DOWNTOWN — With the vote tally complete, Bob Holbrook’s narrow victory over challenger Ted Winterer in the Santa Monica City Council race is expected to become official today.
Holbrook’s victory, by a margin of 56 votes, or .08 percent of those cast in the contest, means Santa Monica voters have returned all five sitting City Council members who were up for election to the dais.
Holbrook, who is set to be sworn in for his sixth term Dec. 7, came in third in the race for three four-year terms on the council, behind Kevin McKeown, who received the most votes, and Pam O’Connor. Terry O’Day and Gleam Davis, each of whom was appointed to the council to fill a vacancy, won two-year extensions.
It was the narrowest win for Holbrook in a Santa Monica political career marked by several close calls, including his 1998 victory over Richard Bloom by 92 votes.
“I’m happy to have won the election, that’s for sure,” he said on Monday. “I really appreciate the fact that [Winterer] and I didn’t do any negative campaigning against one another. We just went out and ran for public office the way you should.”
Election officials finished vote tallying last Wednesday, according to Efrain Escobedo, executive liaison officer with the county’s Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office. The County Board of Supervisors is expected to certify the election results at its meeting today, he said.
Holbrook received 12,775 votes to edge out Winterer, who had 12,719.
Winterer will have a window of five business days after the results are certified in which to request a recount.
Escobedo said it would cost Winterer $4,000 per day to re-count ballots and estimated about 3,000 ballots could be counted per day. Turnout in Santa Monica was 38,128, or 64 percent of the city’s 59,214 registered voters.
Winterer has the option of asking for a partial re-count of only select precincts or of only vote-by-mail ballots. A reimbursement would be made if a recount altered the outcome of the election.
Reached on Monday, Winterer declined to comment on the possibility of seeking a recount.
nickt@www.smdp.com
