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Presidential race still too close to call NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ELECTION 2020
It looks like the waiting game will continue. At least until today. The highly anticipated race between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden appeared too early to call on Tuesday night. As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mr. Biden was projected to receive 224 electoral college votes to Mr. Trump’s 213. A total of 270 electoral college votes are needed to win the presidency. In Santa Barbara County, the unofficial results of vote by mail and mailed ballots showed Mr. Biden and
vice presidential candidate and Sen. Kamala Harris had received nearly 70% of the vote, tallying some 99,400 of the more than 145,500 total votes with 46% of precincts reporting. Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had garnered nearly 42,600 votes, good for about 29%. No other
By MITCHELL WHITE
Democratic candidate Joe Biden
candidates received more than 1%, according to the county elections office. The local vote mirrored the state’s unofficial results, with 68% of Californians voting in favor of the Biden-Harris ticket. A little more than 30% of state voters cast their ballots for Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence. Roughly 50% of the state’s precincts had reported as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Despites thousands of ballots that had yet to be counted, The Associated Press called more than 40 states on Tuesday, many of which were not considered major surprises. The AP said Mr. Biden will carry California, Colorado, Connecticut, Please see election on A8
Bennett leading in Assembly race
President Donald Trump
Carbajal on the way to re-election
COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY HOWARD PASAMANICK
Rep. Salud Carbajal, who appears to have won reelection to California’s 24th Congressional District.
By JOSH GREGA
COURTESY PHOTO
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett appears poised to win in the race for California State Assembly District 37.
Limón, Cunningham also poised for victory By JOSH GREGA
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Republican candidate for State Assembly Charles Cole records a message to supporters at an event Tuesday night at Patxi’s Pizza on State Street.
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Steve Bennett, Ventura County supervisor and Democrat candidate for State Assembly, appears likely to beat Republican Charles Cole in the race for California State Assembly District 37. As of 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, Mr. Bennett led with 73.36% of the votes with 74 of 152 precincts reporting compared to Mr. Cole’s 26.64%, according to the Santa Barbara County Elections website. The Democratic candidate said of the preliminary numbers, “I feel good about the results so far and I appreciate the support of the voters in Santa Barbara County, and I’m looking forward to getting up to Sacramento and getting to work. We need all hands on deck because California has a lot of challenges.” Speaking to the NewsPress last month, Mr. Bennett said he wants to bring
fiscal responsibility to the State Assembly as well as environmentalism in an effort to combat climate change. Other priorities of his include providing affordable housing to Californians and improving K-12 education by getting increased national-level resources to support schools. Mr. Cole’s campaign, on the other hand, stressed deregulation of businesses, cutting taxes, and improving public education by getting rid of what he sees as onesided, left-wing politics infecting school curriculum. While Mr. Cole told the NewsPress on Tuesday that he wanted to sleep on the results and see how the numbers look today, he will accept that Mr. Bennet won election if there’s no path to victory. “If they say there’s absolutely no way, then I will concede,” he said. Please see assembly on A8
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Rep. Salud Carbajal looks poised to win re-election for his third term as congressman of California’s 24th Congressional District, which includes all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties as well as part of Ventura County. According to the Santa Barbara County Elections website as of late Tuesday night, the Democrat incumbent was well ahead of
Republican Andy Caldwell appeared unable to muster the votes necessary to beat Rep. Carbajal on Election Day.
Republican challenger and Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business executive director Andy Caldwell. Rep. Carbajal had 65.93% of the vote with 105 of 226 precincts reporting. In an interview with the NewsPress, Rep. Carbajal said that he is “ecstatic” about the election results and “grateful” to the voters of the Central Coast for putting their faith in him to keep representing District 24. For his next term, Rep. Carbajal Please see congress on A8
Perotte ahead in Goleta mayoral race By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
COURTESY PHOTOS
In the race for state Senate District 19, Democrat candidate and 37th District Assembly member Monique Limón appears poised to beat Republican Gary Michaels. Looking at the unofficial early numbers, Mr. Michaels told the News-Press that him coming up short is par for the course for Republican candidates on the Central Coast and elsewhere in California.
As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the local, state and national results had not been confirmed, but there were many close races and other clear leads from mail-in ballot results. Incumbent Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte is likely to win a second term over her opponent, current Goleta City Council member Roger S. Aceves. Mayor Perotte nearly doubled her opponent’s amount of votes, with 8,091 votes over his 4,242 votes. As of deadline Tuesday, nine of 14, or 64%, of precincts had reported. The incumbent has served on the city council since 2010, and aims to protect businesses and
residents from evictions and foreclosures, accelerate road repair and other infrastructure and park improvements, attract clean businesses to Goleta and support first responders. “My record shows that I’ve provided the leadership to support the needs of both residents and local businesses, while protecting the character of Goleta neighborhoods and its environmental resources,” Mayor Perotte said in a previous interview with the News-Press. “I believe that my record of community service and achievement before and during my years on Goleta’s city council demonstrates that I have the experience, energy and understanding of Goleta’s values Please see goleta on A2
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Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-7-16-21-34 Meganumber: 1
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Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 1-2-5 / Sunday’s Midday 4-9-5