The results are official.
John McCann will be seated on the Chula Vista City Council after defeating opponent Steve Padilla by two votes, according to Tuesday’s Registar of Voters Office official election results.
The final tally: McCann 18,448 votes, with 18,446 votes for Padilla.
“I just want to thank the nearly 19,000 residents that voted for me,” McCann said.
“And I’m here to serve them and looking forward to working on their issues every day that I can.”
McCann will be sworn in Tuesday, Dec. 9, with Mayor-elect Mary Salas and incumbent Councilwoman Pat Aguilar.
This will be McCann’s second go-round and third term on the City Council.
McCann replaces Councilman Rudy Ramirez, who is termed out and recently lost his bid for a seat on the Chula Vista Elementary School Board.
Although the election results are validated, there could be a re-count.
“It’s important that every vote is counted and every vote is accounted for,” Padilla said. “So I think there should be a re-count.”
McCann said he won the race outright and that a re-count won’t change the outcome.
“We welcome a re-count,” he said. “We believe every vote was counted.”
A voter in the state of California has five days from Tuesday’s certification to request a re-count. The Registrar of Voters Office then has seven days to conduct a re-count from the day a request has been made.
The requestor can decide which precincts and how many precincts and in what format those precincts will be re-counted. City Clerk Donna Norris said McCann will still be sworn into office Dec. 9 even if a re-count is in progress or has been requested.
If the re-count shows Padilla winning, a change wouldn’t go into effect until all of the ballots in the re-counted precinct are accounted for, said Michael Vu with the Registrar of Voters Office.
Vu said if Padilla were to stop a re-count without the rest of the ballots in the precint getting re-counted, then the outcome reverts back to the certified votes.
McCann then would have 24 hours to ask for a re-count if the election results changed. However, the cost for a re-count could be pretty steep.
The registrar of voters said the cost could vary, but it could be similar to the re-count by Mary Salas in June 2010 for the 40th State Senate seat against Juan Vargas.
Vu said the cost for that re-count was projected at $40,000.
Days before the certification process, Padilla sent out a press release to his supporters asking for monetary donations that would go toward the re-count efforts.
As of Wednesday, the Registrar of Voters Office said they hadn’t received a request for a re-count.
The race for seat one on the City Council was hotly contested with McCann leading Padilla on election night by 792 votes.
As the registrar’s office tallied provisional and absentee ballots in the following weeks, McCann saw his lead dwindle to a double-digit margin. Then on Nov. 26 the candidates were dead even at 18,450 votes. McCann pulled ahead in the reconciliation process.
Padilla said his race could be historic.
“This is the closest election in city history, maybe one of the closest in the county ever
McCann remains a Sweetwater Union High School trustee until Friday.
