With barely 71 votes challenger Jason Jackson is leading incumbent Jon Edney in a much-contested race for the remaining seat of the El Centro City Council, according to the latest update from the county registrar office.
Last week’s update showed Edney was gaining ground on Jackson, but as of Monday the 62-vote lead Jackson had increased to 71 votes.
There are a little more than 200 provisional votes left to count, said county elections coordinator Debra Porter, but no specifics as to which precinct they belong is available until the official results are ready.
“We’ll have the official (results) after we run the provisional (votes),” said Porter. This will happen this morning with official results ready for the afternoon, she said.
A total of 9,200 votes have been counted so far, according to county registrar Web site. More than half of those votes were mail-in votes, the Web site shows.
“It looks like the lead is too large to overcome,” said Jackson. “I’m happy and look forward to get to work and start looking at the issues that the city has.”
This was the fourth time Jackson has run for the City Council.
“I campaigned hard (and) made myself accessible to the residents of El Centro,” Jackson responded when asked about what was different in this year’s campaign.
“I think the people saw that this guy is sincere with his desires to make things better,” Jackson said referring to himself. Also, “people were ready for a change,” he said.
Once the official results are in, Jackson plans to meet with Edney to get his perspective on city issues, he said.
“He (Edney) has been a council member for eight years and certainly has (a lot) to offer,” said Jackson. “He (Edney) knows what has been going on and what happened over the eight years,” he said. “It wouldn’t hurt to be able to sit down with him.”
Jackson is already working, he said, and will meet in the upcoming days with the city manager and the city attorney “to see what the parameters are of what I can or can’t do.”
The swearing-in ceremony will be scheduled after the official results are available, said El Centro City Clerk Diane Caldwell.
Staff Writer Alejandro Davila can be reached at 760-337-3445 or adavila@ivpressonline.com
Last week’s update showed Edney was gaining ground on Jackson, but as of Monday the 62-vote lead Jackson had increased to 71 votes.
There are a little more than 200 provisional votes left to count, said county elections coordinator Debra Porter, but no specifics as to which precinct they belong is available until the official results are ready.
“We’ll have the official (results) after we run the provisional (votes),” said Porter. This will happen this morning with official results ready for the afternoon, she said.
A total of 9,200 votes have been counted so far, according to county registrar Web site. More than half of those votes were mail-in votes, the Web site shows.
“It looks like the lead is too large to overcome,” said Jackson. “I’m happy and look forward to get to work and start looking at the issues that the city has.”
This was the fourth time Jackson has run for the City Council.
“I campaigned hard (and) made myself accessible to the residents of El Centro,” Jackson responded when asked about what was different in this year’s campaign.
“I think the people saw that this guy is sincere with his desires to make things better,” Jackson said referring to himself. Also, “people were ready for a change,” he said.
Once the official results are in, Jackson plans to meet with Edney to get his perspective on city issues, he said.
“He (Edney) has been a council member for eight years and certainly has (a lot) to offer,” said Jackson. “He (Edney) knows what has been going on and what happened over the eight years,” he said. “It wouldn’t hurt to be able to sit down with him.”
Jackson is already working, he said, and will meet in the upcoming days with the city manager and the city attorney “to see what the parameters are of what I can or can’t do.”
The swearing-in ceremony will be scheduled after the official results are available, said El Centro City Clerk Diane Caldwell.
Staff Writer Alejandro Davila can be reached at 760-337-3445 or adavila@ivpressonline.com
