Secord/Wolf Advance

[ Excerpt from SBN-P article, June 7, 2006 by Barney McManigal. As of the morning after election day, results are as follows: ]

Dan Secord: 30.6%
Janet Wolf: 29%
Das Williams: 20.8%
Joe Guzzrdi: 19.5%


Dan Secord and Janet Wolf outpaced rivals in Tuesday's race to succeed county Supervisor Susan Rose, winning places in a November runoff after battling for months in the tight four-way contest...

Since last fall the two have been locked in a close battle with Das Williams and Joe Guzzardi for the 2nd District seat on the Board of Supervisors.

In Tuesday's polling, Mr. Williams finished third, with 21 percent of the vote, and Mr. Guzzardi came in last, winning 19 percent. About 10,000 absentee ballots remain uncounted.

Because no candidate won more than 50 percent, the top two finishers must face off in the Nov. 7 nonpartisan election.

... the runoff ends a season of in-fighting that has forced local Democrats to take sides and depleted limited campaign resources...

Housing issues have dominated the race all year, with each contender pledging to protect neighborhoods like the eastern Goleta Valley from over development. The 2nd District stretches from the harbor to Goleta, and has about 85,000 residents.

But recent votes by supervisors to exempt the South Coast from state mandated growth and to update the Goleta Valley Community plan have diminished the focus on housing.

Ms. Wolf, endorsed by top public safety unions, has emphasized the housing needs of the region's critical work force of nurses, teachers and police. Dr. Secord has also highlighted problems facing the aging South Coast work force because young families can't afford homes in the region.

Mr. Guzzardi and Mr. Williams failed to make it into the runoff despite aggressive last-minute pushes...

"You learn much more from your defeats than you do from your victories," said Mr. Williams, who joined supporters at Paoli's in Santa Barbara. "This shouldn't have been about me. This should be about having a slow-growth vote on the Board of Supervisors."

Mr. Williams said he would work hard to get Ms. Wolf elected. "I think she's shown more strength than most people gave her credit for."

Mr. Guzzardi's last-place finish follows three failed bids for City Council in the 1990s...

Besides collecting the most votes, Dr. Secord and Ms. Wolf also took in the most campaign donations, reporting $187,447 and $204,804 this year. Mr. Williams and Mr. Guzzardi have raised $170,341 and $41,000, respectively.

e-mail: bmcmanigal@newspress.com


Santa Barbara News-Press