With three Democrats to choose from–and no Republican candidate–we still don’t have a winner in the 55th Assembly District race
Local website LBPost.com asked an interesting question on its website yesterday, as voters headed off to cast their ballots in the 55th Assembly District race:

“Could Republicans Make the Difference in the 55th?”

The answer is no–but it’s a very good question, and it’s one which, to our knowledge, no other local news outlet asked in precisely this manner.

LBPost’s Randy Terrell explained: “When Republican Evelyn Robertson failed to qualify for the ballot in the race to replace [now-Congresswoman] Laura Richardson for the 55th Assembly District, she may have unknowingly left Republicans with more voting power than they otherwise would have.”

But in yesterday’s race, with three Democrats to choose from, local Republicans just couldn’t bring themselves to be our masters and pick us a winner. (Or so it would seem.)

The contest, you’ll recall, pitted Los Angeles Community College Trustee Warren Furutani against two other Dems: Carson Councilman Mike Gipson, who ran second, and perennial hopeful Mervin Evans, who placed fifth and last–behind Libertarian Herb Peters in third place and Independent Charlotte Sadiyah Gibson, a nurse from Long Beach in fourth.

Peters earned 5.75 percent of the vote, but Furutani and Gipson netted just 49.24 percent and 38.24 percent respectively–each falling short of the 50 percent-plus-one needed for an outright victory.

Which most likely means that, once provisional and absentee ballots are counted and the election results are certified, Furutani will face off against Peters and Gibson in a February run-off election–at our expense.

Sigh!

Tags: 55th Assembly District, California, Charlotte Sadiyah Gibson, Evelyn Robertson, Herb Peters, laura richardson, Long Beach, Mervin Evans, MIKE GIPSON, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas, Warren Furutani