County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino Jumps from GOP Ship
Decline-to-States Now Almost Outnumber Republicans in Santa Barbara
Steve Lavagnino has long been my favorite local Republican. Now, no more. All bets are off.
For the past eight years, Lavagnino — Santa Barbara being a first-name kind of town, he’s known in political circles merely as “Steve” — has represented the über–North County and the 5th District on the Board of Supervisors. There, he’s been smart, easygoing, prepared, rational, serious, pragmatic, comfortable in his own skin, and unusually accessible. On top of that, Lavagnino’s also seriously funny. In fact, he does some stand-up on the side.
To this day, Lavagnino remains all those things. But as of June 28, Steve Lavagnino — a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying member of the Republican Party — quietly walked away from the Grand Old Party. He quit. He pulled the plug. On that date, county records indicate, Lavagnino reregistered as a decline-to-state (aka no party preference) voter.
