(I’m) feeling good about this update,” Dantona told The Tribune on Thursday after a “very nerve-racking” afternoon waiting for more results. “Obviously, we’re still optimistic and hopeful.”
The candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote captures the seat.
The two-candidate race is between Dantona, a local business leader and Democrat, and Woody, a Morro Bay engineer not affiliated with a political party. The contenders are vying to represent the county’s North Coast, includes communities from Los Osos to the Monterey County line.
At a primary night watch party at Niffy’s Merrimaker in Los Osos, Dantona told The Tribune there were still plenty of ballots to count after early returns had him trailing behind Woody.
“The first batch basically shows us even, so we’re gonna wait to see,” Dantona said Tuesday night. “Obviously people were holding their ballots for a long time, there’s a lot more to count, so it’ll be a long night.”
He pledged to protect democracy and ensure the county is working for residents if elected the next District 2 supervisor.
“We need to work on our budget here in the county to bring back the services that the community needs,” Dantona said.
Woody, who was hosting a primary night party at The Benedict in Morro Bay, said he was proud to run a clean, competitive campaign without resorting to any negativity or mudslinging.
“If we did nothing else tonight, even if this race doesn’t win, when it’s all said and done, we proved that point first and foremost,” he said Tuesday evening. “Now, if we can win the whole thing, then politics has changed for more than a generation here in San Luis Obispo County.”
If elected to the board, Woody said he would stand up against proposed offshore wind and battery plant projects and work to solve development issues on the North Coast.
“The long-term growth of this entire region is at stake here tonight,” he said.
On Thursday, he added: “Considering I was out-fundraised 15 to one and given absolutely no chance, to realize that there’s still only a couple hundred votes separating the two of us — I’m still over the moon about how this campaign has gone.”
The winning candidate will replace Supervisor Bruce Gibson, who announced last May that he would not seek reelection in 2026.
Paulding widens lead in District 4 against Verdin
Jimmy Paulding widened his lead in the race for District 4 San Luis Obispo County supervisor after the latest round of results was released Thursday afternoon.
With 10,334 votes counted, Paulding led with 54% of the vote over Adam Verdin, who trailed with 46%.
The race widened from earlier returns, with the two now separated by 818 votes.
The race is between Democrat Paulding, the one-term incumbent who is trying to keep his spot on the board, and Republican Verdin, a political newcomer and longtime local business owner, who is aiming to replace him as the District 4 supervisor.
The candidate who gets more than 50% of the vote wins the seat.
“(I’m) feeling very optimistic,” Paulding told The Tribune on Thursday. “It looks like good numbers.”
Verdin said Thursday that it’s still “very early,” and things could change to his advantage with many more ballots to count.
During a primary night party at his restaurant, Old Juan’s Cantina in Oceano, Verdin said he was optimistic about the race’s outcome.
“The night is young,” he told The Tribune on Tuesday. “These are the first results, and we anticipate that this is going to be a close race.”
While reflecting on his campaign Tuesday night, Verdin said his priorities remain laser-focused on problem-solving community needs, like getting Oceano’s fire station back and fixing traffic issues in Nipomo.
If elected District 4 supervisor, he pledged to get government back to the basics and use the board to benefit residents.
Paulding — who was at his own watch party at the Heritage House in Arroyo Grande — said he was “really excited” after the first results were released Tuesday night.
“I’m very optimistic,” he said. “I hope that things continue to trend in this direction.”
If re-elected to the supervisor seat, Paulding said he would continue to prioritize public safety, homelessness, mental health and water security initiatives. That looks like creating more safe routes to school in Oceano and Nipomo and studying different sites for a possible future desalinization project, he told The Tribune.
Clerk-recorder Elaina Cano grabs big lead in race for county’s top elections official
Elaina Cano held onto a sizable early lead in the race for San Luis Obispo County clerk-recorder as of Thursday’s results drop.
With 38,944 ballots counted, Cano led with 63.5% of the vote, followed by Vanessa Rozo with 25.9% and Gaea Powell with 10.6%.
Cano needs to top 50% of the vote to win the seat outright and prevent a runoff in November.
The clerk-recorder is the top elections official in SLO County, in charge of voter registration, coordinating poll workers, overseeing ballot tabulation and reporting race results.
The nonpartisan office is also in charge of county records and documents, including marriage licenses, birth and death certificates and property recordings.
Cano, the incumbent, has held the seat since 2021. She’s opposed by Rozo, a local business owner and paralegal from Grover Beach, and Powell, a former Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate who currently faces a trial for eight felony charges of election and voter fraud.
