May 30, 2008 - 3rd Is A Charm

The congressional districts in California have often been criticized for being drawn up in order to create a situation where incumbents never lose. The demographics of each district are so homogenous that races are rarely contentious. The County of Santa Barbara has 5 districts that each elects a representative to the Board of Supervisors. Four of those districts are fairly homogenous themselves, but the 3rd district, which is up for election this year, is about as mish-mash the sales rack at Ross.

Isla Vista, Santa Ynez, and western Goleta are three distinct population groups with completely different viewpoints and points of view.

Yesterday the dedicated staff of edhat.com drove through the streets of Isla Vista, Ellwood, Winchester Canyon, and El Encanto Heights until we ran out of carbon offsets. We were playing I Spy with election yard signs. The percentage of signs for each candidate should roughly correlate with how much support the candidates will get. Our sign count of course, cannot be a prediction for the general election because we didn't spend the extra $15 in gas to drive to the Valley.

Here is what we found:

In Isla Vista, the signs were evenly divided among Pappas, Farr, and Bearman. However, many of Bearman's signs were not in front of houses, but on traffic islands or by the side of the road. In Goleta, residents with signs overwhelmingly support Farr. Signs for other candidates were found on businesses and by the side of major intersections.

Overall, Farr was the 3rd District sign winner with 37% of the placards endorsing her. Second place went to Bearman's roadside attractions (26%), and third place went to Pappas (22%).

The Edhat contestant who was closest to the Farr count and amount was DW. The prize today is an Edhat t-shirt, pickupable at Highlights Salon at Alamar and de la Vina.