Dornan-Sanchez Battle Not County’s Only Cliffhanger

Although ballots were still being counted on election night, Denise Keller went to bed confident of victory in her first try for public office.

Now Keller is biting her nails as she awaits the final result in her race for a seat on the Brea Olinda Unified School District board. And she’s hoping for a tiny miracle.

As absentee ballots were being counted this week, Keller was losing to nine-year incumbent Bernie P. Kilcoyne by five votes.

“Bernie increased his lead by three votes” Wednesday, Keller said Thursday. “He had been ahead by only two votes. Now he’s doubled his lead.”

Kilcoyne, who manages to find humor in his cliffhanger with Keller, deadpanned: “If this race proves anything, it’s that every vote counts.”

Since the Nov. 5 election, most of the attention has been focused on the battle between Rep. Robert K. Dornan and Democratic challenger Loretta Sanchez in the 46th Congressional District race.

But the Dornan-Sanchez race is just one of several in the county in which the balance of victory hinges on yet-to-be-counted absentee ballots. In five other contests, the candidates are separated by only a handful of votes, and the races are still too close to call, said officials at the Orange County registrar of voters office. The final tallies will not be known until Nov. 26, after all the absentee ballots are counted.

As close as the Brea Olinda school board race is, it is not the tightest one in the county. Yorba Linda voters are still awaiting results in the council race. Robert L. Meador, a dentist, was trailing incumbent Barbara W. Kiley, one of the architects of Proposition 187, by three votes.

“It’s becoming a bit of a nail biter,” Meador confessed. “But it’s a friendly match. Barbara and I are friends. I told her that when the provisionals [ballots] are counted, I’m going to kick her backside. She suggested I watch mine too.”

Kiley was unavailable for comment.

By comparison, Samuel L. Johnson had a gargantuan lead--51 votes--in his contest with incumbent Sean Barrett for a seat on the Santa Margarita Water District board.

“The flip side of this is that I’m a firm believer in term limits,” said Barrett, a financial advisor. “On the other hand, it’s a disappointment. We accomplished many things and worked very hard as citizen board members. I’m not sure why the voters didn’t want me back, but I’ve got an 11-year-old son who’s happy I wasn’t reelected. At least, that’s how it’s looking right now.”

Barrett and the other candidates who were at the short end of the vote all expressed admiration for their opponents and said they knew them well.

“My friends and family are hoping I win,” said Keller, a Brea cultural arts commissioner and community volunteer. “But when [the choice] comes down to Bernie and me, it’s mixed feelings. The voters can’t lose either way.”

Kilcoyne returned the compliment: “Denise is truly a fine person. Selfishly, I’d like to win, but she would be a very good representative. I’d vote for her.”

In the other close races, incumbent L.E. “Slim” Terrell leads Alden E. Esping by 158 votes for a seat on the Anaheim Union High School District board; and former Lake Forest Mayor Marcia Rudolph leads Councilwoman Ann Van Haun by 60 votes in the City Council race.