Briefs

2015 Santa Barbara City Council Election

Current Leaders: Jason Dominguez for District 1, Randy Rowse for District 2, Cathy Murillo for District 3

City clerk Gwen Pierce explains the ballot counting process.

The first round of results are in for the 2015 City of Santa Barbara General Election, and here they are:

District 1 — The Eastside

Jason Dominguez: 836

Andria Martinez Cohen: 343

Jacqueline Inda: 255

Cruzito Herrera Cruz: 74

Michael Merenda: 24

Registered voters: 5,345

Turnout: 1,566; 29.30%

District 2 — The Mesa

Randy Rowse: 1,728

Luis Esparza: 343

K. Missy McSweeney-Zeitsoff: 309

Registered voters: 9,131

Turnout: 2,505; 27.43%

Cathy Murillo (foreground) sits with Andria Martinez Cohen

District 3 — The Westside

Cathy Murillo: 677

Sharon Byrne: 342

Cristina Cardoso: 91

Registered voters: 4,223

Turnout: 1,127; 26.69%

City officials announced that approximately 800 more ballots will be tallied tonight, with an additional 200 or so later in the week.

This election marks the first City Council contest since district elections went into effect earlier this year, after a lawsuit alleged traditional at-large elections exclude minority voters. It’s the first time in 47 years voters are electing their candidates according to geographic districts.

The all-mail election has a turnout so far of 27.8 percent, with 5,198 out of 18,699 registered voters casting their ballots.