Upstart Republican candidate Justin Fareed officially declared victory as he cemented his second place showing in the primary election for the 24th District congressional seat.

After both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties certified their voting totals, Fareed remained firmly ahead of his nearest Republican rival, State Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian. According to voting totals from the California secretary of state, Fareed walked away from the primary with 20.5 percent of the votes, while Achadjian managed to garner 18.2 percent district-wide. 

“I am honored and humbled by the amount of support our campaign received throughout the primary election,” Fareed said in a written statement issued by his campaign July 6. 

With the primary out of the way, Fareed and his campaign are setting their sights firmly on his competitor in the general election, Democrat and Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal. Carbajal took home more than 31 percent of the total vote in the primary, more than any other candidate in the race.

In the July 6 press release, the Fareed campaign referred to Carbajal as a “political insider and career politician.” 

But Fareed himself is also in the firing line. A July 6 memo from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which is supporting Carbajal’s bid for the seat, described Fareed as “limping” out of the primary 11 points behind Carbajal.

“Fareed’s campaign has relied on spewing conservative talking points and dodging questions, and with good reason,” reads the memo, penned by DCCC West spokesperson Barb Solish. “When he finally is forced to take positions, Central Coast voters will reject his right-wing agenda.”