SLO County supervisor races clinched with latest ballot drop. See who won
One of the final rounds of election results was released Friday afternoon, with candidates clinching contests for San Luis Obispo County supervisor in District 2 and District 4.
Meanwhile, a tax to buy an old Los Osos elementary school had also passed following the latest vote results.
Other races like the clerk-recorder’s contest and who will appear on the General Election ballot in November for Congress and state Assembly seats have remained largely unchanged from Election Night, with winners decided.
As of Friday, the San Luis Obispo County elections office had processed 98,932 ballots. An estimated 1,826 unprocessed ballots still need to be tallied countywide, according to the latest ballot report, but there are not enough remaining to change the outcomes.
The deadline for county elections officials to certify election results is July 2.
Here’s a roundup of the most recent vote totals below.
Jim Dantona wins SLO County District 2 supervisor race
Dantona clinched the seat for District 2 San Luis Obispo County supervisor on Friday.
As of 3:38 p.m., with 17,337 votes cast in the race, Dantona led the race with 53.5% of the vote over Michael Erin Woody, who was trailing with 46.5% of the vote.
Woody had first surged ahead with 102 more votes than Dantona after the first report on Election Night. After all poll ballots were counted early Wednesday morning, Woody had widened his lead to 240 votes.
But the last seven vote releases have completely reversed that initial narrative.
By June 4, Dantona had surged ahead in the race by 210 votes, and on June 8, that margin grew to a 501-vote advantage. By June 12, the two candidates were separated by 1,176 votes.
As of Friday, Dantona had 1,219 more votes than his opponent.
“As long as these results hold, I’m very thankful and honored by the voters of the second district to be their representative,” Dantona told The Tribune. “I’m getting ready to roll my sleeves and start the work for all the people of the second district. There’s a lot of infrastructure services and budget challenges coming up that going to take a lot of work.”
“I do want to give credit and thanks to Michael Woody, for running a very strong campaign and putting himself out there,” Dantona added. “This is a really hard task, and takes courage, and he did that, and I’m thankful for him, because it led to a great conversation for the voters.”
Dantona will replace Supervisor Bruce Gibson, who announced last May that he would not seek reelection in 2026.
Jimmy Paulding reelected to District 4 supervisor seat
Paulding was elected to a second term on the SLO County Board of Supervisors.
The incumbent Democrat beat Republican challenger Adam Verdin for the District 4 seat, winning reelection by a margin of more than 1,400 votes as of Friday in the race for District 4 SLO County supervisor.
As of 3:38 p.m. Friday, with 20,957 votes counted in the race, Paulding led with 53.5% of the vote over Verdin, who trailed with 46.5%.
Paulding initially jumped ahead with 505 more votes than Verdin after the first report on Election Night. After all poll ballots were counted early the next morning, the race had narrowed slightly, with Paulding leading by 386 votes.
After the June 8 results update, Paulding’s lead grew to 1,115 votes. By June 12, Paulding had 1,415 more votes than his opponent.
On Friday, Paulding clinched the seat with 1,477 more votes than Verdin.
“I am deeply grateful to everyone who supported this campaign and to the voters who entrusted me with the opportunity to continue serving District 4,” Paulding told The Tribune in a statement. “It is a responsibility I do not take lightly.”
“With the campaign behind us, my focus is on the work ahead — working alongside residents, businesses, community organizations, and local leaders to build a stronger future for South County and all of San Luis Obispo County,” he said.
Clerk-recorder Elaina Cano reelected county’s top elections official
Elaina Cano maintained her substantial lead in the race for San Luis Obispo County clerk-recorder to win the seat outright.
As of Friday., Cano had captured 63.7% of the vote, followed by Vanessa Rozo with 26.6% and finally Gaea Powell with less than 10%.
Cano needed to top 50% of the vote to 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 was 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.
Los Osos ballot measure to purchase elementary school passes
A Los Osos ballot measure to create a tax to buy an old elementary school and transform it into a public park passed by over 500 votes after the latest release of vote totals Friday.
As of 3:38 p.m., “yes” votes for Measure B-26 were ahead with 54% of the vote, while “no” votes were trailing at 46% after 6,348 votes had been counted.
The measure had trailed at first, before the “yes” votes moved ahead in the count update released on June 8. The margin had grown to 464 votes by June 12.
After the most recent Friday release, the measure was passing by 514 votes.
The initiative will create a $15-per-month parcel tax to fund the purchase of the property of the former Sunnyside Elementary School site and turn it into a community park.
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.
As of Friday, the latest round of results from the Secretary of State’s Office continued to show Democrat Rep. Jimmy Panetta well ahead in the race for the 19th Congressional District seat with 58.5% of the vote overall and 42.9% of the vote in SLO County.
He was trailed by Republican Peter Coe Verbica with 20.5% of the overall vote and 32.5% in SLO County.
The two will face off in November to represent the L-shaped district that runs from southern San Jose to northern SLO County.
Democrat Sean Dougherty placed third with 11.5% (5% in SLO County), followed by Republican Tuka Gafari at 6.3% (16% of the vote in SLO County), Ana Luz Acevedo-Cabrera (no party preference) at 1.6% (1.3% in SLO County), Libertarian Lars Mapstead at 1.2% (1.2% in SLO County) and Thomas Coxe (no party preference) with 0.5% (1% in SLO County).
In the race for the 24th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Salud Carbajal remained the top vote-getter with 54.4% of the vote (53.8% in SLO County), trailed by Republican Bob Smith with 35.9 (38.2% in SLO County), Democrat Sarah Bacon at 7.4% (5.9% in SLO County) and Peace and Freedom candidate Helena Pasquarella at 2.3% (2% in SLO County).
Smith will 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.
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. Addis had 54.8% of the vote in District 30, 49.1% in SLO County, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.
She will compete against second-place candidate Republican Shannon Kessler, who had 35.9% of the overall vote and 43.4% in SLO County.
Trailing in third was Democrat Susannah Brown at 9.3% and 7.5% in SLO County.
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 California’s 37th Assembly District, which includes a small piece of southern SLO County along with Santa Barbara County, Gregg Hart maintained his large lead with 62.6% to challenger Sari Domingues’ 37.4%, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Domingues was outperforming Hart in SLO County, 52.8% to 47.1%.
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.
This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 10:13 AM.
