North County residents prepare for upcoming primary election
Local and state seats will be on March ballot
–The primary election is set for March 5 with seats on a local, state and national level available. The two candidates with the most votes for each role will then move to the General Election on Nov. 5.
On a local level, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors will have three seats open with supervisors serving a four year term. Incumbents John Peschong for District 1 and Dawn Ortiz-Legg for District 3 are unchallenged, while District 5 has two new candidates to replace current member Debbie Arnold: Atascadero mayor Heather Moreno and Atascadero City Council member Susan Funk. Current seats not up for election this year include Bruce Gibson for District 2 and Jimmy Paulding for District 4. In addition, three seats for Superior Court Judge for San Luis Obispo County, with a term of six years, are on the ballot. Superior Court Judges up for election include Crystal Tindell Seiler for Office #2, Catherine J. Swysen for Office #5, and Michael C. Kelley for Office #7. Offices #4, 6, 8, 9, and 13 are incumbents.
On a state level, the State Senate and State Assembly will be on the ballot. District 17 is on the ballot for the State Senate and covers part or all regions of Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Clara counties. Incumbent Democrat John Laird is running against Republican computer science professor Eric Tao, Republican veteran Tony Virrueta, and Libertarian audio visual technician Michael Oxford. District 21 contains regions in South County with a seat up for election. For the State Assembly, two candidates are running for a seat representing District 30: incumbent Democrat Dawn Addis and Republican broadcast journalist Dalila Epperson. District 37 will also be on the ballot for State Assembly and represents Nipomo and Santa Barbara.
On a national level, seats in the U.S. House of Representatives for Districts 19 and 24 are up for election. District 19 contains cities in the counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo, including Paso Robles and Atascadero. Incumbent Democrat Jimmy Panetta is running against two other candidates: Republican small business owner Jason Michael Anderson and Green Party software engineer Sean Dougherty. District 24 contains more cities in South County, including San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria, with incumbent Democrat Salud Carbajal running against Republican Thomas Cole and Democrat Helena Pasquarella. The presidential nomination will also be found on the ballot.
