This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.
Santa Barbara County is getting redder … but only slightly.
In 2016, candidate Donald Trump captured just 31.5 percent of Santa Barbara County’s vote — the lowest support for a Republican presidential candidate in decades. This year, the Republican candidate approximately won 35 percent of votes, according to the county’s latest results.
This growth mirrors the trend statewide. Recent results show that approximately 38 percent of Californians voted for Trump in 2024 — 6.5 percentage points above 2016. The Associated Press reports that almost all counties moved right in this presidential election, with nine counties flipping Republican.
This election saw a nearly 13 percent decrease in voter turnout from 2020, with approximately three-fourths of registered voters casting their ballots. Statewide, that drop was about 12 percent.
Santa Barbara County voters reflected statewide results, rejecting three propositions that were supported by California’s Democratic Party and opposed by its Republican Party: Proposition 5, which would have made it easier for cities to borrow money to fund affordable housing projects; Proposition 6, which would have banned forced labor practices in prisons; and Proposition 33, which would have allowed cities to enact rent control on single-family homes and developments built after 1995.
Santa Barbara also voted in favor of Proposition 36, reclassifying some misdemeanor drug and theft crimes as felonies, again in-line with the Republican Party’s endorsement.
However, Santa Barbara’s Democratic Congressmember Salud Carbajal earned approximately 63 percent this year, compared to approximately 62 percent in 2020.
As of last Friday, Santa Barbara County reported it still had approximately 8,000 unprocessed ballots.
[Click to enlarge]: California Propositions where the Democratic Party and the Republican Party’s endorsements differed, and how the State and Santa Barbara County voted. The blue shading represents when the State or county aligned with the Democrat endorsement. The red shading represents when the State or county aligned with the Republican endorsement. Courtesy of Daniela Rivera Mirabal.
[Click to enlarge]: Support for the Republican Party in Santa Barbara County from 1992 to 2024 (red). The vertical axis shows the percent of votes in the county, the horizontal axis shows the year. The gray boxes show statewide support for the Republican presidential candidate. Courtesy of Daniela Rivera Mirabal.
[Click to enlarge]: The percentage of voter turnout in Santa Barbara County and Statewide (bottom right graph). The vertical axis shows the number of voters. The horizontal axis shows the election year. The dotted line indicates the number of registered voters. Courtesy of Daniela Rivera Mirabal.
[Click to enlarge]: The leading presidential candidate in each California county as of November 19, 2024. The shade of red or blue represents Courtesy of Associated Press.
