Lompoc Mayor Looks to Unseat Former Political Ally Joan Hartmann

Osborne Seeks 3rd District Seat of Incumbent County Supervisor in Three-Way Race

By Nick Welsh Tue Jan 02, 2024 | 12:19pm

Three candidates now find themselves vying for Santa Barbara County’s 3rd District supervisorial seat — long the pivotal swing district on the Board of Supervisors — in the March 5 primary election, including incumbent Joan Hartmann, now running for her third term in office. Running against Hartmann, a moderate Democrat with strong environmental credentials, is Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne, a declined-to-state candidate, and Frank Troise, an investment banker and registered Republican of the old-school variety — for whom taxes, crime, and fiscal restraint matter more than issues of race and gender identity.

Not only is the 3rd District the biggest geographically and most complicated in terms of competing demands, but with its boundary lines having just been redrawn, this will be the first time the City of Lompoc has been included. Although Hartmann strongly endorsed Osborne in her most recent mayoral run, Osborne and Hartmann have differed sharply on a hot-button proposal to rezone a sizable chunk of ag land outside Lompoc urban limits for new housing; Hartmann — on the victorious side of this conflict — argued in favor of ag protection; Osborne, on the losing end, took exception to what she dismissed as the county’s “cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all” approach — by which she means urban in-fill — when it comes to new housing.

If Hartmann wins 50 percent plus one in the March primary, there will be no November runoff. If not, the two highest vote-getters will face each other in the general election this fall.

The 3rd District is one of three county seats up for grabs in this year’s elections, but the only one with more than two candidates. In the 1st District, incumbent Das Williams finds himself facing a challenge from Carpinteria councilmember and restaurant owner Roy Lee; in North County’s 4th District, incumbent Bob Nelson finds himself facing challenger Krishna Flores, a Los Alamos resident and member of the school board.