Riverside County counted more ballots Monday, but there were again none added to the totals for Palm Springs City Council in District 1. The two candidates remain 56 votes apart.
As of the latest tally Monday evening, roughly 94,000 vote-by-mail and provisional ballots remain to be counted. That number was 121,000 24 hours prior. In the District 1 race, Challenger Scott Nevins continues to lead Mayor Pro Tem Grace Garner, 1,180 votes to 1,124. That means for the second straight day there was no movement from Saturday evening, when Garner had gained 122 votes to Nevins’s 110.
Until the District 1 vote tally started to stall Sunday, Garner had been inching closer to Nevins — first trailing by 129 votes, then 73, then 68, and now 56. Nobody knows how many ballots remain to be tallied in District 1 and it could be days before elections officials finish their count. The next update should be provided Tuesday evening.
City Council races in district 2 and 3, where no incumbent was running, are not as tight, and also showed no additional votes tallied on Monday. Jeffrey Bernstein continues to lead Renee Brown in the District 2 race, 1,643 votes to 1,336. In District 3, Ron deHarte now leads Joy Meredith 1,633 to 853.
With new councilmembers guaranteed in districts 2 and 3, and current District 4 Councilmember Christy Holstege in a comfortable lead in her State Assembly bid, a new majority of the five-member Palm Springs City Council is all but assured. Until we know the outcome of the Garner-Nevins race, however, we won’t know whether there will be a new supermajority.
If Garner were to pull off a win, she would make history as the first Latina mayor in city history — a position she would be elevated to in December since she is currently mayor pro tem.
