Challenger in Lead in Santa Barbara Supervisor Race
Santa Ynez Valley rancher Willy Chamberlin has pulled into a 74-vote lead in a count of ballots cast Nov. 3 for a pivotal seat on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.
County officials, terming the latest results semiofficial, said Chamberlin leads Board Chairman Bill Wallace by a count of 17,121 to 17,047.
An undetermined number of ballots that could not be read by the county’s vote-counting machines are yet to be tabulated, officials said. Final results in the race are expected by Dec. 1.
Wallace’s defeat would break up a board majority that has solidly supported environmental and liberal issues. Chamberlin was backed by developers and other business interests.
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