A new round of campaigning is just beginning for the candidates involved in three separate Central Coast races that have been extended to November as a result of Tuesday’s primary elections.
Longtime incumbent and Democrat Lois Capps secured her spot in the race for California's 24th Congressional District. She faced a record number of challengers under the state's new "top two" primary system.
“I’m very deeply honored by the support of my fellow Central Coast citizens,” Capps said. “I’m so proud of our strong grassroots campaign and in anticipation I am congratulating my opponent and am looking forward to the campaign we’re going to be running in the fall.”
Her opponent is Republican Chris Mitchum. He defeated the 4 other members of the GOP running in the primary.
“I have heard from Justin Fareed, he called me last night. I also heard from Dr. Allen. Both of them pledged their support and help in anyway they can possibly help my campaign,” Mitchum said. “And we are unifying to become one strong party to get Lois Capps out of office.”
In San Luis Obispo County, the race for 4th District Supervisor remains undecided. Incumbent Caren Ray won 42 percent of the votes. Ray will face challenger Lynn Compton in the fall who bested her with 46 percent of votes.
“I’m proud of what we did in the campaign. You know I went up against an incumbent and that’s very difficult to do,” Compton said. “I was relatively unknown so I’m very proud of the fact that you in a short amount of time, we came out ahead.”
Ray told KCBX that she was excited about yesterday's outcome, and is looking forward to a "positive campaign" heading into November.
The seat for San Luis Obispo County Clerk will face a runoff in November between Tommy Gong and Amanda King. Gong won 45 percent of votes with King narrowly behind winning 43 percent of votes. Both currently work in the County Clerk-Recorder’s office. Gong is second-in-command as Assistant County Clerk-Recorder and King is a deputy clerk.
The winner of November’s election will replace Julie Rodewald who has held the position for 20 years. The general election is on November 4th.
