Fifteen days after Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom appeared to have defeated incumbent state Assemblyperson Betsy Butler for a newly aligned coastal district, the counting and the doubting continue.
The numbers remain in Mr. Bloom’s favor, even if they have gone onto a Jenny Craig type of diet since Election Day.
He leads Ms. Butler by 79 votes, roughly one-third of his election night margin.
After 13 years as a Santa Monica City Councilman, the family law attorney led the one-term Ms. Butler, who lives in the South Bay, by 218 votes out of 140,000.
As straggling ballots are tabulated – on Tuesdays and Fridays at the County Registrar’s office, 30,000 more votes have been factored in, and the mayor’s lead has expanded and contracted.
It is calculated that of the 216,000 votes across the County, about 14,000 will affect the 50th District race.
The counting resumes on Friday morning. A final score is expected to be announced on Monday – and that may be closely followed by a call for a recount by the second-place finisher.
