As vote counting continued across California, there were small shifts in key state and local races, with incumbent Rep. Mike Levin’s margin increasing and controversial Measure C holding onto a slight lead.
On Friday afternoon, Levin had 52.1% to former San Juan Capistrano Mayor Brian Maryott’s 47.9%, a higher margin for the Democratic incumbent than on Election Night. Mail ballot counting for the 49th Congressional District race continues in both Orange and San Diego counties.
In the 38th state Senate District, which also spans both counties, Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat, increased her lead over Republican challenger Matt Gunderson, an Orange County auto dealer, to 51.6% to 48.4%.
The San Diego County Registrar of Voters counted an additional 100,000 ballots on Thursday and 75,000 on Friday, with about 325,000 still to go.
After the latest batch, Measure C to remove Midway District height limits increased its narrow lead by 0.4 points to 50.6% to 49.4%.
In the race for the 76th Assembly District, incumbent Democrat Brian Maienschein flipped back into the lead at 50.7% to Republican Kristie Bruce-Lane’s 40.3%.
In a fifth close race, the contest for Mayor of Chula Vista, City Councilman John McCann’s lead over Democratic challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar has dropped by over a percentage point from election night to 53.95% to 46.05%.
“Tonight we closed the percentage gap in the race for mayor, and we will continue to,” said a Campa-Najjar campaign spokesman on Thursday.
The next update in local vote counting is expected around 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Updated at 8:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 11, 2022