Ian Baucke dominates District 5, appears headed toward City Council victory
Katherine oversees editorial operations across all six brands. Before joining The Meridan Group, she spent 14 years at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she led the metro desk through its digital transformation. She holds a Master's in Journalism from Northwestern's Medill School.
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Ian Baucke, an experienced policy professional born and raised in Santa Barbara, has been elected to fill Eric Friedman’s City Council seat for District 5. Baucke won with 62.8 percent of the vote. Film producer Cevin Cathell followed as the runner up with 26.8 percent and media buyer James Zurlinden at 9.8 percent coming in third. In addition to leading the polls, Baucke led campaign fundraising, bringing in over $20,000. I m really excited just to roll up my sleeves and meet with all my departments that I haven t met with yet, and talk things through, Baucke told the News-Press. He celebrated his win at Validation Ale, which served as the Democratic Party’s home base on election night. Baucke, endorsed by the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, was there with the party’s other endorsed candidates such as Devon Wardlow and Kristen Sneddon. The Democratic Party was one of a powerful string of endorsements, including the Santa Barbara Independent, Santa Barbara Women’s