Alejandra Gutierrez Still in the Lead

The Tuesday tally is in, and Alejandra Gutierrez remains in the lead for District 1 — Santa Barbara’s Eastside — in the race for City Council. She has 960 votes, 14 votes ahead of incumbent City Councilmember Jason Dominguez, who has 946, in a race that remains too close to call.

In the election held November 5, results have trickled in, coming from Norwalk where ballots have been sent to be tallied. Dominguez won the first round announced election night, but Gutierrez passed him up last Friday with just 10 votes and holds on to her lead today.

In District 2, the only other contested council seat, Michael Jordan holds his lead over closest rival Brian Campbell, 1,507 votes to 1,126.

So far, of the 16,881 ballots mailed to District 1 and 2 voters, 6,140 were returned. Of those, 6,073 have been tallied. The 67 still to be counted are in search of voter signatures, which are required on mail-in ballots. According to Sarah Gorman, who presides over this fall’s election for the city, the next total coming on Thursday would include any ballots with newly confirmed signatures.