“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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