Narrow margin in 47th Assembly District mirrors their 2022 race decided by 85 votes
If the movie “Groundhog Day” took place on Election Day, it might be set in California’s 47th Assembly District.
Just like Bill Murray’s weatherman character in the 1993 comedy, Democrat Christy Holstege and Assemblymember Greg Wallis, R-Rancho Mirage, are reliving the same day.
Click here to SUBSCRIBE to CA Political Review
RELATED: 2024 Election Results: Holstege leads Wallis in California’s 47th Assembly district
For the second time since 2022, they’re locked in a tight race as votes continue to be counted.
Results posted on the California Secretary of State website on Sunday night, Nov. 10, show Holstege, a Palm Springs city councilmember, leading Wallis by just 283 votes — 50.1% to 49.9% — out of more than 181,000 ballots counted so far in the district spanning Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
A spokesperson for the Wallis campaign did not respond to a request for comment Monday, Nov. 11. Emma Trunkle, Holstege’s campaign manager, said via a text message Monday that the campaign had “no new updates at this time.”
Holstege leads Wallis, 53.3% to 46.7%, in the Riverside County portion of the district, but the assemblymember leads Holstege, 62.6% to 37.4%, in the San Bernardino County part of the 47th. Three in four district voters lived in Riverside County as of September.
Holstege lost to Willis by 85 votes two years ago in one of the tightest legislative races in California history. The lead seesawed back and forth between the candidates before Wallis inched ahead weeks after Election Day.
LIVE ELECTION RESULTS: See a chart of the latest vote counts
Hundreds of thousands of ballots remain to be processed in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, although it isn’t clear how many uncounted ballots there are in the 47th, which represents which represents parts of Redlands, Highland and San Jacinto along with communities in the San Gorgonio Pass, the High Desert and the Coachella Valley.
Going into September, Democrats held a voter registration edge in the 47th. Close to 40% of the district’s voters are registered Democrats, compared to 34% for the GOP.
On the campaign trail, Holstege touted her Palm Springs accomplishments, including hiring more first responders. Later in the campaign, she attacked Wallis as someone supported by far-right extremists and those who want to ban abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.
While in Sacramento, Wallis has cultivated an image as a lawmaker who works with Democrats to address issues such as homelessness, crime and the cost of living. In an online ad, his campaign accused Holstege of calling the police racist and wanting to defund law enforcement and release felons from prison early.
A Holstege win would bolster the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento. Before Election Day, Democrats held 31 of 40 state Senate seats and 62 of 80 Assembly seats as well as every statewide office in California.
The 47th isn’t the only close Inland Assembly race.
In the 58th Assembly District — Jurupa Valley, Grand Terrace and parts of Corona, Eastvale and Riverside — Republican Leticia Castillo led Democrat Clarissa Cervantes by 1,700 votes — 50.8% to 49.2% as of Sunday night.
Speak Your Mind