It’s one of the most hotly contested races on the Central and South Coast, to represent one of the most diverse supervisorial districts in the region. Santa Barbara County’s Third Supervisorial District includes the Santa Ynez Valley, Guadalupe, and parts of the Lompoc area. But it also encompasses UC Santa Barbara, Isla Vista and parts of Goleta. Incumbent Joan Hartman is facing challengers Karen Jones and Bruce Porter.
Hartman is a former state and federal environmental official, and Santa Barbara County Planning Commission who was first elected to the supervisorial seat in 2016.
Jones is a Director for the Santa Ynez Valley Airport Authority, and a Santa Ynez Valley Community Services District Director.
Porter served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for more than two decades, including in Operation Desert Storm. After retiring from the military, he moved to the Santa Ynez and became a financial advisor. He served as a Santa Ynez Union High School District board member, and ran unsuccessful against Hartman in 2016.
If one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the vote, they can win the seat outright. Otherwise, the top two will face each other in November, as Hartman and Porter did in 2016.
