May 22, 2026

San Luis Obispo County, CA — With just days remaining before Election Day, Supervisor Jimmy Paulding’s campaign is calling attention to a surge of misleading attack ads funded by opaque political groups attempting to influence the outcome of the District 4 race.

“Voters across South County are being bombarded with false and misleading information about my record,” said Paulding. “These ads aren’t coming from local residents—they’re being funded by outside groups with undisclosed agendas.”

Many of the ads have been traced to the Lincoln Club, a political organization heavily backed by a group calling itself the Central Coast Strong PAC. Despite its name, public filings show the PAC is based in Roseville, California—hundreds of miles from the Central Coast.

Even more concerning, recent state filings show no disclosed contributions to the PAC in the past two years, despite thousands of dollars of spending in the final days of the election. There are no filings listed for this PAC in SLO County, Sacramento County, or Placer County where Roseville is located. The PAC also fails to account for large transfers made to the Lincoln Club just before ballots were mailed out. 

“This is exactly what voters are tired of—dark money groups trying to buy local elections while hiding who they are and what they want,” Paulding said. “If they’re not being honest about who’s funding these ads, what else aren’t they telling us?”

Paulding also raised concerns about his opponent, Adam Verdin, and the interests backing his campaign.

In a video posted on May 5, Mr. Verdin recently spoke at a SLO County Tea Party meeting and accepted a maximum contribution from a group that stated their primary objective for supporting Mr. Verdin was to change the County’s direction on management of the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin.    

The Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority will soon vote on a program to ensure the largest agricultural extractors pay their fair share to manage the basin. The special interests backing Mr. Verdin oppose this plan and support shifting the cost onto countywide taxpayers instead of those who are pumping the water. 

“South County taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize North County’s water management,” Paulding added. “But that’s exactly the kind of outcome these special interests backing my opponent are pushing for.”

At the same meeting, Adam Verdin elaborated on why he opposed the temporary bridge project at Cecchetti Road, stating that other bridges were a higher priority and that residents’ plea for help should not have been heeded. 

“Mr. Verdin reiterated his opposition to critical South County projects, including the repair at Cecchetti Road,” Paulding said. “From Adam’s perspective, the cut-off families, farmers, and emergency responders in Huasna and East AG were just supposed to wait since other projects were more important.”

Paulding emphasized his record of delivering tangible results for District 4, including investments in public safety, good community planning, and long-overdue upgrades to local roads and bridges.

“I’ve worked to represent this community with integrity and transparency,” Paulding said. “This election should be decided by the people who live in South County—not by outside money and misleading attacks.”

Election Day is Tuesday, June 2. Paulding encouraged all residents to make their voices heard as the District 4 Supervisor race will not carry forward to the November election. 

“Don’t let dark money and dishonest tactics decide this election,” he said. “Vote to protect South County’s future.”

LINKS

Adam Verdin accepting contribution check from group discussing North County water management

Adam Verdin speaking about Cecchetti Rd Bridge

Entire video of Adam Verdin speaking to North County Tea Party