Losers Won’t Contest Two Close Races

Two city council races in Orange County were decided by fewer than 50 votes each, according to the final count for all local elections posted Tuesday by the registrar of voters’ office.

Both of the candidates who suffered the narrow defeats--one a four-year incumbent--said they would accept the razor-thin results and would not push for recounts.

While there were no last-minute surprises in the final tabulations, the figures showed two cliffhangers--one in Costa Mesa, where incumbent Heather K. Somers lost her council seat by a mere 32 votes, and another in La Palma, where Mayor Alta Duke squeezed by challenger Richard Lutz with only 43 votes to spare.

Orange County Registrar Rosalyn Lever certified the election in the county early Tuesday morning, after the remaining absentee and provisional ballots had been counted. The final tally showed there were 978,285 ballots cast in Orange County in the election, nearly 19% of them absentee votes.

While there were tight votes in a number of contests--76 votes separated winner from loser for a seat on the Laguna Beach Unified School District and 101 ballots for a spot on the Yorba Linda City Council--the La Palma and Costa Mesa council races were the only ones that could have possibly been affected by absentee ballots, Lever said.

“Others may appear to have been close, but they really weren’t,” she said.

Neither Somers or Lutz considered asking for a recount, despite their narrow losses.

“It’s extremely expensive for one thing. It could cost me up to $1,600 per day for a four- or five-day count,” said Somers, who served four years on the Costa Mesa City Council and has not decided if she will run again.

Like most Americans, Lutz said he had been following the recount in Florida for the past two weeks, but said that “asking for a recount in my race wouldn’t change a thing.”

“I trust the registrar’s office. Everyone’s told me that they may be slow in counting the votes, but they’re thorough and accurate. Recounts are in fashion, but for me it would be a waste of time and money,” Lutz said.

He was elected to a four-year term on the Anaheim Union High School District board in 1987 but was defeated when he ran for reelection. Lutz said he was unsure whether he will run for public office again.

The final vote totals also showed that Santa Ana Unified School District board member Nativo V. Lopez was reelected by a margin of 421 votes over fellow incumbent Audrey Yamagata-Noji.

Santa Ana voters picked three school board candidates from a field of nine. Yamagata-Noji lost her seat to newcomer Sal Tinajero, who was the top vote-getter.

In the Laguna Beach school board race, El Hathaway was elected by 76 votes over Lee Winocur Field.

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Close Calls

With the election results certified Tuesday, city council cliffhangers in Costa Mesa and La Palma casme to a conclusion with candidates losing by razor=thin margins.

COSTA MESA CITY COUNCIL

Vote For: 3 Completed Precincts: 81 of 81

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Vote Count Percentage CHRIS STEEL 10,664 14.4% LIBBY COWAN 10,276 13.9% KAREN L ROBINSON 9,224 12.5% HEATHER K SOMERS 9,192 12.4%

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LA PALMA CITY COUNCIL

Vote For: 3 Completed Precincts: 10 of 10

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Vote Count Percentage PAUL F WALKER 3,049 24.7% CHRISTINE BARNES 2,607 21.1% ALTA DUKE 2,454 19.9% RICHARD LUTZ 2,411 19.6%

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Source: OC Registrar of Voters