In the highly anticipated first debate in the Central Coast’s wide-open congressional race, moderator Randol White with KCBX aptly summed up the evening in closing remarks: “It’s a crowded table.”
Vying to replace Congressmember Lois Capps, who has held the seat for nearly two decades, nine candidates separated themselves mostly along party lines while injecting healthy doses of their personalities to attendees at a packed Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo auditorium Thursday.
The four front-runners — Democrats Salud Carbajal and Helene Schneider and Republicans Katcho Achadjian and Justin Fareed — rarely deviated from their respective blue-red talking points. The district, comprising San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and a sliver of Ventura counties, is one of the most competitive in the state — with just 3.4 percent more registered Democrats than Republicans.
