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With 100% of the precincts counted, but not all of the ballots, Santa Monica mayor Richard Bloom leads Assemblywoman Betsy Butler by 218 votes. That's out of 138,342 votes already counted. The county hasn't said how many provisional and uncounted ballots it thinks it has. Both are Democrats so the outcome wouldn't shift much in Sacramento. (Update: There are 20,000 to 30,000 ballots still to be counted, the Reg-Recorder told Ryan Gierach of WeHo News.)
The Democrats feel they are on the verge of holding a super-majority in both houses of the state Legislature, depending on how other close races fall. All statewide officer holders in California are already Democrats.
Locally, in another race of interest, Raul Bocanegra defeated Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alarcon in the Valley's 39th assembly district. Bocanegra was the chief of staff to Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, who is termed out.
