Election 2024 is (almost) in the rearview. What were SLO County’s highs and lows? | Opinion
Finally, the agony — or ecstasy, depending on your point of view — of the 2024 election cycle is over.
It’s time to peel off those “I Voted” stickers and get back to life as we used to know it, but before we close the books on Election 2024, we invite you to join us in our traditional look back at the highlights, lowlights and in-between lights of the 2024 General Election in San Luis Obispo County and beyond.
One caveat: Results aren’t final yet, so figures could change.
Another caveat: For those taking a break from presidential politics, we’re avoiding the elephant in the room.
Participation trophy
We award one to each and every SLO County voter who waited until Election Day to register, which is the equivalent of mailing your taxes at 11:59 p.m. on April 14.
SLO County polling places saw a surge in the number of unregistered voters who turned up on Election Day to register and vote provisionally.
“Usually we have a few hundred,” County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano said. “I’m sure we’re in the thousands at this point.”
At Cal Poly, the number of unregistered voters was so high that additional provisional ballots had to be printed on site.
And yes, that’s all perfectly legal. California is one of 23 states that allow same-day voter registration. Two others — Alaska and Rhode Island — allow it for presidential elections.
Most annoying trend
Is it just us, or were the campaign texts even more obnoxious this time around?
They had us running to the phone every six seconds, only to find yet another breathless text warning us of what would happen if we didn’t immediately respond to a survey, add our name to a petition or a birthday card, or donate $5 or $25 or $50 to a candidate we had never even heard of before.
And it hasn’t stopped. They are STILL hounding us for money “to make sure every legal ballot is counted.” Will it never end?
Uncongeniality award: The Battle of the ‘Buenos’
Community Service District elections tend to be low-key, but that was not the case in Oceano.
A group called Save Oceano raised a few thousand bucks to support incumbents Shirley Gibson and Linda Austin over incumbent Charles Varni. They peppered the South County community with eye-catching signs that screamed “SAVE OCEANO” and “VARNI NO BUENO.”
Among other accusations, Save Oceano’s website accused Varni of “running off” two general managers and two law firms and of misunderstanding “OCSD’s powers and duties.”
The Varni camp responded by attaching a hand-lettered addendum to his far more modest signs: “MUY BUENO.”
That wasn’t enough. As of Friday’s ballot update, Linda Austin had 78% of the vote in her race against Angela Smith, the only non-incumbent in the race, and Gibson was 14 percentage points ahead of Varni.
Get out the head scratcher
Port San Luis Harbor Commission candidate Katie Lichtig had everything going for her, including a stellar resume (she’s a former San Luis Obispo city manager); more than $18,000 in campaign contributions; and a glowing recommendation from Jim Blecha, who is retiring after 40 years on the commission and hoped to see Lichtig succeed him.
Yet, Lichtig is getting trounced by fisherman Richard Scangarello, who had a 20% lead over Lichtig as of Friday.
Scangarello may be well known in the local fishing industry, but he’s far from a household name in the South County.
So what happened?
Could it have been something as simple as their ballot descriptions:
Lichtig: Retired city executive
Scangarello: Retired commercial fisherman
This is just a guess, but could Lichtig have come across as a fish out of water?
Smooth sailing ahead
Sales tax measures in four cities — Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles and Pismo Beach — were all easily passing as of Friday. Much of the revenue will go to road repair.
See ya later, potholes!
Biggest (local) disappointment: Grover Beach recall
Dan Rushing is a smart, conscientious councilmember, but (largely) because he voted to raise water rates, it’s looking like he will lose his seat — even though he later reversed his vote.
Worst performance by an incumbent
Eve Hinton somehow managed to win a seat on the San Luis Coastal school board four years ago, despite posting some far-right positions that just don’t fly in liberal SLO.
(Example: She shared a YouTube video on Facebook that promoted the Changed Movement, which encourages people to “overcome” their LGBTQ+ sexual orientation or gender identity through therapy and religious support.)
Hinton tried to distance herself from what she referred to as “past history,” but voters didn’t fall for it this time. Her opponent, Erica Flores Baltodano, is owning the race, with over 72% of the vote, according to updated results released Friday.
Worst performance by a newbie
Sorry, Hunter Breese, but this one’s for you.
We love to see young people run for office, but being 19 years old doesn’t automatically qualify you for office. Being cocky about your youth is even worse, but you had to go there at a candidates forum:
“One thing I have on all the other candidates up here is I’m not old,” you said. “You know, some of you might get a little upset with me, but you’re all a lot older than I am and, you know, I can really bring that new perspective.”
Ouch!
Your residency situation didn’t help much, either. It may have been perfectly legal, but it did raise suspicions when you moved into the home owned by the fiance of Trustee Kenny Enney, which happened to be located in the home district of Trustee Nathan Williams — someone Enney would love to see booted off the school board.
It didn’t help that you weren’t around your new home much, though you tried to explain that away by pointing out that 19-year-olds have lots of stuff to do and don’t hang around the house much.
Apparently, voters didn’t buy that. As of Friday, Williams led with 65% of the vote — the best showing by any of the eight Paso Robles school board candidates.
Gaea doesn’t live here anymore
Gaea Powell, who ran for mayor of Arroyo Grande, triggered an investigation when she filed her candidacy using an address in the city, while admitting that she lived outside the city limits. That’s apparently allowed under some weird loophole in Arroyo Grande’s city code. (Fix that please.)
Powell told The Tribune that she would figure out where to live after the election.
Well, the votes are mostly in, and it’s clear that Powell needn’t uproot herself. She trailed incumbent Mayor Caren Ray Russom by more than 30 percentage points as of Friday.
Whistleblower Award
It goes to SLO resident Gene Nelson, who reported that the drop box at the County Government Center was stuffed so full on Sunday night, Nov. 3, that someone could have reached in a hand and plucked out some envelopes.
“That certainly causes me concern because a bad actor could be stealing ballots,” he told The Trib.
Fair point — and something to keep in mind for the next election.
They clean up well
Amazing! The morning after the election, lots of campaign signs had already disappeared — including those shocking pink “Stop the School Board Takeover” signs supporting incumbents in the Lucia Mar Unified School District. (The message was effective; all three incumbents had comfortable leads as of election night.)
To those candidates who still have signs littering our landscapes: What are you waiting for?
To SLO County voters
Rest up. But don’t get too comfortable — the next election is less than two years away.