SHOCK - 530 votes apart with 52,000 ballots to be counted

GOP Assemblyman Jeff Gorell
Jeff is a Lt. Commander in the Navy Reserve.

It Ain't Over Yet

• This is one of those solid middle class districts that are a must win if the GOP is to continue to exist as a viable party.
• What is shocking is how narrow the race is when the GOP has everything in the world going for them. That speaks loudly about how middle class voters look at the GOP.

Update  -  The Republican is losing ground in the counting and in now 1,000 plus votes behind.

In one of the nation’s closest and most closely watched races for the House of Representatives, Democrat Rep. Julia Brownley is locked in a tight contest with Republican Assemblyman Jeff Gorell to represent the 26th Congressional District which includes Ventura County and western Los Angeles County.

Semi-official results from Tuesday’s election showed Brownley with 50.2 percent of the vote, with 63,811 votes, to Gorell’s returns of 49.8 percent and 63,281 votes — a margin of 530 votes.

Gorell has refused to concede the election, which became a battleground race in the national contest between Republicans and Democrats over control of the House reports the Los Angeles Daily News.

Both sides have observers looking to oversee the processing of uncounted ballots. Officials estimate there are more than 52,000 vote-by-mail and provisional ballots left to be tallied.

“We won election night and are confident we will win when the process is played out,” Brownley spokeswoman Rachel Estrada said. “But we do want to make sure all votes are counted.”

Gorell aides said they also will be closely monitoring the processing of the ballots.

Republicans have been in control of the House but were looking to expand their numbers to beyond the record 246 it had at the end of World War II.

Democrats put a lot of money and effort in trying to keep Brownley in office including a get-out-the-vote rally last week with former President Bill Clinton in a district with a long history of being represented by Republicans.

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School and an expert in campaign law, said she believes the Brownley-Gorell race says more about the district.

“I think it is an example of having a competitive district in an area that has always been more right of center,” Levinson said. “I think, from the start, everyone thought this would be a toss-up race and Gorell has proven to be a palatable Republican for California.”