A Santa Ynez Valley candidate is wearing the crown of 64th annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo Queen, as her sponsor maintains a stranglehold on the title.

Samantha Garley, sponsored by the Santa Ynez Valley Elks Recreation Inc., raised $262,564 to grab first place.

The Los Olivos resident's win continues the seemingly unbeatable winning streak, starting in 1997, by the Santa Ynez Valley Elks Recreation Inc.

This year marked the smallest field of candidates in recent years - only four, instead of six or seven. Each dollar raised during the six-week campaign counted as a vote for the candidates vying for the 2007 Elks Rodeo Queen crown.

The 2007 fundraising campaign pushed the amount raised over the 64 years above the $10 million mark, according to the Santa Maria Elks, which donates that money to youth recreation programs.

“It was a lot of work and a lot of fun and it was all worth it,” Garley said following her coronation Friday night. “It's a good feeling, because no matter who wins, it's all for a good cause.”

Garley succeeds 2006 Rodeo Queen Morgan Stevenson, who represented the Santa Ynez Valley Elks Youth Recreation and raised $274,356 last year.

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Brittney Wood, 17, of Santa Maria, finished as runner up after raising $113,025 with the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Maria Valley.

“It's a bummer for me,” Wood said, also commending Garley's efforts. Though she followed Garley's amount by less than half, Wood said her family and friends are still proud of her “because this is the most we've ever raised.”

The quartet collected $410,679 this year, putting the amount raised over six decades at $10,284,862. In 2006, the six candidates raised $666,767.

“For youth recreation, you can't put a value on it,” said John Glines, chairman of the Elks Queen committee. “For some organizations, this is their only budget.”

The other candidates were Evangelina “Eva” Marquez, 16, of Guadalupe, representing the Guadalupe Kiwanis Club; and Lindsey Brown, 16, of Santa Maria, representing Rise & Achieve Scholarship Foundation.

While the field of candidates was smaller, there was a newcomer among sponsors. This marked the first year for Rise & Achieve Scholarship Foundation.

Prior to Santa Ynez Valley's tight grip, Cuyama Valley captured the crown two years in a row in 1995 and 1996, snatching it from multi-year winner Your Orcutt Youth Organization. YOYO sat out the 2007 campaign.

Garley, daughter of Mike and Cathy Garley, is a junior at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School and plans to attend Cal Poly and major in ag business/accounting.

The new queen, joined by her court, will make her first official appearance at today's parade, which starts at 9 a.m. and travels along Broadway from Mill Street to Enos Drive.

Rodeo action begins at 2 p.m. today at the Santa Maria Elks/Unocal Event Center.

Luis Ernesto Gomez can be reached at 739-2218, or lgomez@santamariatimes.com.

June 2, 2007