Who’s running for office in SLO County? Congress, county supervisor and more

Stephanie Zappelli
·4 min read

As we dismantle our holiday decorations and draft New Year’s resolutions, election season is sneaking up on San Luis Obispo County.

The Primary Election is on March 5, and voters will have the chance to cast a ballot to pick a presidential candidate for the General Election — and also vote for a handful of representatives for local offices.

Here’s a list of local offices that will be on the ballot this spring.

Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno, left, and Councilmember Susan Funk are running for the District 5 San Luis Obispo County supervisor seat now held by Debbie Arnold. Courtesy photos
Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno, left, and Councilmember Susan Funk are running for the District 5 San Luis Obispo County supervisor seat now held by Debbie Arnold. Courtesy photos

SLO County supervisors

Three seats are up for election on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors this spring.

All eyes are on District 5, where two well-known Atascadero officials are competing for the four-year term. Supervisor Debbie Arnold decided against running for re-election, leaving room for newcomers to fight for the District 5 seat.

Meanwhile, incumbents are running unchallenged to keep their seats in Districts 1 and 3.

Here’s a look at the candidates for each race:

District 1

  • John Peschong, incumbent

District 3

  • Dawn Ortiz-Legg, incumbent

District 5

  • Susan Funk, Atascadero City Council member and businesswoman

  • Heather Moreno, Atascadero mayor

A sign welcomes voters to the Ludwick Community Center gym in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. The Voter Service Center saw a steady procession of voters throughout the day. Laura Dickinson/ldickinson@thetribunenews.com
A sign welcomes voters to the Ludwick Community Center gym in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. The Voter Service Center saw a steady procession of voters throughout the day. Laura Dickinson/ldickinson@thetribunenews.com

U.S. House of Representatives

San Luis Obispo County is split into two congressional districts, and three candidates are competing for each two-year seat.

District 19 represents the northern portion of the county including Cambria, Atascadero and Paso Robles, then moves north to pick up Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties.

Meanwhile, District 24 represents the rest of San Luis Obispo County, all of Santa Barbara County and part of Ventura County.

The top two candidates will head to the November General Election when voters will make their final decision.

Here’s who’s running to represent each district.

District 19

  • Jimmy Panetta, incumbent, Democrat

  • Jason Michael Anderson, small business owner, Republican

  • Sean Dougherty, software engineer and parent, Green Party

District 24

  • Salud Carbajal, incumbent, Democrat

  • Thomas Cole, campaign data analyst, Republican

  • Helena Pasquarella, public school teacher, Democrat

Brenna Merchant puts her ballot in the ballot box after voting Tuesday at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Building. Joe Johnston/jjohnston@thetribunenews.com
Brenna Merchant puts her ballot in the ballot box after voting Tuesday at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Building. Joe Johnston/jjohnston@thetribunenews.com

State Senate

San Luis Obispo County is also split into two state Senate districts, with District 17 including the majority of the county from Arroyo Grande north and District 21 including Nipomo, Oceano and the southeastern area of the county out to the Carrizo Plain.

Six people are running for the two four-year state Senate seats, and the top two finishers advance to November, even in the case of races with only two candidates.

District 17

  • John Laird, incumbent, Democrat

  • Michael Oxford, AV technician, Libertarian

  • Eric Tao, computer science professor, Republican

  • Tony Virrueta, veterans associate and father, Republican

District 21

  • S. Monique Limón, incumbent, Democrat

  • Elijah Mack, college student, Republican

State Assembly

Two state Assembly seats are up for election in SLO County, each with a two-year term.

The first is District 30, which includes parts of San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. The other is District 37, which represents Nipomo and Santa Barbara County.

All candidates will advance to the November General Election.

District 30

  • Dawn Addis, incumbent, Democrat

  • Dalila Epperson, broadcast journalist and mother, Republican

District 37

  • Gregg Hart, incumbent, Democrat

  • Sari M. Domingues, retired business analyst, Republican

Robert Broughton rode a scooter to the San Luis Obispo County Government Center and gave his ballot to elections volunteer Larry Merkle, left, who dropped it in the curbside ballot box. Sept. 14, 2021, was Election Day in the recall race that will decide whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will remain in office or be replaced by another candidate. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

Superior Court judge

Three positions are up for election to be a judge on the Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County. Three judges are running unchallenged for each six-year term.

Office #2

  • Crystal Tindell Seiler, Superior Court judge

Office #5

  • Catherine J. Swysen, Superior Court judge

Office #7

  • Michael C. Kelley, Superior Court judge

Incumbents who applied to keep their seats representing office numbers 4, 6, 8, 9 and 13 are also running unchallenged. They will be automatically selected to keep their seat unless voters initiate a write-in campaign to replace the them, according to San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano.