In a contested race whose results remain unclear, Republican Tony Strickland on Nov. 6 inched ahead of Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson by about 800 votes out of more than 300,000 cast in the 19th State Senate District contest. But with thousands of provisional and late absentee ballots cast and waiting to be counted, the final outcome might not be clear for weeks.

Thus far, Strickland handily beat Jackson in Ventura County, where the most votes were cast, with 52.1 percent to Jackson’s 47.4 percent. But Santa Barbara County voters, who showed up in droves to vote for Democrat Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, voted for Jackson 55.2 percent to Strickland’s 44.4 percent. A sliver of Los Angeles County is included in the 19th district and voted heavily for Strickland, giving him about 13,000 votes.

California voted overwhelmingly for Obama, with 61 percent of voters casting their ballots for him compared to 37 percent for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Meanwhile, Obama swept through the Tri-Counties, gaining the majority vote in San Luis Obispo (51.2 percent), Santa Barbara (59.7 percent) and (Ventura 55.1 percent) counties. Obama was named president-elect of the United States, gaining key battleground states, such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, before the polls even closed in California.

The Tri-Counties had several regional ballot measures, including the hotly contested Oxnard traffic initiative, or Measure V, which was voted down by 63 percent of the city’s voters. In Santa Barbara, 78.6 percent voted yes on Measure A, which gives funding for infrastructure repair, traffic relief and transportation improvements.

In San Luis Obispo, incumbent Dave Romero cruised to victory with 67.3 percent to retain his seat as the city’s mayor.

Former planning commissioner Doreen Farr beat entrepreneur Steven Pappas for the 3rd District supervisor spot with 51.4 percent of the vote in Santa Barbara County.

In Ventura County, former Oxnard Mayor John Zaragoza defetaed John Flynn for the 5th District Supervisor position 51.4 percent to 45.3 percent.

Check back throughout the day for updates or see the Nov. 7 issue of the Business Times for full coverage and results.