The second tally in the Santa Barbara City Council election on Friday showed the race for the Eastside City Council seat still too close to call.
Alejandra Gutierrez led incumbent Jason Dominguez in the 1st District race by a mere 10 votes out of 1,999 cast, which translated to 0.5 percent of the ballots counted so far. Two more ballot tallies in the vote-by-mail election will be held next week.
“Well, this is obviously stressful,” Ms. Gutierrez told the News-Press. “Not just for me, but for everyone on my team and my supporters. I am over here on the Eastside with friends and family with our fingers crossed.”
Ms. Gutierrez expressed her gratitude for the support she’s received.
“This is such an incredible city and community, and I’m excited to get back to work, win or lose,” she said.
Mr. Dominguez also said he appreciates his supporters.
“Votes are still being counted and this is an incredibly close race,” said Mr. Dominguez. “I look forward to continuing to serve our region in whatever ways I can.”
Mr. Dominguez, an attorney, has worked with the Los Angeles City Attorney, the California Attorney General, the Santa Barbara County Counsel, and as a United Nations war crimes prosecutor. Ms. Gutierrez is the director and co-founder of the Franklin Service Center, which helps Franklin School provide services such as translation, tutoring and health care.
Two more ballot counts will be held — one on Tuesday and one on Thursday, said City Clerk Services Manager Sarah Gorman.
The ballots that remain to be counted are those that were received Friday but postmarked on election day, along with provisional ballots and ballots with issues regarding signatures.
“The people with missing signatures or unmatching signatures have until Wednesday to contact our office,” said Ms. Gorman.
Ms. Gorman said a recount in the close 1st District election would have to be requested by a voter five days after the certification, which is slated to take place Nov. 15. The person requesting the recount would pay for the recount. Neither Mr. Dominguez or Ms. Gutierrez would comment on whether they would make a recount request.
In the 2nd District, primarily the Mesa, Mike Jordan has secured a victory with 37 percent of the vote in the five-way race. Mr. Jordan led Brian Campbell 1,495 to 1,118, a 377-vote lead, after Friday’s count of 4,068 ballots. Mr. Jordan will replace Councilman Randy Rowse, who has termed out of office.
Mr. Jordan has been a Mesa resident for three decades. He has more than two decades worth of experience in several agencies throughout the city and region. In addition to his current posts as a planning commissioner and city water commissioner, he serves on the board and executive committee of Hospitality Santa Barbara. In the past, he has served on the boards and executive committees of several organizations, including Downtown Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Family YMCA.
Mr. Jordan did not respond to requests for comment but posted Friday on his Facebook page “Mike Jordan For City Council.”
“Mathematically official now, here is the final ballot return with less than 100 ballots left to resolve signature or other issues,” wrote Mr. Jordan, with a screenshot of the results tally showing his lead. “Ready to go, let’s get this started…I’m looking forward to joining with them to continue to make Santa Barbara the best it can be for everyone.”
Results are available on the city’s election website, sbcityvote.com, and at Los Angeles County’s election website, https://lavote.net/home/voting-elections/current-elections/election-results.
The city of Santa Barbara contracted with Los Angeles County to handle this election.
email: stha@newspress.com
