Eleven days after votes began to be counted in the Nov. 8 General Election, the fate of two members of the Palm Springs City Council who were on the ballot, and their opponents, continues to remain in a state of suspense.
After both Riverside and San Bernardino counties reported additional counts Saturday evening, Palm Springs City Councilmember Christy Holstege, a Democrat, had her lead in the race for State Assembly in the 47th District cut to single digits over Republican Greg Wallis. Meanwhile, Mayor Pro Tem Grace Garner, seeking re-election in the city’s District 1, maintained her lead over challenger Scott Nevins, still by roughly 50 votes.
With 16,000 votes remaining to be counted in San Bernardino County and 15,000 remaining in Riverside County, both races continue to be nail-biters, with the State Assembly race appearing ripe for a recount. Holstege is leading Wallis by only nine votes — 82,828 to 82,819. Candidates and their supporters will get a bit of a break on Sunday, as the next vote counts won’t be posted until Monday evening.
In Palm Springs, Garner picked up an additional 17 votes in Saturday’s count, while Nevins picked up 15. She leads 1,429 to 1,376. She had trailed at the end of vote counting on Election Day, but has since been gaining after each subsequent vote count. She overtook Nevins after vote totals were updated Nov. 16.
In other Palm Springs City Council races, nothing has changed, as both Jeffrey Bernstein and Ron deHarte appear headed to the dais in December. Bernstein continues to lead Renee Brown in the District 2 race, 1,961 votes to 1,632 (55% to 45%). In District 3, deHarte leads Joy Meredith, 1,927 to 1,044 (65% to 35%).
Holstege is midway through her second term on the City Council as the District 4 representative. Should she win a seat in Sacramento, it would create a vacancy that would be filled by either a special election or an appointment. So far, four people have stepped up to say they would like to fill a potential vacancy.
The 47th District is new and includes only the western end of the Coachella Valley. It contains much of what was the 42nd District, a Republican stronghold for many years. Palm Springs is currently represented by Assemblymember Chad Mayes, who chose not to run for re-election in the new district. Wallis has worked for Mayes for the past seven years.
You can track the latest vote counts for the 47th District here (note that the Riverside County vote totals usually get added to the totals hours after San Bernardino’s do). You can track the Palm Springs City Council races here.
