With nearly all ballots counted, Republican Greg Wallis took a 12-vote lead Tuesday night against Democrat Christy Holstege in a tight race for a seat in the California State Assembly.
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.
The latest vote count updates Tuesday showed Wallis with 84,420 votes to Holstege’s 84,408. Roughly 1,000 ballots in Riverside County were still being processed Tuesday, with another update expected Thursday upon the certification of election results by the registrar.
The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters said it plans to have another vote count update Wednesday afternoon, though it’s unclear how many additional ballots still must be processed.
The newly constituted 47th District includes parts of the western and central Coachella Valley. It includes 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.
Much of the area has been represented by Chad Mayes, a Republican turned independent, since 2014. Wallis has served as the district director in Mayes’ office for several years.
While California does not have an automatic trigger for a recount in its elections, any voter who’s willing to pay may request one, though it’s unclear if that will be the case in the Assembly District 47 race.
Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter @tomcoulter_.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Election results: Wallis takes 12-vote lead over Holstege with few ballots left
