The Hermosa Beach City Council election findings announced Friday afternoon caused an upset in the latest result, ousting incumbent Jeff Duclos from his once secure position in second place by moving him to fourth – potentially excluding him from a seat on the dais.
“This has been the screwiest election I’ve never seen,” said Duclos in an interview. “It is what it is, I guess, we’ll wait and see – anything is possible.”
The latest results, announced around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, kept newcomer and anti-oil candidate Nanette Barragan in first while moving pro-business advocate Carolyn Petty, who on election night was in third but by next count knocked to fourth, up to second – ahead of second time candidate Hany Fangary by just four votes. Duclos continues to trail in fourth by only seven votes.
“When I said before it’s going to be an emotional roller coaster, yes it’s going to be an emotional roller coaster – it’s crazy,” said Petty. “I think it’s amazing. We had a huge voter turnout. People participated in this election and it’s all good… I am just going to stay relatively calm, just knowing that it could change again. It just goes to show every vote counts.”
The latest vote count is final but not official. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk announced that results will be certified by Nov. 25, and on Dec. 26 the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to declare the election results official. ER
