SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - This week's General Election will decide who will win the hotly-contested seat for Santa Barbara County District 5 Supervisor.
The office represents the highly-populated region of Northern Santa Barbara County, including Santa Maria, the county's biggest city, as well as Guadalupe and the unincorporated community of Tanglewood.
The seat has been held by Steve Lavagnino, who was first elected in 2010, and is currently the longest running supervisor on the board.
Lavagnino decided to retire from the seat, leaving the office up for grabs for someone new to fill the position.
In the June Primary Election, three candidates ran to earn a spot in the November General Election, Santa Maria City Councilmember and attorney Maribel Aguilera, Santa Maria-Bonita School Board member and Santa Maria High School teacher Ricardo Valencia, and Cory Bantilan, who has served as Lavagnino's Chief of Staff the past 15 years.
After nearly 9,000 votes were cast, Valencia came out in first place with 3,432 votes, Aguilera finished in second with 2,553 votes, while Bantilan was third with 1,975 votes.
After finishing in the two top positions in the primary, both Valencia and Aguilera advanced to this week's General Election.
The two candidates are now set to face off in an election that bring a new face and different voice to the District 5 seat and reshape the dynamics of the Board of Supervisors.
Valencia, who was raised in both Guadalupe and Santa Maria, is running on a campaign centered around affordability, particularly housing, youth/community wellbeing, economic development/jobs and environmental protection.
"A vote for Valencia is a vote for affordable housing, for affordable child care, for leading wages, for a planet that we can be proud of, that's not polluted, where our water is clean," said Valencia. "A vote for Valencia means that we're representing the working people of this community, and not the wealthy corporations or the special interests that have been dominating the politics of our community for so long. A vote for Valencia means that the community and the working people will always be at the table rather than on the menu, meaning that when I make any decision that affects our community, the voices of regular people will be right there with me, and not the people that want to buy our elections like the wealthy or the well-connected."
Aguilera, was raised in Santa Maria and is centering her campaign on affordable housing, public safety, youth investment and infrastructure.
"A vote for Maribel Aguilera means that you're voting for experience," said Aguilera. "You're voting for planning. You're voting for results and for holding people accountable. This is not about hype and messaging. I tell everybody from now on we've got to start looking at our candidates. Do they have experience showing you that they've done in the past what they say they're going to do? Can they tell you how they're going to pay for it? Can they tell you how they will execute? Do they have a timeline you need? We need to start electing officials that have a vision, that have a written plan that can execute, that can pay for it, and really reach the results that we want. A vote for Maribel means that we are voting for accountability. And we are. We are voting for a bright future for the Fifth District."
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Maribel Aguilera, Ricardo Valencia to Face Off for Santa Barbara County District 5 Supervisor Seat News Channel 3-12.
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