Election results: Stewart, Marx headed to victory in SLO — and a new face could join them

Kaytlyn Leslie, Chloe Shrager
·3 min read

Jan Marx and Mike Boswell were headed to victory in the race to fill two open seats on the San Luis Obispo City Council on Tuesday night, while Mayor Erica Stewart cruised to reelection.

With 100% of precincts reporting in the final Election Night ballot count release at 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, Marx and Boswell held commanding leads over challengers John Drake and Felicia Lewis, with Marx taking home 39.4% and Boswell with 34% of the vote.

Drake and Lewis had 16.6% and 9.9% of the vote as of 12:20 a.m., respectively.

Four candidates are running for two open seats on the City Council this November: incumbent City Council member Marx; Boswell, a Cal Poly professor; Drake, a behavioral health coordinator; and Lewis, a chef and entrepreneur.

“I’m feeling very good,” Marx told The Tribune from an Election Night party Tuesday. “We’ll see, but it’s a substantial lead, and I’m feeling very, very thankful to everyone who supported my campaign.”

Marx said she was “very optimistic” about the region and the next four years should she be elected.

“I hope that everyone will continue to be as kind and open-minded toward each other as we possibly can be, despite all the division that’s out there in our country,” she said. “I think our community and our region has a chance to really come together and become even even better than we are right now.“

Following the first results release Tuesday night, Boswell said he was “very excited to jump in and get to work again if it all works out.”

“If I get sworn in in a month from now, I’ll just be really, really proud of what I’ve accomplished, really honored to be on council, and really excited to go out and do the best I can for this community,” he said.

Cal Poly professor and SLO City Council candidate Mike Boswell smiles as early results start to be posted. He attended an election night party hosted by the SLO Dems at Benny’s Pizza Palace and Social Club on Election Night Nov. 5, 2024
Cal Poly professor and SLO City Council candidate Mike Boswell smiles as early results start to be posted. He attended an election night party hosted by the SLO Dems at Benny’s Pizza Palace and Social Club on Election Night Nov. 5, 2024

Meanwhile, Mayor Erica Stewart easily secured victory over repeat mayoral candidate Don Hedrick, with 84.8% of vote to Hedrick’s 15.1% as of 12:20 a.m. Wednesday.

Stewart said she felt “really, really great” after the first election results drop.

“I’m excited to see my colleagues as well,” she said, noting Marx and Boswell had solid leads for the open seats on the council. “Unfortunately, mayor’s every two years, so it’s a quick turnaround, but I think we’ve been doing some good things when it comes to housing and homelessness; and climate and transportation; and diversity and inclusion — so I think we have a really good two years ahead.”

She added: “I’m here to really listen to everyone, no matter what background or whatever side we believe in. So really, just trying to make sure we have all the voices heard at the dais as we make these decisions.”

As of 12:20 a.m., 11,919 ballots had been counted in the San Luis Obispo races, which represented about 40.8% of the registered voter population in the city.

The Election Night totals included vote-by-mail ballots that were counted in the weekend ahead of Election Day along with ballots cast in person on Tuesday.

This story will be updated as more ballot counts are released. Check back to see the latest numbers.

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