“Needing more than 60 percent of whatever ballots remain in D3,” I wrote Friday night, “if Roberts doesn’t concede the race within the next few days, he is simply in denial.”
County Supervisor Roberts today faced the reality of being up by about 2,200 votes in early returns on election night, then watching the lead evaporate day by day as late mailed and provisional ballots were counted. Challenger Kristin Gaspar now leads by over 1,200 votes with very few ballots left to tally in District 3.
Number crunching ten days ago resulted in a prediction that Gaspar would catch up to Roberts and ultimately win the race.
Press Release from Gaspar…
Gaspar Wins Supervisor Race
Lead now stands at 1,242
(Encinitas, Calif.) – With more than 225,000 votes counted Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar is the winner of the race for San Diego County Board of Supervisors District 3. Gaspar trailed incumbent Supervisor Dave Roberts on election night by 3 percent, but as absentee and provisional ballots were counted, Gaspar consistently closed the gap and after more than two weeks of counting, took an insurmountable lead, which has now grown to 1,242 votes.
“I’m incredibly proud of the campaign we ran and so grateful to the many people who helped me raise money, walk precincts, and put up signs and get our message out,” said Gaspar, the first elected mayor of Encinitas and the first candidate to defeat an incumbent on the Board of Supervisors in 32 years.
Supervisor Roberts called Supervisor-elect Gaspar this morning to offer his congratulations and graciously offered his assistance in the transition.
“I ran on a platform of fiscal accountability, support for public safety, and addressing our inadequate mental health programs and exploding homeless crisis,” said Gaspar. “There will be a lot of change at the County in the next four years and I’m looking forward to getting to work on those issues and make a difference for our taxpayers.”
Gaspar will be officially sworn in on January 2, 2017.
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Comments 3
Also received by Rostra from the Roberts campaign:
I just returned from Disneyland after spending the Thanksgiving holiday there with Wally and our amazing kids.
I want to convey my gratitude for your friendship, dedication, support, patience and encouragement as we have closely watched the daily results as more than 226,000 ballots were counted in the campaign for San Diego County Supervisor.
On Election Night we were close to 2,300 votes ahead. As the vote by mail and provisional ballots were verified and tallied by Registrar of Voters Michael Vu and his staff over the last 20 days, Kristin Gaspar has gained enough votes to now lead by 1,242 votes.
It appears that Kristin Gaspar has won the election by half a percent (.54%) with the majority of ballots now tabulated in our district. I called Kristin this morning to congratulate her and offer my sincere help in transitioning the office to her between now and early January when she takes office.
It is difficult to lose any election but particularly one as hard fought and rigorous as this one was. But we can all stand tall.
“It is because of your time, your donations and your hard work, that I came so close to serving another four years on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Thank you from the bottom of my heart .
“I am so proud and grateful to have been given the honor of serving as your County Supervisor. I am looking forward to continuing to work to fulfill our vision for a prosperous San Diego County that protects our quality of life today and for future generations.
As we move forward, we must come together and heal as a community and as a nation.
I am very aware of the difficulties we will face going forward. I want to encourage you to show conviction, compassion and dedication to your ideals during the challenging times ahead.
Only together will we fight and secure a brighter future for all of our families. From my family to yours, I wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season.
With gratitude,
Dave Roberts
SD Rostra donated to Dave Roberts?
WC,
Seriously? Anyone can go to just about any campaign website and sign up to receive communications, such as press releases and/or missives like this. That’s how most news entities hear the latest from campaigns. In this case, that’s how Rostra was the first today with the concession story — An email from the Gaspar campaign, no doubt combined with the fact that Barry Jantz may have been anticipating a concession. The Roberts email followed later and we posted it.