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Several Monterey County races too close to call

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November 6, 2020 8:44 PM

Published November 4, 2020 11:43 AM

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION)

UPDATE 11/6/20: KION has been watching three incredibly close races in Monterey County - Seaside City Council, Del Rey Oaks City Council and Salinas City Council District 1.

Friday night, Monterey County released its first election results update since Election Night.

With 25,400 votes left to count, what changed? One close race got closer. Others are now further apart.

The race for Salinas City Council District 1 is a tie, as of Friday night.

Incumbent Scott Davis and Carla Viviana Gonzalez are exactly even with 2,011 votes each.

Del Rey Oaks' vote-for-two City Council race had the 2nd and 3rd place candidates separated by ONE vote as of Wednesday morning. That gap has widened a bit. Scott Donaldson now has 433 votes and Gary Kreeger has 407.

In Seaside's vote-for-two City Council race, the candidates in 2nd, 3rd and 4th remain very close.

Alexis Garcia-Arrazola increased his lead over Regina Mason from five to 103 votes. Tinisha Dunn is 157 votes back of Garcia-Arrazola.

INITIAL REPORT (11/4/20):

Several local government races are too close to call in Monterey County after the last round of results Tuesday night.

Now, some candidates are left waiting to see if the results will lean in their favor as more ballots are counted.

In Seaside, the second seat on the City Council is separated by just .04%. The two candidates currently fighting for that spot after the latest round of results Tuesday night are Alexis Garcia-Arrazola and Regina Mason who are separated by just five votes.

Garcia-Arrazola is currently in the lead hoping to be a voice for Latino residents, which make up 43 percent of the city’s population.

“It’s very humbling because this is my first race and we are taking a lead in this one, and more than anything, we are hopeful that we will continue fighting and that the outcome will be successful for us," Garcia-Arrazola said.

If elected, he would be the youngest Latino to serve on the city council in seaside’s history at 23 years old. Some of the big issues he hopes to tackle include business development, climate change and community diversity.

His opponent, Regina Mason, hopes to bring her background as a social worker to the council.

She told KION Wednesday evening that she is hoping she'll be able to garner more uncounted ballots. She wants to know more about the total number of ballots left to count in the race, but says she believes she has just as good a chance.

If elected she said she has plans for a first 30 days recovery plan to work together to get through the pandemic and solve issues surrounding economic issues and food insecurity, among other items.

Over in Salinas, the District 1 City Council race is also close with just about 3 points separating newcomer Carla Viviana Gonzalez and incumbent Scott Davis. Gonzalez is about 130 votes behind Davis after the latest results but she’s still hopeful.

“We are just beyond grateful to have made it this far and to have put up a good fight. That’s what happens when you face an incumbent with more money and more name recognition and we gave it our best and clearly that’s showing," Gonzalez said.

If elected, this high school teacher says she's hoping to tackle issues surrounding education, the housing crisis and city spending on policing.

Incumbent Scott Davis has served on the city council for 4 years. According to his candidate statement, through his efforts, "over $50 million in funding has been brought to District 1, nearly 50% of our streets have been redone, the E. Laurel sidewalk project is fully funded, as well as the Boronda Road expansion." If re-elected, he writes that he will continue to work just as hard.

We reached out to Davis for comment, but have not heard back from him yet.

Another close race in Del Rey Oaks. While Kim Shirley is in the top spot after the latest results, there is just one vote between Scott Donaldson and Gary Kreeger for the second seat. About 40 votes separate the top spot from the second and third spot as well, so the race is tight.