Despite initial vote counts showing Michael Erin Woody ahead in the race for San Luis Obispo County’s 2nd District supervisor seat, the race flipped as ballot counts continue, with Jim Dantona holding the lead as of June 10.
The 2nd District race wasn’t the only contest in the county that changed course since those first vote counts were released. In Los Osos, Measure B-26 was initially losing but gained steam with the yeses accounting for 52.7 percent of the votes as of June 10.
According to the latest election results, Dantona has 54 percent of the vote compared to Woody’s 46 percent, a reversal from the first counts after election night when Woody led by roughly four points. In the 4th District supervisor race, incumbent Jimmy Paulding expanded his advantage over challenger Adam Verdin to 1,300 votes, leading 55 percent to 45 percent.
Thousands of ballots remain uncounted. As of the morning of June 10, the San Luis Obispo County Elections Office reported approximately 37,000 unprocessed ballots countywide.
“Obviously we’re happy that the trend is moving toward me being ahead and certainly optimistic based on the trend that’s established now for the last two or three updates,” Dantona told New Times. “But there’s still lots of ballots to be counted, so we’ll only be comfortable when they certify it.”
Dantona, former CEO of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and current chief of staff to outgoing Supervisor Bruce Gibson, said he believes recent ballot trends have favored his campaign. He noted that many voters appeared to hold onto their ballots until late in the election cycle while deciding among a crowded field of Democratic candidates in the governor’s race.
Despite surrendering the lead, Woody told New Times he remains encouraged by the performance of his grassroots campaign.
“Most people would be surprised to hear this, considering we were out-fundraised 15-to-1 and started with nothing,” Woody said. “I am incredibly thrilled over where we’re at right now and what we’ve accomplished in all this.”
Woody, a civil engineer and former Fresno City Council member, said he entered the race with little name recognition, limited resources, and few expectations from political observers. He described the campaign as a community-driven effort focused on local issues rather than partisan politics.
“We started with an idea 15 months ago, and the idea was simple: We’re going to run on community issues,” Woody said. “I think the results that you’re seeing here should put a lot of people on notice that voters are responding very well to candidates who are talking about community issues and where we need to go next.”
Woody said his campaign began with little more than handwritten contact lists before growing into a network of more than 300 staunch supporters and volunteers.
“I have zero to be disappointed about at this point,” he said. “Nobody gave this campaign a chance to be within 20 to 25 points of this race.”
Election officials continue processing thousands of remaining ballots before results can be verified.
For now, candidates and voters alike remain in wait-and-see mode.
“We’re just watching to see how the ballots are coming in,” Dantona said. “I think we’re going to see the counts start flowing faster. In the next few days, we’ll have a much clearer picture of where everything stands.” ∆
This article appears in June 11-18, 2026.
