The chances of having a new face on Santa Monica City Council are dropping along with the percentage of overall votes for candidate and planning commissioner, Ted Winterer, as of Nov. 24.
Incumbent Bob Holbrook continues to gain in his lead over Winterer. The gap widens between the candidates with a staggering 55 votes, although the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office has yet to make an official announcement before the holiday. Numbers still remain at barely a 1–percent difference.
Holbrook remains ahead of the challenger at third place for a full-term seat with 17.03 percent of votes. Winterer holds at 16.96 percent negligibly dropping from the previous tally. Holbrook holds 12,770 votes and Winterer has 12,715.
Final numbers are yet to be not released, nor has the county released the number of remaining ballots. Yet another tally and a final announcement are expected on Nov. 30, according to the L.A. County Registrar, the legal requirement date allotted to count the vote-by-mail ballots.
The winner will join incumbents Kevin McKeown, Pam O’Connor, Gleam Davis, and Terry O’Day as winners in this year’s election. The group as a whole will form the next Santa Monica City Council with Council member Bobby Shriver and Council member Richard Bloom whose seats were not up for re-election this year. Should Holbrook retain his seat, that council will be the same as the current roster.
The Council’s appointment for mayor is also up for another lengthy voting process, after a mere six-month stint by Shriver. While Shriver’s odds for an extension are not too shabby, the council picked him only after failing to secure a majority from several voting rounds. He won with a scathing 4-3 vote.
