Richmond City Councilmember and Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles will be on the November general election ballot for the state Assembly District 15 seat because her opponent, Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb, conceded on Thursday.
As of press time, Beckles leads Kalb by 295 votes. Former Barack Obama campaign field director Buffy Wicks will also be competing for the District 15 Assembly member position, with 36,551 votes as of press time.
The race has been dubbed a “close contest” by the California secretary of state’s website, which has displayed the statewide primary election results and has been updating since June 6. On the night of the elections, Kalb was up by about 200 votes — Beckles then overtook Kalb Sunday evening by about 300 votes as more ballots were counted.
According to Kalb, the votes in Contra Costa County would not be able to make up the 295 vote difference between him and Beckles, because Beckles polled better than Kalb in Contra Costa County.
“It’s clear to everybody, and so no reason to wait until next week,” Kalb said. “The ballots will still be counted. No one’s going to stop counting them, but it’s clear now, so I don’t need to waste anybody’s time.”
