Port Commissioner Scott Peters maintained his slim lead over Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, in the latest vote count released Thursday by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters office.
The new figures reflect the addition into the count of around 100,000 provisional and mail-in general election ballots. Another 375,000 still need to be tallied.
Peters leads the congressman by 814 votes out of some 210,000 cast. Democrats have been trying to oust Bilbray for years, and are closing in on success thanks to Tuesday night's electoral wave and redistricting that sent the incumbent into unfamiliar territory.
In another close race, Solana Beach Councilman Dave Roberts maintained his narrow margin over Bilbray's chief of staff, Steve Danon, in their battle to succeed retiring Supervisor Pam Slater-Price.
Roberts, a Democrat like Peters, posted a net gain of two votes during the day's count to lead by 1,898, out of around 130,000 votes in their North County coastal district. The winner will become the first new supervisor since 1995.
Seiler told City News Service that counting could take a few weeks. Updated vote totals will be posted online at sdvote.com around 5 p.m. each work day, she said.
It could be late next week before the large number of uncounted ballots is whittled well down, she said.
-City News Service
