Current San Luis Obispo County District 4 Supervisor Jimmy Paulding has filed a complaint against his opponent in the upcoming election, Adam Verdin, alleging campaign finance violations.
In filings submitted in early February, Verdin’s campaign disclosed it has accepted two donations of $5,900 from real estate developer Covelop, Inc.
“Now we're in a situation where my opponent on the campaign trail, Adam Verdin, has accepted $11,800 from one particular developer,” Paulding said. “That's double the legal limit.”
Paulding claims that Verdin is violating an ordinance that was put in place by the County Board of Supervisors in 2023. It states that no candidate can accept more than $5,900 per business, per election.
"Campaign finance laws exist to protect public trust, not to manufacture controversy where none exists," Verdin told KSBY News in a statement. "Covelop, Inc.’s $11,800 contributions to date to the Verdin campaign were allocated $5,900 to the June 2026 primary election and $5,900 to the November 2026 general election.”
Verdin says that accepting both donations was lawful, as each donation is designated for a different election.
San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Eliana Cano says there is a possibility that the November supervisorial election won’t be necessary.
“For a contest that has only two candidates, there's always going to be a winner in the primary,” Cano said. “If there are more than two candidates and nobody gets that 50% plus one, then the top two go to the November election."
Right now, Paulding and Verdin are the only two candidates in the race.
Paulding says in his experience running for supervisor, there has never been a need for a second election.
“As we saw in both 2018 and in 2022, this particular race was decided in June,” Paulding said. “It did not go on to November because there were only two candidates in the race and there are only two candidates in this race.”
Verdin says that if the race does not move forward to the general election, the money will be returned to the donor.
Cano says the filing period to run in the June 2 primary is still open, so there's still a possibility that another candidate could enter the race.
“At this point, anything can change,” she said. “We can have more candidates come forward.”
Cano says the deadline for a candidate to enter the race is March 6.
