Avila and Funk maintain leads in Atascadero council race

By Hayley Mattson · Sun Nov 08 2026

Bourbeau unopposed for mayor as counting continues in North County contests

ATASCADERO — Mike Avila and Susan Funk maintained their leads for two Atascadero City Council seats as updated unofficial election returns showed a growing margin between the top two candidates and the rest of the field. The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s report, issued at 2:17 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, showed Avila with 4,365 votes, or 33.53%, followed by Funk with 4,163 votes, or 31.98%. Emily Baranek received 2,991 votes, or 22.98%, and Ian Denchasy received 1,498 votes, or 11.51%.

Funk, in second place, held a 1,172-vote advantage over Baranek, up from 985 votes in the early Wednesday report. Voters could select up to two candidates, so the percentages represent each candidate’s share of council votes rather than the percentage of voters supporting that candidate.

Charles Bourbeau, who ran unopposed for mayor, received 5,937 votes. Jeri Rangel, who ran unopposed for city treasurer, received 5,749 votes.

Atascadero had 8,699 ballots counted among its 20,535 registered voters, or 42.36%. Additional ballots remained to be processed, and the results were unofficial.

Paso Robles City Council

Elsewhere in North County, Faith Frankel expanded her lead over Bill Britton to 218 votes in the Paso Robles mayor’s race, while Michael Massey remained ahead in the District 2 City Council contest.

Frankel received 3,245 votes, or 45.60%, followed by Britton with 3,027 votes, or 42.54%. Chris Rogalla received 844 votes, or 11.86%.

Frankel’s lead increased from 133 votes in the early Wednesday report. With additional ballots still being processed, the results remain unofficial.

The city had 7,742 ballots counted among its 18,847 registered voters, or 41.08%.

The District 2 City Council contest also remained close. Michael Massey led with 709 votes, or 36.14%, followed by Robert Simoni with 627 votes, or 31.96%, and Chris Bausch with 626 votes, or 31.91%.

Massey held an 82-vote advantage over Simoni in the contest for one seat. Just one vote separated Simoni and Bausch, who had been in second place in the early Wednesday returns.

In District 1, Kris Beal led Linda C. George with 1,078 votes, or 73.28%, to 393 votes, or 26.72%.

Paso Robles Joint Unified School District

Paso Robles Joint Unified School District voters were also deciding three trustee contests and a school bond measure.

In Trustee Area 1, Thomas Apkarian led Jim Cogan with 1,084 votes, or 55.33%, to 875 votes, or 44.67%. In Trustee Area 2, Randy Kwiatkowski received 450 votes, or 61.56%, compared with Brian Maxted’s 281 votes, or 38.44%.

The Trustee Area 4 contest was closer, with Jennifer Hamm receiving 1,094 votes, or 52.22%, and John Rowins receiving 1,001 votes, or 47.78%, a difference of 93 votes.

Measure G-26, the district’s school bond proposal, was below the 55% approval threshold. Preliminary returns showed 5,331 yes votes, or 45.14%, and 6,478 no votes, or 54.86%.

Templeton Unified School District

In Templeton, the race for two seats on the Templeton Unified School District board included one of the closest margins in the North County returns.

Jennifer Grinager led with 1,815 votes, or 38.28%. Forrest Pearson moved into second with 1,469 votes, or 30.99%, just 12 votes ahead of Janel Armet, who received 1,457 votes, or 30.73%. Pearson’s lead reversed the early Wednesday standings, when Armet led him by eight votes.

With additional ballots outstanding, the second position remained especially competitive. The county report showed 3,583 ballots counted among the school district’s 8,008 registered voters, or 44.74%.

Templeton Community Services District

For two seats on the Templeton Community Services District board, Wayne Petersen led with 1,102 votes, or 42.86%, followed by Eric Mortensen with 993 votes, or 38.62%, and William Nowinski with 476 votes, or 18.51%.

The community services district’s preliminary participation stood at 2,193 ballots among 5,191 registered voters, or 42.25%.

San Luis Obispo County

Countywide, the report showed 80,149 ballots counted among 183,042 registered voters, or 43.79%, an increase of 11,628 ballots from the early Wednesday report. The total included 72,521 vote-by-mail ballots and 7,628 ballots cast at polling places.

Although all 153 precincts had reported, additional ballots remained to be counted. Reporting from every precinct does not mean every ballot has been processed.

The county’s election schedule lists Nov. 18 as the start of the publicly observable 1% manual tally, a hand count used to check selected ballots against tabulated results.

Vote totals and margins may change as counting continues. Updated returns are available through the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s election website.

Reporting from latest report Nov. 6, 2026, 2:17 p.m.