Coachella city council: A new addition to replace an incumbent

Incumbent mayor Steven Hernandez claimed victory in the mayoral race Wednesday morning on Facebook.

"Thank you so much Coachella for believing in me and granting me another 2 years to serve as your mayor. We have so much work to get done and we feel humbled by your vote of confidence to continue to move Coachella Forward. I want to thank everyone that was involved in my campaign especially my wife and kids for giving me unconditional support during these last three months. Thank you to my campaign team! We did it. #CoachellaCares#MovingCoachellaForward."

Hernandez added, "I also want to thank Lesly Figueroa. Lesly is a great leader for our City and ran a very successful campaign. We look forward to her continued voice in our city and look forward to working with her!"

Meanwhile, the race for Coachella city council is very close. Four candidates are seeking two seats. One of the lead vote getters is not an incumbent. Denise Delgado is shown leading in the polls.

We spoke with Delgado before the election. She said, "I think that I am experienced enough and that I have learned enough from the community to be able to represent all of you and make sure that you are part of the decision making."

Following the results from Election Day, Delgado remained very hopeful.

"I hope that I have the opportunity to serve Coachella residents and work for them and deliver for them," Delgado told News Channel 3's Taban Sharifi.

In second place in the race is incumbent Emmanuel Martinez. Neftali Galarza is trailing Martinez by less than 100 votes with many left to be counted.

Galarza wants to give back to his community. Martinez has been on council since 2008.

We spoke with Martinez before the election. He said, "I’m going to continue to serve because I am very passionate about my city and trying to make it a better place for not only my kids but everybody’s children and everybody, young and old."

Martinez spoke with News Channel 3 on Wednesday. He remained optimistic that he will remain in the council.

"We are sticking to the trend that we've seen so far. I am hopeful that we will continue to serve and I am humbled by that potential opportunity," Martinez said.

If Delgado claims victory she will replace incumbent Philip Bautista on Coachella City Council. Just