Democrat Betsy Butler won the 53rd District State Assembly seat after a nail-biting race against Republican candidate Nathan Mintz on Tuesday.
The race has been easily won by Democrats in recent years.
For most of the night, Butler and supporters watched reports at Memphis Cafe at the Beach in Manhattan Beach that showed Butler trailing Mintz by a few percentage points.
“We’ll see what happens. It will probably be close,” Butler said at 9:30 p.m.
By 2 a.m., the tides had turned and Butler pulled down 50.3 percent of the vote, defeating Mintz with 43.1 percent. Green candidate Lisa Ann Green took up 4.3 percent, followed by Libertarian Ethan Michael Musulin with 2.3 percent.
Butler has criticized Mintz for his lack of experience in Sacramento and stressed her long-standing career working with trial lawyers and environmental and other advocacy groups.
At a pre-election meet-and-greet at the home of Manhattan Beach Councilmember Portia Cohen, Butler said that the day after she is elected, she will create an economic advisory commission composed of business, labor and environmental leaders. ER
