Holly Sierra
Mayor Holly Sierra looks to be tapped to serve a third and final two-year term as Buellton’s mayor. In early results, she led the race with 1,193 votes, or 60.37% over challengers Ed Andrisek at 583 votes, or 29.50%, and Isaac Oltmans at 190 votes, or 9.62%.
“Fingers crossed, toes crossed,” Sierra said Tuesday evening as the first wave of results including mail-in ballots and one of two precincts came in.
“I would be so excited to serve again. I’ve got two very qualified opponents and I’m hoping that I edge them out and I have two more years before my term expires,” Sierra said.
Sierra was first elected to the council in 2008 and appointed mayor in 2010 before the city had an elected mayor. Under her watch, that position became an elected seat with a three-term limit. If she wins the 2020 election, this would be her third and therefore final term.
“This is it for me. We’ve got districting coming up. We have a lot of things going on in Buellton. I would be so excited to be able to be a part of it,” Sierra said.
Sitting Councilman John Sanchez at 983 votes, or 32.4%, and Elysia Lewis at 890 votes, or 29.01%, led the early results for two available council seats with incumbent Art Mercado at 780 votes, or 25.42%, and Joseph Carter at 409 votes, or 13.33%, trailing.
Council member David King’s term does not expire until 2022.
Early election results showed Charlie Uhrig gaining steam over Karen Waite in the race for Solvang mayor, with Mark Infanti, Claudia Orona and Justin Rodriguez leading in the race for two open council seats.
Andrisek, also a sitting council member, would remain to fulfill his term should he not unseat Sierra.
This was Lewis’s second run for a council seat. Her campaign called for building community relations between the city and its resident as well as building a stronger sense of community throughout Buellton. She campaigned on metering growth while providing workforce housing, developing pedestrian-friendly routes, specifically for seniors and children, throughout the city, and leveraging partnerships with schools, the recreation department, senior center, neighboring cities and Santa Barbara County.
She would also like to see the city “form committees that engage people of all walks of life in our community.”
Sanchez, who has lived in Buellton since 1980 and worked for the city from 1982 to 2018, wanted to keep his finger on the pulse of the city. He also serves on the Buellton Arts and Culture Committee and Library Committee.
He would like to remain on the council to “keep the ball rolling” on several key projects, including a $24 million Avenue of Flags project, working with Caltrans on traffic issues, supporting the business community as downtown is improved, and maintaining Santa Ynez Valley as a tourist destination.
Election 2020: Results stories, photos and profiles from local races
We will be updating our results page throughout Election Night and until the votes are made official. Go through this collection of our stories covering the local city council, mayoral and school board races.
None of the winners in Santa Barbara County races changed in the first update of unofficial results since the Nov. 3 general election, but the…
Some of the numbers changed a little, but the unofficial results remained the same in the most closely watched races after Santa Barbara and S…
A record voter turnout in Santa Barbara County didn’t lead to any glitches in the vote tabulation equipment and software nor in reporting resu…
Tuesday's vote followed a heated recall effort instigated by citizens, who among other things, claimed Djernaes disregarded the Ralph M. Brown…
Santa Barbara Democrat Salud Carbajal appears to be on his way back to Congress as California’s 24th District representative after garnering a…
Suzanne Levy is set to become Hancock College's new Area 2 trustee, with Area 4 incumbent Jeffery Hall also maintaining the necessary lead to …
Carlos Escobedo will be the first District 1 representative on the Santa Maria City Council after gaining the lead in a four-person race, with…
As results trickled in, Escobedo was chased by challenger Osvaldo Sotelo, who garnered 1,046 votes for 33.34%. Challenger Brian Billones gathe…
Democratic incumbent Salud Carbajal is leading Republican challenger Andy Caldwell in the race for the 24th Congressional District seat, accor…
Two Democrats and a Republican are leading in the first round of unofficial results in three races for seats representing Santa Barbara County…
In a three-person race for the Santa Maria mayor’s seat, incumbent Alice Patino held a strong lead in the first round of unofficial results wi…
David Baskett is leading Debbie Morawski in race for the Santa Maria Public Airport District Division 5 seat in the first round of unofficial …
Suzanne Levy has taken the lead in the race for the Hancock College Board of Trustees Area 2 seat representing Santa Maria, Orcutt and the Cuy…
Lompoc residents made their way early Tuesday to one of four polling places in town to cast their ballots and collect an "I Voted" sticker, en…
Jenelle Osborne took an early lead Tuesday night in the race for Lompoc's mayor, with unofficial results showing 5,387 votes for 56.91% of bal…
Challenger Jeremy Ball has won the race for the Lompoc City Council District 4 seat representing the southwest portion of the city, with unoff…
Early results for the Santa Barbara County Board of Education District 3 and 4 races show strong leads for incumbent challengers Bruce Porter …
Mayor Holly Sierra looks to be tapped to serve a third and final two-year term as Buellton’s mayor. In early results, she led the race with 1,…
Early election results showed Charlie Uhrig gaining steam over Karen Waite in the race for Solvang mayor, with Mark Infanti, Claudia Orona and…
Election results for six northern Santa Barbara County school district races show Lompoc Unified School District incumbent Bill Heath and Sant…
Solvang voters resoundingly forced Councilman Chris Djernaes off the dais Tuesday with early unofficial results showing 87% supporting his rec…
Videographer Sergio Ruiz captured this video of the early morning of Election Day 2020. He was able to see voters going to the polls this mor…
Despite fears of clashes at polling places, chaos sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and confusion due to disinformation and swiftly-changing…
A handful of U.S. House contests in California appeared headed for close finishes as Republicans sought to gain ground after losing a string o…
Uber, Lyft and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services spent $200 million in a winning bet to circumvent California lawmakers and t…
California Democrats were hoping to expand their supermajorities in the state Legislature as votes were tallied Tuesday. Several Republican in…
A national awakening on race drove a well-funded campaign in California to reinstate affirmative action, but the measure allowing the nation’s…
California voters were narrowly leaning toward maintaining the status quo on two measures related to criminal justice: keeping the current cas…
A proposition that would keep alive California's first-of-its-kind stem cell research program with a $5.5 billion infusion of borrowed money h…
A ballot measure to partially dismantle California’s longtime system of tying property taxes to the last sales price was trailing narrowly Tue…
California has upheld several criminal justice changes, endorsing recent efforts to ease mass incarceration by reducing penalties and allowing…
Voters on Tuesday soundly rejected a ballot measure that have would let California cities expand rent control in a state where residents are g…
California voters have rejected a ballot measure to require a doctor or highly trained nurse at each of California’s 600 dialysis clinics.
Voters in California made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country’s direction, according to an expansive AP su…
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