Newcomer leads Santa Maria airport board race by about 100 votes

Three candidates vied for a seat on the Santa Maria Public Airport District board, including incumbent Michael B. Clayton. The local attorney garnered 3,390 votes—or 43 percent—of the 8,512 ballots tallied, as of Nov. 10. U.S. Army veteran Alejandro Arredondo led by 126 votes, scoring 45 percent of the votes counted, with 3,516 total. The Santa Barbara County’s Elections Division will issue updates on new vote counts Tuesdays and Thursdays around 3 p.m. Airport District Division 4 has about 17,600 eligible voters. In 2022, the last time Clayton ran, voter turnout in his race was a little more than 50 percent. Arredondo told the Sun that regardless of how the final election results turn out, he’ll continue advocating for what he wants to see implemented at Santa Maria’s airport in the future. “For the last 37 years, my family’s owned and operated a business here at the airport.

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