“There’s still a lot of ballots,” Cano told The Tribune midway through Election Night on Tuesday. “Again, we could probably have anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000, maybe. I don’t even know, ... anything can happen in that amount of time. For right now, for the here and now, I feel great.”
On Tuesday night, Rozo told The Tribune her campaign had been “an incredible journey” that wasn’t over yet.
“I’m still in there. There’s obviously still more ballots to count,” she said. “We’ll see how it runs its course.”
Regardless of the results, Rozo said it was a great “first attempt at campaigning,” and she appreciated all the support she received throughout the race.
Powell extended her congratulations to the incumbent and said she would keep pursuing transparency through the courts system.
“I will continue speaking on issues affecting families, parents and taxpayers,” she told The Tribune on Tuesday night. “Holding office was one way to serve the public. It is not the only way.”
Salud Carbajal, Jimmy Panetta advance in races for SLO County Congress seats
Two incumbent members of Congress representing San Luis Obispo County advanced to the General Election, vote tallies from Tuesday night showed.
Shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, the Associated Press reported Reps. Salud Carbajal and Jimmy Panetta had garnered enough votes to move on to November.
As of Thursday, the latest round of results from the Secretary of State’s Office showed Democrat Rep. Jimmy Panetta well ahead in the race for the 19th Congressional District seat with 58.3% of the vote, trailed by Republicans Peter Coe Verbica with 22.8% and Democrat Sean Dougherty with 9.2%.
They were followed by Republican Tuka Gafari with 6.6%, Ana Luz Acevedo-Cabrera (no party preference) with 1.5%, Libertarian Lars Mapstead with 1.2% and Tomas Coxe (no party preference) with 0.5%.
The crowded race contains six candidates who are vying to replace Panetta and represent the L-shaped district that runs from southern San Jose to northern SLO County.
If the margins hold, Panetta would face Verbica in November.
In San Luis Obispo County specifically, voters favored the incumbent as well, with Panetta bringing in 42.2% of the 15,050 votes cast in the race, followed by Verbica (34.4%), Gafari (16.1%), Dougherty (4%), Acevedo-Cabrera (1.3%), Lars Mapstead (1%) and Coxe (1%).
In the race for the 24th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Salud Carbajal surged ahead with 54% of the vote as of Thursday afternoon, after the latest release of results from the Secretary of State’s Office. Republican Bob Smith was next with 37.8%, followed by Democrat Sarah Bacon at 6.3% and Peace and Freedom candidate Helena Pasquarella at 1.9%.
If these margins hold, Smith would move on to face Carbajal in the General Election, attempting to beat an incumbent who’s held his seat for the past decade in a House district that spans from Cayucos south through Santa Barbara County and part of Ventura County.
As in District 19, San Luis Obispo County voters favored the incumbent here as well, with Carbajal bringing in 52.1% of the 28,214 local votes counted as of Thursday, followed by Smith (41.7%), Bacon (4.6%) and Pasquarella (1.7%).
On Tuesday night, Carbajal said in a statement he was “deeply honored to have earned the trust and support of Central Coast voters, and I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who cast a ballot, volunteered or shared their hopes for our community during this primary.”
“Now, we move forward to November together,” he said. “From SLO to Santa Barbara to Ventura, working families across the Central Coast are feeling the crushing pressure of rising costs. Donald Trump and the Republican Party have pushed disastrous policies, tariffs, and wars that made housing, groceries, gas, and healthcare far too expensive. I am determined to reverse those terrible policies and deliver commonsense solutions that actually help families. The work ahead is serious, but so is our resolve. I am ready to keep fighting for a future where everyone who works hard has a fair shot to get ahead.”
The top-two vote-getters in each district will advance to the general election in November.
Dawn Addis, Shannon Kessler ahead in race for SLO County’s main Assembly District
Dawn Addis was the top vote-getter in the race for San Luis Obispo County’s main State Assembly District after the latest release of vote totals on Thursday afternoon.
In second place was Republican Shannon Kessler with 37.7% of the vote and poised to advance to November if the margins hold.
After the most recent release of vote totals and 100% of precincts reporting, Addis, a Democrat, was well ahead in the race to see who will compete for the 30th Assembly District seat in November, with 53.7% of the vote, according to the California Secretary of State’s office. Trailing in third was Democrat Susannah Brown at 8.6%.
The top-two finishers will advance to the General Election in November.
Kessler is the founder of the local Save Girls Sports campaign, and Brown is the former chair of the South County Chambers of Commerce.
