Scott Matas elected mayor of DHS, J.R. Roberts takes PS council seat
The Riverside County Registrar’s Office has released the final results from the November 3 election.
Scott Matas was elected mayor of Desert Hot Springs by 63 votes over incumbent Adam Sanchez. And J.R. Roberts defeated incumbent Paul Lewin by 76 votes to take the second open seat for the Palm Springs City Council.
Geoff Kors won the first council seat.
Paul Lewin posted the following statement on Facebook shortly after the final numbers were released Monday afternoon:
I would like to congratulate Geoff Kors and JR Roberts for running campaigns of integrity. I wish them both well and know that they will serve the citizens of Palm Springs with distinction in the coming years. The final vote was close, with Mr. Roberts pulling in 4,785 votes and our team pulling in 4,709 votes. My deepest thanks to all of our supporters and my best wishes to JR and Geoff!
Now with Matas winning mayor of Desert Hot Springs, there are three people going forward in DHS City Council. Yvonne Parks is welcomed back on the council with 753 votes, 2nd place was Anayeli Zavala with 1,036 votes and Russell Betts won the race with 1,088 votes. The 4th place finisher was Larry Buchanan who had 713 votes 40 votes less than Parks.
City of Desert Hot Springs – Mayor
7/7 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
SCOTT MATAS 1,402 51.15%
ADAM SANCHEZ 1,339 48.85%
Total 2,741 100.00%
Russell Betts won the race with 1,088 votes. The 4th place finisher was Larry Buchanan who had 713 votes 40 votes less than Parks.
City of Desert Hot Springs – City Council Member
7/7 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
JEANETTE JAIME 675 13.58%
ASIA HORTON 349 7.02%
LARRY BUCHANAN 713 14.34%
RUSSELL BETTS 1,088 21.89%
YVONNE PARKS 753 15.15%
RICHARD B. DUFFLE 357 7.18%
ANAYELI ZAVALA 1,036 20.84%
Total 4,971 100.00%
Yvonne Parks posted the following statement after the final results were released:
Thank you to all that supported me and voted in this very important election. I am more than thrilled to be back on council and working with the new mayor and other elected councilors to move this wonderful city forward!!!
City of Palm Springs – City Council Member
17/17 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
ANNA NEVENIC 1,533 7.59%
PAUL LEWIN 4,709 23.33%
DAVID BROWN 801 3.97%
J.R. ROBERTS 4,785 23.70%
JIM KING 981 4.86%
GEOFF KORS 7,377 36.55%
Total 20,186 100.00%
Original Report:
The Riverside County Registrar approximately 1,500 Provisional ballots still must be processed. An undetermined number of vote-by-mail ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day and received no later than three days after Election Day also remain to be counted. The next updated results will be posted at 6:00pm on Tuesday
Preliminary election results for Riverside County were released Tuesday just after 11 p.m., but there are still a few local races that are too close to call because over 5,000 ballots still need to be processed.
Officials at the Registrar of Voters Office said approximately 3,500 vote-by-mail, 1,500 provisional and 100 damaged ballots that require duplication are being counted and the final results will be released Friday at 6 p.m.
Geoff Kors received the most votes for Palm Springs City Council with 6,126 votes, 36.30% of the overall votes, but the race for the second seat has incumbent Paul Lewin trailing J.R. Roberts by just 262 votes.
Also, there isn’t a declared winner in the race for the mayor of Desert Hot Springs. Incumbent Adam Sanchez is trailing Scott Matas by just 30 votes.
The Desert Water Agency also has a close race to fill two seats. Incumbent Craig Ewing was the clear winner with 7,187 votes, 39.07 % overall, but Kristin Bloomer is only leading incumbent Richard Oberhaus by 481 votes.
The 5,000 ballots that haven’t been counted yet encompass all of Riverside County, so it remains to be seen if any of the Coachella Valley races will be impacted.
News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 will deliver final numbers as soon as the Registrar of Voters Office certifies the election.
Robert Moon is the new mayor of Palm Springs after receiving 3,529 votes, 36.77% of the total. Incumbent Russell Betts and Anayeli Zavala came out on top of the race for Desert Hot Springs City Council. Betts received 22.61% of the votes and Zavala received 19.77% of the total votes.
