Oceanside City Councilmember Ryan Keim’s slim lead over incumbent Mayor Esther Sanchez fell again Wednesday to a mere 71-vote difference with the latest results released from the Nov. 5 election.
His margin for the mayor’s job previously fell to 239 votes Monday from an earlier lead of 591. About 77,000 ballots countywide remain to be counted, with the next update expected by 6 p.m. Friday, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
Keim is a former Oceanside police officer appointed to a vacancy on the council in January 2019 and then elected to a four-year term in 2020. The mayor’s only opponent, he’s been ahead by a slim margin since the first results were announced.
Sanchez, an attorney and former public defender, has been on the council since 2000 and was first elected mayor in 2020.
Oceanside’s other contests are not nearly so close.
Incumbent City Treasurer Victor Roy led his two opponents in the early results, but he slipped into second place by the end of last week.
Phyllis Dominguez, a small business owner and 22-year Oceanside resident, increased her advantage over Roy to more than 800 votes with Wednesday’s results. Jack Fernandes remained in third place.
Two Oceanside City Council races have not changed with additional results.
Jimmy Figueroa, a local nonprofit leader, was more than 1,300 votes ahead Wednesday of the nearest other candidate, Laura Bassett, for the District 3 seat now held by Keim. Other candidates in that district are Tom DeMooy and Austin Sorensen.
In District 4, incumbent Peter Weiss was about 3,200 votes ahead of his nearest challenger, Amber Kae Niuatoa, followed by Omar Hashimi.
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