Election results: Holstege retakes razor-thin lead over Wallis for Assembly seat
With just a few ballots remaining to be counted, Democrat Christy Holstege retook her lead Wednesday against Republican Greg Wallis by 21 votes in the race for a seat in the California State Assembly that covers parts of the Coachella Valley.
Holstege, a member of the Palm Springs City Council, was leading in initial results on Election Day, but she and Wallis have been separated by razor-thin margins in recent weeks as more ballots have been counted. Wallis, a staff member for retiring Assemblymember Chad Mayes, had a 12-vote lead before the latest update Wednesday from San Bernardino County.
The vote count update Wednesday showed Holstege with 84,455 votes to 84,434 for Wallis. Roughly 500 mail ballots and 500 provisional ballots in Riverside County were still to be processed, with another update expected Thursday when the registrar of voters certifies the results.
Part of the district is also in San Bernardino County, which had 2,500 mail ballots remaining, plus 1,000 provisional ballots and 150 other ballots that need to be reviewed. The San Bernardino County registrar of voters said it planned to issue another vote count update Thursday afternoon.
The fact there are more ballots remaining in San Bernardino County than Riverside County could favor Wallis, given that he so far has been winning about 64% of votes in San Bernardino, while Holstege has had an 8% edge in Riverside County. However, it is not known how many of the remaining ballots to be counted come from Assembly District 47 as both counties contain other Assembly districts.
California does not have automatic recounts but allows anyone, including candidates and members of the public, to pay for one. When asked Wednesday by The Desert Sun if she may request a recount depending on the vote margin, Holstege said "we are waiting on final results." Wallis did not respond to a request for comment on possible next steps.
A spokesperson for the Riverside County registrar of voters said it typically costs about $1 per ballot to conduct a recount. In Assembly District 47, that would equate to roughly $130,000 for a full recount in Riverside County, home to just under 80% of the district's voters.
The newly constituted 47th District, a result of last year's redistricting, includes parts of the western and central Coachella Valley. It covers much of what was inside the previous 42nd District and also portions of San Jacinto and Hemet, plus Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, La Quinta, Idyllwild and an area extending east nearly to Desert Center.
Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com or on Twitter @tomcoulter_.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Election results: Holstege takes 21-vote lead over Wallis for Assembly
