A more recent update of this report can be accessed by clicking HERE
Election day was more than week ago, but for two candidates, the election race is far from over.
Planning Commissioner Ted Winterer moved up in votes for Santa Monica City Council seat gaining toward the five-term incumbent Bob Holbrook, who hEld only 61 more votes than his challenger as of publication deadline.
Holbrook holds a less than 0.1 percent lead as of Thursday following the Nov. 2 mid-term election, according to the County of Los Angeles Department of Registrar. Winterer increased by 25 votes leaving him at 11,855, while Holbrook held at third place with 11,916. At the close of the polls Holbrook maintained a 146-vote lead, but both have jumped in more than 1,000 votes since then.
Officials have yet to seal the fate of the final open seat with thousands of vote-by-mail ballots waiting to be counted. County officials still have about 390,000 ballots countywide to count with close to 6,000 in Santa Monica alone since the day of the election.
L.A. County officials could not confirm on Monday how many ballots are left for Santa Monica, but about thousands of votes have been added to city totals since Election Day.
Election results should be updated on Friday of this week if indeed more ballots are left to be counted, said an L.A. County Registrar official. The clerk’s office is required to have a final result within 30 days, which can come as late as Nov. 30.
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 Mayor Bobby Shriver and Council member Richard Bloom who’s seats were not up for re-election this year.
