A San Diego City Council candidate who came very close to winning a seat outright in Tuesday’s primary election saw her share of the vote slip a little in further counting Friday.

High-tech entrepreneur Barbara Bry, who approached the necessary 50 percent-plus-one on election night, was at 48.87 percent after Friday’s counting of provisional ballots by the county Registrar of Voters Office.

Businessman Ray Ellis is in second place with 34 percent and will appear on the November general election ballot if Bry cannot claim a majority.

That issue is still in great doubt, because 246,000 ballots remain to be counted. It’s unclear how many involve the race for City Council District 1, which encompasses Carmel Valley, La Jolla and University City.

The eventual winner will replace council President Sherri Lightner, who is being termed out after eight years on the panel. Her husband, Bruce, finished a distant third in the race.

Incumbent Councilmen Mark Kersey and Scott Sherman cruised to reelection, while Chris Ward, chief of staff for Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, won the election to succeed termed-out Councilman Todd Gloria.

In the other City Council race, Ricardo Flores, a staffer to Councilwoman Marti Emerald, will face environmental health advocate Georgette Gomez in a November runoff. Emerald chose not to run for reelection in a district that includes most of City Heights, the College Area and Southcrest.

–City News Service

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