All ballots counted in CA Assembly District 47: Wallis leads, Holstege considers recount request
A month after election day, all ballots cast for the California State Assembly District 47 seat have now been counted.
After an update by San Bernardino County this afternoon, Republican Greg Wallis leads Democrat Christy Holstege by 85 votes. While Wallis is the apparent winner, it is not officially over. Any voter can still request a recount in either county.
Total vote count: Wallis now has 84,752. Holstege now has 84,667.
Wallace told News Channel 3 late Wednesday in a statement, "I’m honored that the people have elected me to serve our community. As promised I’ll work with anyone with good ideas - Dems, reps, indies - to make real changes that make life more affordable, with more opportunity, for everyone."
Christy Holstege is not conceding or committing to a recount request, telling News Channel 3, “This is one of the closest legislative elections in California history, and we owe it to the voters to get it right. 85 votes is incredibly close in a district with 170,000 votes cast, and the difference is less than a tenth of 1%. Over the next several days our team will be closely analyzing the results and assess whether a recount is worth pursuing. Regardless of the outcome, I remain committed to our region and serving our community.”
Since the district spans through parts of both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and batches of vote totals have been spread from election night through today, the watch for results has been described as a roller coaster ride.
Check Out The Latest Local Election Results Here
Just dozens of votes have separated the candidates for weeks, with the lead candidate alternating.
Holstege led in early returns, then lost and regained the lead on November 21 as returns were posted by both counties. Holstege was up by 52 votes by Wednesday, Nov. 23. On November 29, Wallace gained a slim lead. It's been a back-and-forth that's very close. On December 1, Holstege had the lead by 13 votes at 4:00 p.m., but by 6:00 p.m. Wallis led by 20 votes. On December 2, Wallis' lead was 34 votes. By December 6, it grew to 69 votes. After an update tonight, that lead is 85 votes.
Now that San Bernardino County has completed its count of all ballots, the registrar expects to certify the final election results at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday.
From San Bernardino County:
Estimated ballots remaining to be processed:
- Mail ballots – 0
- Provisional Ballots and Conditional Voter Registration Provisional Ballots – 0
- Other (Includes unprocessed ballots that are damaged, need to be remade, or require further review) – 0
Will there be a recount?
In Riverside County, election results have been certified. Riverside County Registrar Rebecca Spencer told Peter Daut that it is the closest assembly race she has ever seen. She said should there be a recount, whoever requests it would have to put it in writing for both counties. The registrar discussed that process in the video below. On that day, she said a hand recount could take months.
47th State Assembly District
The 47th district includes much of the Coachella Valley (Except for Indio and Coachella), Yucca Valley, Banning, Beaumont, and Yucaipa. Riverside County makes up 76% of the district while 24% is in San Bernardino.
