Never mind that Bernie Parks this morning says he has been safely voted into a third term on the Los Angeles City Council and considers Tuesday’s election as settled.
[img]1088|left|Ms. Hogan-Rowles||no_popup[/img]Forescee Hogan-Rowles, his presumably defeated but not discouraged challenger, has firmly planted her feet and declared she is not going away.
“My quest is not over,” she maintains.
The final election score is “simply too close to call,” Ms. Hogan-Rowles said.
While checking her calculations, remember that this is more about Mr. Parks than about her.
Needing 50 percent plus one of ballots cast to stave off a runoff on May 17, Mr. Parks earned 50.89 percent of the vote, 1,085 more than Ms. Hogan-Rowles.
Here is how she believes she can chase him into a runoff:
“According to the City Clerk, approximately 46,000 ballots still need to be processed citywide,” she says.
“We can expect that at least 8.5 percent of those ballots are for the 8th District. That means approximately 3,910 ballots are outstanding.
“Parks currently is just 140 votes over 50 percent, 140 votes in a district with over 100,000 registered voters. Don't let anyone tell you getting involved in elections doesn't make a difference.
“What is next?
“The City Clerk's goal,” Ms. Hogan-Rowles says, “is to complete the processing of ballots within two weeks. They will not be issuing any updates, only providing final results.
“And so we wait.”
Optimists peg Tuesday, March 22, as the earliest likely date for a full count.
Ms. Hogan-Rowles recently told the newspaper that she needed just 24 hours to get over losing her only other campaign, eight years ago against the same Mr. Parks. The difference is that she barely registered in the ’03 election with 3 percent. On Tuesday, she polled 43.99 percent,
But again, her numbers probably are of secondary importance for the present.
Ms. Hogan-Rowles’s website is forescee.com
