With less than six months before the primary election, San Luis Obispo County clerk-recorder candidates are committed to increasing campaign donations, transparency in elections, and boosting voter safety.
Incumbent County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano, who announced her reelection campaign on Jan. 29, told New Times she raised $3,300 in contributions since January and is actively fundraising. Available campaign finance documents showed that she raised $714 in December 2025.
“I did not conduct fundraising outreach until late December because my responsibility throughout most of 2025 was administering the statewide special election,” she said.
Cano’s campaign finance filings show that she received donations from Salt Lake City parks maintenance employee Zennon Cano, and retired Los Osos resident Patrick Perry. She also supplemented her campaign funding with almost $830 from her 2022 campaign.
Cano will be defending her seat in the June 2 election against Oceano business owner Vanessa Rozo and former Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate Gaea Powell, who faces voter fraud charges from the District Attorney’s Office.
Powell plans to file her candidacy papers the week of Feb. 16 and told New Times thatshe submitted enough signatures to do so.
“I do not plan on having a ‘committee’ (I will fill out that form),” she said via email. “I will campaign as I did for my mayor campaigns. I won’t ask for campaign contributions because I do not want to feel obligated to any specific person or organization.”
Rozo, who’s endorsed by the local chapter of the Republican Party, raised a little more than $3,600 between July and December 2025. According to campaign finance filings, Rozo loaned her campaign $77,000.
“All campaign finances have been managed responsibly and in full compliance with the law,” she said.
The SLO Cattleman’s Political Action Committee and retired Los Osos resident Clarita Amurao each contributed $1,000 to Rozo. Other donors include 30th Assembly District candidate Shannon Kessler, Santa Maria Insurance Agency Inc., and Ground Squirrel Hollow Community Services District Director Allen Duckworth.
Rozo previously told New Times that she submitted a request to the county Clerk-Recorder Cano’s office to serve as a poll worker for the Proposition 50 special election in November 2025. But the office informed her that declared candidates aren’t allowed to serve as poll workers in the jurisdiction in which they’re running.
California doesn’t have any laws that explicitly prohibit candidates from being poll workers for the same election they’re running in, but clerk-recorders have the discretion to establish internal policies to ensure fair, transparent, and impartial elections.
‘I support proof of citizenship and voter ID because every vote should be verified, and elections must be secure. Currently, California law does not require these measures, but laws can change, and I will ensure full compliance if they do.’
— Vanessa Rozo, SLO County clerk-recorder candidate
“In September, a declared candidate made such a request and was denied pursuant to this policy,” Cano told New Times. “Ms. Rozo later made the same request and received the same response. The policy was applied consistently and without exception.”
Rozo disagreed with Cano’s internal policy and said she wanted to review a copy of the “office policy book.”
“The fact is that the current San Luis Obispo Clerk-Recorder’s Office has ‘internal policies’ that disenfranchised my ability to serve as a poll worker,” she said via email. “I was approved by submitting my paperwork to work as a poll worker for the November special election. Then, I received a letter in the email stating that because I was a ‘candidate’ I could not work as a poll worker in the election.”
What Rozo and Cano do agree on is that the possibility of immigration enforcement officers being present during elections is a concern.
Cano told New Times that there has been talk of deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at local polling locations, and that her office will be communicating with the Sheriff’s Office on how to prepare for it.
“That diligence—along with a strong working relationship with the California Secretary of State’s Office—makes me confident that we’ll be prepared to tackle whatever might come along, from a natural disaster to federal interference,” Cano said. “At the end of the day, however, our job is to execute seamless, secure, and accurate local elections that adhere strictly to current California Elections Code. That remains my primary focus.”
Rozo said that if she’s elected as the next county clerk-recorder, her plan of action would be proactive and preventative, reaffirming that polling locations and elections offices are neutral spaces governed by state and local election law.
She added that she would also work with the Sheriff’s Office to ensure no immigration enforcement activity occurs at or near polling places without a valid judicial warrant “unrelated to voting activities.”
“If any enforcement presence were reported, my office would immediately document the incident, consult legal counsel and the secretary of state, and take appropriate steps to protect voters’ access and confidence in the election process,” Rozo said. “I support proof of citizenship and voter ID because every vote should be verified, and elections must be secure. Currently, California law does not require these measures, but laws can change, and I will ensure full compliance if they do.” ∆
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2026.
Speaking in a personal capacity here (as an employee of the Clerk-Recorder’s Office I am making this comment distinctly separate from that): I work with Elaina Cano every single day and know first-hand the experience, dedication, and professionalism she brings to the office. I have no doubt — none — that she is the superior candidate and that SLO County is much better served with her at the helm of the department.
The Clerk-Recorder job, and the elections piece in particular, are not learn-on-the-job gigs. Elaina has decades of experience in the field. I see every day how she tackles the roller coaster of the job with calm resolve clearly rooted in that experience.