Election Night Is Finally Over in Long Beach

In what could be the end to one of the most chaotic elections in Long Beach history, the City Council on Tuesday declared contractor Mike Donelon the winner by two votes in a June 7 council race that he initially appeared to have lost.

The council voted 7 to 1 to certify Donelon’s win over Tonia Reyes Uranga, whose lead vanished when several extra ballots were discovered during a June 22 recount. Councilman Warren Harwood voted against the certification, and Councilman Les Robbins was absent.

“Election night is finally over,” announced Councilman Jeffrey A. Kellogg, who chaired the council meeting in Mayor Ernie Kell’s absence.

“I sure hope it’s over,” said Donelon after the vote. “I’m ready to get to work.”

The city clerk’s office has acknowledged that a mistake was made when several ballots were inadvertently left out of the election night counting, but said the latest tally is accurate. The final count gave Donelon 2,936 votes to 2,934 for Uranga.

Donelon held a one-vote lead after the June 22 recount, but a Superior Court judge blocked the council from certifying the recount until Uranga had a chance to review several ballots that had been rejected for various reasons. After reviewing the rejected ballots, officials decided Friday that eight should have been counted. When those ballots were included, Donelon’s margin increased to two votes.

But Uranga, who led by 29 votes on election night, said Tuesday that she is not ready to concede the election. She said she is inspecting the election materials that Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien granted her access to on June 28 and will decide next week whether to challenge the results in court.

Harwood said the council should not have certified the results because there are too many unanswered questions surrounding the election, and the panel should wait until the courts can rule on any possible challenges by Uranga.

The council, by unanimous vote, also directed its legislative committee to review the entire election process in Long Beach.

The committee will consider, among other items, a recommendation by City Clerk Shelba Powell that the council delay certifying future elections for two weeks to give staff time to investigate questionable and absentee ballots.

Uranga and Donelon had been vying to represent the 7th District, which covers central and west Long Beach.

Uranga, a community activist and former president of the Long Beach Children’s Museum, would have been one of the first two Latinos elected to the council. Jenny Oropeza won a seat in the 1st District last month and will become the first Latino council member. She is scheduled to be sworn in July 19.