Final Vote Tally Determines Runoff

Michael Herman was assured of a place in the May 14 runoff for Redondo Beach’s District 5 City Council seat after a final tally left him 25 votes ahead of Bruce Unruh, the third-place finisher in Tuesday’s election.

Herman, a beer wholesaler, will face Joseph White, a retired construction superintendent. White emerged from the final count Thursday in first place with 333 votes, or 27.4%. The other vote totals were: 263, or 21.6%, for Herman; 238, or 19.6%, for Unruh; 198, or 16.3%, for Mary Ann Rockwell; and 184, or 15.1%, for Robe Richester.

A preliminary count Tuesday night had shown White in first place and Herman in second--apparently sending them into the two-way runoff. But Unruh trailed Herman by only 18 votes--and 49 ballots in the race remained to be counted, most of them late-arriving absentee votes.

“It feels good,” Herman said Thursday, after the final results were released. “But I’ve got to regroup now and get new strategies. (White) finished 70 votes ahead of me, and that’s a lot of votes.”