San Bernardino Mayor Loses Reelection Bid

Mayor Evlyn Wilcox, the city’s first woman mayor, appears to have lost her reelection bid to tough-talking former Mayor Bob Holcomb by little more than 100 votes.

Holcomb, who served as mayor for 14 years before losing to Wilcox in 1985, collected 9,051 votes, or 44.4%, while Wilcox drew 8,934 votes, or 43.8%, election officials said.

Write-in candidate Al C. Ballard, another former mayor, got 2,038 votes, or 10%.

Wilcox said she was advised that some of the write-in ballots might be challenged because they could include votes for more than one candidate.

Wilcox, 63, president of a temporary employment agency, had a committee-oriented approach that contrasted sharply with Holcomb’s self-described “hard-nosed” style as mayor. During her tenure, the city’s crime rate jumped to No. 27 in the nation.