The race to be Paso Robles’ next mayor is too close to call.
Im hoping to win! Im hoping to be the next mayor, said Paso Robles mayoral candidate Dr. Faith Frankel.
Heading into election night, three candidates were hoping to be the next person to lead the city of Paso Robles into its future: Bill Britton, Dr. Faith Frankel and Chris Rogalla.
Now, its looking like its come down to Britton or Frankel.
Frankel slid into the lead after the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorders Office dropped its fourth update of ballot results early Wednesday morning, showing Frankel with about 45% of the vote, Britton with nearly 43% and Rogalla with about 12%.
Im not shocked, Rogalla said. I knew coming in that, most likely, I wasnt gonna gain much traction, when you look at the other candidates and their experience.
While Rogalla, a local candle business owner, isnt surprised that the race has essentially narrowed down to just two candidates vying for the citys top seat, he says he is surprised that the race is as razor-thin as it is.
Just signage. I would say you see probably three to one, four to one for Bill, he said. The presence that I see around town, that was kind of why I was surprised by it.
One person not caught off guard by the neck-and-neck race? Faith Frankel.
You know, I knew it was going to be very, very close, she said. Bill Britton, he ran a great campaign, and hes a formidable opponent, a very smart guy; he has a lot of experience. I knew this was going to be a very hard race to win.
KSBY News reached out to Britton to get his thoughts on the race, but he said hes not able to offer much more, other than that the race is too close to call and that more votes need to be counted.
Rogalla says hes open to the possibility of running for office again in some capacity and is walking away having learned a lot from this experience.
Im super happy I ran! Rogalla said. Learning the issues, digging into the issues, the amount of people that I met that shared common goals, getting to meet the other candidates, getting to meet other councilmembers that was worth its weight into whatever I put into this campaign.
And, if things should not go in her favor, Frankel says she too would definitely like to run for some type of office in the future.