At left, Al Clark. Center, Gregg Carty. At right, Patrick O’Connor.
Carpinteria Vice Mayor Al Clark, a 16-year city council member, has won the race to represent the newly created District 5 over his rivals, Councilmember Gregg Carty and political newcomer Patrick O’Connor.
Vice Mayor Clark, who received 502 votes, or 54.15%, widened his lead over Councilmember Carty, who garnered 320 votes, or 34.52% of the votes cast on Nov. 8.
His margin of victory was 182 votes, as opposed to the 136-vote difference between the two candidates on Election Night.
Tuesday’s updated numbers were posted by Santa Barbara County as the post-election first update. The unofficial results still need to be certified.
Mr. O’Connor received 93 votes, or 10.03% as listed in the post-election first update.
Neither council member returned a phone call and text seeking comment on the post-election updated figures.
Using the campaign theme, “Let’s keep Carpinteria Carpinteria,” Vice Mayor Clark ran a series of ads, claiming that he “listens to the people of Carpinteria … and he acts,” and that he “always stands up for what is best for Carpinteria residents over commercial and developer interests.”
Vice Mayor Clark had the strong endorsement of U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, who said Mr. Clark “brings integrity and commitment to Carpinteria city government. Al’s experience and record show that his is the right voice for District 5.”
In other election news, Councilmember Roy Lee received 820 votes, or 89.72% of the vote in District 3. He ran unopposed but a write-in candidate received 94 votes or 10.28%.
And in District 1, political newcomer Monica Solorzano will join the council, winning 470 votes, or 90.73%. Write-in candidate Patty Boyd received 24 votes, or 4.63%.
email: nhartstein@newspress.com
