Paso Robles mayor’s race: Frankel up 244 votes as 42,000 county ballots remain

A Race Still Too Close to Call

A week after Election Day, Paso Robles residents still don't know who their next mayor will be — and they may not find out until sometime next week. As of the latest unofficial results posted by the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder's Office at 4:48 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, family physician Faith Frankel leads the city's open mayoral race with 3,681 votes (45.26%), ahead of retired Air Force officer and former Cal Poly administrator Bill Britton with 3,437 votes (42.26%), and business owner Chris Rogalla with 1,015 votes (12.48%). Frankel's cushion has grown from 218 votes to 244 — a margin that remains razor-thin with tens of thousands of ballots still being processed, as the Paso Robles Daily News reported.

The contest is wide open because incumbent Mayor John Hamon opted not to seek re-election, drawing three first-time candidates into one of the most watched local races on the Central Coast this cycle.

What the Numbers Show So Far

Tuesday's update added 11,225 new ballots to the countywide tally. As of that drop, all 11 Paso Robles precincts had reported, with 8,860 of the city's 18,847 registered voters counted — a local turnout of 47.01%, according to Paso Robles Daily News. Countywide, 91,374 of 183,042 registered voters had ballots counted, a turnout of 49.92%. That countywide figure includes 83,746 vote-by-mail ballots and 7,628 ballots cast at polling places.

Frankel's lead has trended upward with each successive ballot drop — a pattern consistent with what vote-watchers often call a "blue shift" in California elections, where mail ballots cast later in the process can favor different candidates than Election Night returns. Britton actually led on Election Night before Frankel surged ahead, according to earlier Tribune coverage.

The Candidates: Who Is Vying for the City's Top Seat?

The race features two starkly different profiles. Faith Frankel, 44, is a family physician who has lived in Paso Robles since she was 7 years old and grew up on Frankel Ranch, where her family developed what is now Sculpterra Winery and Sculpture Garden. She has said she hopes to become the city's first female mayor, with priorities centered on road improvements, water resources, and transparent governance — aiming, as she put it, to "keep Paso small" while still delivering big-city amenities.

Bill Britton, 70, is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who spent a decade at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, most recently as vice president for information technology, before retiring in 2025. He has served on the Paso Robles Airport Commission and has been a vocal proponent of the city's bid to become a commercial spaceport, arguing that technology-driven economic diversification is critical as wine and tourism face headwinds.

42,000 Ballots and a Long Wait Ahead

The key figure hanging over every Paso Robles race right now is 42,560 — the estimated number of ballots still awaiting processing countywide, per the county's unprocessed ballots report. That pool includes 34,607 vote-by-mail ballots received on or before Election Day, 2,813 mail ballots received after Election Day, and 2,709 provisional ballots — any of which could meaningfully shift a 244-vote gap.

The elections office is closed Wednesday, Nov. 11, for Veterans Day. The county expects to post its next results update by 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, according to the Paso Robles Daily News. The county has until Dec. 3 to certify the final results.

City Council and School Board: Other Races to Watch

Beyond the mayor's race, two City Council contests are also still unsettled. In District 1, incumbent Councilmember Kris Beal holds a commanding lead over challenger Linda C. George, 1,247 votes (73.35%) to 453 (26.65%). District 2 is a tighter three-way fight: Michael Massey leads with 811 votes (36.34%), followed by Robert Simoni with 726 (32.53%) and incumbent Chris Bausch with 695 (31.14%) — a spread of just 85 votes between first and second place.

On the school board, Thomas Apkarian leads Jim Cogan in Trustee Area 1 (55.14% to 44.86%), Randy Kwiatkowski leads Brian Maxted in Trustee Area 2 (62.72% to 37.28%), and Jennifer Hamm leads John Rowins in Trustee Area 4 (52.80% to 47.20%), per the Paso Robles Daily News.

School Bond Measure G-26 Remains Far Short

The other major Paso Robles question on the Nov. 3 ballot — Measure G-26, a $205 million school facilities bond for the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District — appears to be failing by a wide margin. The measure, which would fund renovation and expansion of classrooms and career training facilities, roof repairs, and HVAC upgrades at district high schools, currently sits at 6,136 yes votes (45.35%) and 7,395 no votes (54.65%). It needs 55% approval to pass under California law — a supermajority threshold that it currently trails by nearly 10 percentage points.

The bond would have levied an estimated $49.59 annually per $100,000 of assessed property value, or roughly $248 per year on a home assessed at $500,000. Critics noted the measure would come on top of Measure M, a $95 million bond approved in 2016 that taxpayers are still repaying. While remaining mail and provisional ballots could narrow the gap slightly, closing a nearly 10-point deficit to reach the 55% threshold would be historically unusual.

Residents can track the latest results directly through the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder's elections results page. All totals remain unofficial until certified.