State Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, was ahead of West Hollywood Councilmember Lindsey Horvath in the race for Los Angeles County’s third supervisorial district by only a few thousand votes, according to semi-final results released on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Hertzberg, 67, had about 51% compared to Horvath’s 49%, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office.
The two candidates stayed separated by a few percentage points throughout the early counting on Tuesday, election night. While Hertzberg later opened up a 7,000-vote lead, Horvath shrunk that margin to 4,104 votes after Wednesday’s counting.
“I’m so humbled by the early returns. We are up! We built a coalition that spanned every geographic, political and demographic divide. So, let’s continue to count the votes! We are feeling good about where we are, but there are many more votes to count. Stay tuned!” said Hertzberg in a prepared statement released on Wednesday.
FILE – At a District 3, LA County Supervisors debate, Bob Hertzberg, left, gestures while answering a question, while Lindsey Horvath prepares to answer the next question from the moderator. The candidates’ forum took place on Friday, Aug. 26, at the Porter Valley Country Club in Porter Ranch. (photo by Steve Scauzillo/SCNG).
A total of 1,318,093 ballots were processed and counted but there are still “many outstanding ballots to be processed and counted,” explained the Registrar-Recorder’s Office. Yet to be counted are all vote-by-mail, conditional and provisional ballots received onElection Day.
The next ballot count update will take place on Friday, Nov. 11, with several more counting days planned stretching to Dec. 5.
The Horvath camp also played the waiting game on Wednesday after reveling in a post-election party in West Hollywood Tuesday night. Horvath, 40, said she remained optimistic her fortunes would change as more votes are counted.
“As we saw in the primary, there are still a lot of votes left to be counted. We are optimistic we will prevail when the final results are certified,” she said in a prepared statement released on Wednesday.
“There are many opportunities ahead of us to build a better L.A. County; I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work,” she said.
The winner of District 3, which covers the Westside of Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley, will succeed retiring Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on the five-member panel.
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Mark Gonzalez, chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, said there were a lot of reasons why this race is so tight, including the fact that it is an open seat with no incumbent.
He said most know Horvath from the Westside of Los Angeles, while most know Hertzberg from the San Fernando Valley.
Hertzberg may be pulling in more votes because he outspent Horvath, raising $5 million to Horvath’s $1 million, he said, and therefore was able to spend more on campaign mailers and YouTube ads than his opponent.
Gonzales said whatever the final outcome the two have similar views on issues that matter to Democratic voters in L.A. County.
“Both are Democrats and that district would be glad to have either of them,” he said.
Horvath was hoping that since younger voters voted later, their ballots may not have been counted yet. She believes the majority of those would be Horvath votes. “We are waiting to see those votes,” she said during an interview on Tuesday night.
With its $39 billion budget, the board oversees the county sheriff’s and fire departments, jails, juvenile detention, probation, public health, parks, arts programs and homeless programs.
District 3 spans 431 square miles from West Hollywood and Beverly Hills to Santa Monica and Malibu, to the San Fernando Valley.
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