The eventual winner of the three-way race will represent portions of San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
In San Luis Obispo County specifically, Addis jumped ahead with 47.1% of the local vote, followed by Kessler with 46.4% and Brown with 6.5%.
Over in the race for California’s 37th Assembly District — which includes a small piece of southern SLO County — incumbent Gregg Hart was well ahead with 61.5% of the vote as of Thursday. His only challenger, Sari Domingues, was trailing with 38.5% of the vote.
Because there are only two candidates, both will advance to the General Election in November.
Domingues, a Republican and retired business analyst, is attempting to unseat Hart, a Democrat, who’s held the seat since he was first elected in 2022. The duo previously faced off in the 2024 General Election when Hart won with just over 60% of the vote.
Among San Luis Obispo County voters, Domingues was slightly ahead with 51.8% of the vote, while Hart was trailing with 48.2% of the local vote as of Thursday.
.jpg "Stacy Korsgaden Insurance Commissioner CandidateHeadshot 2026 (1).jpg")
SLO County agent is one of top vote-getters for CA insurance commissioner
A longtime San Luis Obispo County insurance agent who’s running to be California’s next insurance commissioner was sitting in third place for the statewide seat on Thursday.
Out of 11 candidates, Grover Beach resident and Republican Stacy Korsgaden had nabbed 17.1% of the vote and was closely trailing State Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat, who’s in second place with 19.4%.
Jane Kim, a Democrat and former San Francisco supervisor, is the current top-vote getter with 24.2% as of Thursday, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The top-two finishers will move on to the November election.
Korsgaden told The Tribune Wednesday that, “the race is not over yet, and we do see a path forward,” adding that she expected a better vote update on Friday.
The state insurance commissioner is in charge of regulating California’s property insurance market — the largest in the nation — including approving home and auto rate increases and upholding consumer protections.
The job has taken on more significance after several major insurers stopped issuing new homeowners policies in California following years of destructive wildfires, compounded by climate change.
Korsgaden has run an insurance agency in SLO County since 1988 and received a boost in the race when the California Republican Party endorsed her earlier this year.
If elected, she said her priorities would be to rebuild confidence in the state’s insurance market by promoting innovation and increased competition.
“Lowering the insurable risk is essential to lowering insurance costs,” she said in a news release. “I will restore competition so that carriers can compete for your business, expand affordable options, crack down on fraud, and bring accountability and common sense back to the Department of Insurance.”
The commissioner’s race is not the first time Korsgaden has run for public office. She narrowly lost a bid for the District 3 San Luis Obispo County supervisor seat in March 2020.
She also drew attention shortly after when she attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C.
At the time, she told The Tribune that she was “not ashamed of the fact” of her attendance and that it was a “peaceful and joyous” walk toward the Capitol. She said she went to the rally due to “election integrity” concerns.
Korsgaden said she was “mortified” and adamantly opposed to the violence that occurred, resulting in several deaths. She previously told The Tribune she did not witness any of the mob’s storming of the Capitol building.
On Tuesday, she said her third-place slot in the race was a sign that voters were seeking someone with expansive experience and understanding of the insurance market, especially in the face of dwindling coverage options and rising costs.
“I asked Californians to vote today for a competitive, functioning market: one that brings insurers back, expands choice, lowers premiums for working families and small businesses, and rewards real wildfire mitigation,” she said in a Tuesday release. “An insurable California is within reach.”
What happens next?
After Thursday, the elections office will continue to report results at least twice a week, Clausen said. The next release is scheduled for Monday evening.
According to a new state law, counties are required to have the bulk of all tabulation done by June 15, though provisional ballots and those needing signature cures will continue to be counted past that deadline.
Meanwhile, Cano said that voter turnout for the primary election continues to be lower than expected.
According to the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office, a total of 45,667 ballots had been counted as of Thursday. That represents a voter turnout rate of roughly 25.1% after 182,126 ballots were sent to registered voters.
However, that number will continue to change over the coming weeks as more vote-by-mail ballots are counted.
“We still have ballots that have been postmarked on or before election that will be coming in the mail today,” Cano told The Tribune on Wednesday. “Nevertheless, it still appears as though it will be a low turnout.”
Despite the lower-than-average turnout, Cano said the election had gone “very smoothly,” especially after the implementation of new tools — including e-pollbooks and a new vote-by-mail envelope scanner — helped speed up operations.
“We are seeing faster processing, better workflow coordination and overall smoother election administration,” she said in an email. “I’m very pleased with how everything is coming together and incredibly proud of the work our team has done.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 5:27 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)
