Tony Strickland Claims Victory In Local Senate Race
Written by Jon Dell
Monday, 01 December 2008
Final vote count leaves no room for Jackson
to overtake the lead.
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It has been nearly one month since residents of Santa
Clarita, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties lined up to vote on election day,
and yet it was only in the last few days that a clear winner for the California
Senate 19th District seat has emerged.
Republican Tony Strickland officially defeated Democrat
Hannah-Beth Jackson in a hotly contested race for one of the two remaining
Republican seats in the state senate that prevent the Democrats from taking a
2/3 majority.
The seat was previously held by longtime Republican leader
Tom McClintock; however he vacated the seat to run for an open U.S.California,
which he won.
Congressional seat in northern
The final vote details are as follows:
Total Vote:
Strickland 203,847 –
50.2%
Jackson 202,631 – 49.8%
Votes by County:
Santa Barbara
Strickland:
58,680
Jackson: 73,708
Ventura:
Strickland: 128,507
Jackson: 116,760
Los Angeles County
(Santa Clarita)
Strickland:
16,660
Jackson: 12,193
Although early counts had Jackson
holding on to a 108 vote lead, the race came down to late counts of vote-by-mail
and provisional ballots. The vote-by-mail results brought Strickland into the lead;
however the provisional ballots, which usually favor Democrats, did not provide
enough votes for Jackson to reclaim
the lead.
On Wednesday, Jackson
conceded defeat.
Strickland will now take up his seat in the State Senate,
serving just down the hall from his wife Audra Strickland, who represents
similar territory in the California Assembly. Tony and Audra, along many
others, were set to be officially sworn into the California Legislature today.
