Local News in Brief : Epple Widens Lead in Assembly Race

Democrat Robert D. Epple has widened his lead over incumbent Norwalk Republican Wayne Grisham for the state Assembly’s 63rd Assembly District seat.

Epple, a lawyer and member of the Cerritos College Board of Trustees, was leading Grisham by 206 votes--48,544 to 48,338--with some ballots remaining to be counted, county Registrar-Recorder Charles Weissburd said Monday.

Weissburd said it appears there are not enough ballots remaining for Grisham to overtake his challenger and retain his seat. Epple declared himself the winner after the Nov. 8 election when he was ahead by 87 votes.

But, as absentee, write-in and other uncounted ballots were tallied, the lead changed hands, with Grisham at one point moving ahead. Epple regained the lead Thursday.

Tony Russo, Grisham’s campaign manager, acknowledged that when the final ballots are counted, the assemblyman could be behind by as many as 250 votes. However, Russo said Grisham has not decided whether to concede victory to Epple or file a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the results.