Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno expanded her lead in the District 5 county supervisor race as the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office counted another 12,800 ballots on Friday.

Moreno is now 1,267 votes ahead of her opponent, Atascadero Mayor Pro Temp Susan Funk.

As of Friday at 1:42 p.m., Moreno had 7,249 votes, or 54.8%, while Funk had 5,982 votes, or 45.2%.

As of Friday, the elections office had counted a total of 70,899 ballots, bringing voter participation in the county to 40.1%.

Tuesday was the last day the Clerk-Recorder’s Office accepted mail-in ballots, if they were postmarked by Election Day.

The department needs about two more days during the next two weeks to count the remainder of the ballots, according to a news release from the Clerk-Recorder’s Office.

The office does not yet have an estimate of how many ballots are left to count, according to spokesperson Erin Clausen.

The Clerk-Recorder’s Office plans to certify the election results ahead of schedule by March 27, the news release said. State law requires the county to certify the election results by April 4.

Before then, the Clerk-Recorder’s Office must perform a series of tasks, including allowing voters to cure their signature if the one on their mail-in ballot does not match the county’s record, the news release said.

Ortiz-Legg, Peschong set to keep their county supervisor seats

In Districts 1 and 3, incumbent supervisors John Peschong and Dawn Ortiz-Legg kept their seats, running unopposed in the election.

So far, Ortiz-Legg has garnered 9,850 votes, or 94.5%. Write-in candidate Michelle Marie Morrow got 575 votes.

Meanwhile, Peschong has 8,514 votes, or 100%.

Democrats lead SLO County races for State Legislature, Congress

Incumbent Democrats continue to be the top vote-getters to represent San Luis Obispo County in the U.S. House of Representatives, California State Assembly and State Senate.

The top two finishers in each race will progress to the general election, when voters will select their official representative.

San Luis Obispo County is split into two California State Assembly Districts.

Nipomo shares District 37 with Santa Barbara County, while the rest of San Luis Obispo County falls into District 30 with parts of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

The most recent ballot count update from the Secretary of State’s Office shows incumbent Dawn Addis ahead in her bid to keep the District 30 seat, with 35,156 more votes than Republican challenger Dalila Epperson.

Addis had 65.9% of the vote, while Epperson had 34.1%, as of 1 p.m. on Friday.

Meanwhile, incumbent Gregg Hart led the District 37 race, according to the most recent ballot count report.

Hart won 61% of the vote, while challenger Sari Domingues had 39%.

San Luis Obispo County is also divided into two State Senate districts.

The southern and eastern portion of the county, including the Grover Beach, Oceano, Nipomo, the Carrizo Plain and Cuyama, is now part of District 21 — which extends into Ventura County.

There, incumbent Monique Limón leads the race against college student Elijah Mack.

Limón garnered 62.5% of the vote, while Mack had 37.5% as of Friday afternoon.

The rest of the county remains in District 17, which also includes a portion of Monterey County along with San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.

Incumbent State Sen. John Laird led the District 17 race with 66.3% of the vote.

Tony Virrueta took second place with 20.6%, trailed by Eric Tao with 11.1% and Michael Oxford with 2% votes.

Incumbent Rep. Jimmy Panetta led the race for District 19, which includes the northern portion of San Luis Obispo County along with parts of Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara counties.

According to the most recent ballot count update, Panetta had 66.8% of the vote, followed by Jason Michael Anderson with 26.8% and Sean Dougherty with 6.4%.

If Panetta is re-elected, he said he’d like to incentive the development of middle-income housing, while implementing tax credits that make it easier for people to buy a home for the first time. He also plans to support the development of renewable energy and secure funding for road improvements, water projects and broadband services for District 19, he said.

“We need to make sure the power of the purse can be felt here in District 19,” Panetta said.

Meanwhile, incumbent Rep. Salud Carbajal led the District 24 race. District 24 includes the southern part of San Luis Obispo County with Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Carbajal had 54.3% of the vote, while Thomas Cole followed in second place with 36.7%, according to the most recent ballot drop.

Helena Pasquarella trailed in third place with 9.1%, as of 12:49 p.m.

“I want to thank the Central Coast residents who I think are reaffirming their confidence and support for my service representing the Central Coast in Congress,” Carbajal said.

If re-elected, Carbajal said he’s dedicated to lowering everyday costs — including groceries, housing and child care. He also plans to continue to guide the implementation of laws that address climate change, infrastructure improvements and immigration reform, he said.