Runoff Race Likely As Councilman Gil Cedillo's Vote Count Slips

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo's re- election lead dropped below 50 percent Tuesday in an updated tally of ballots from the March 7 election, a result that could trigger a runoff against his challenger, Joe Bray-Ali, if it holds.

Unofficial results released following the 1st Council District election initially showed Cedillo with 50.98 percent of the vote and an update on Friday saw him increase his lead to 51.28 percent.

But another update of vote-by-mail ballots released Tuesday afternoon saw Cedillo drop to 49.51 percent -- below the 50 percent plus one required to avoid a May runoff -- with Bray-Ali at 38.14 percent. All of the votes are scheduled to be counted by the end of the month.

Bray-Ali praised the results on Facebook, and said in a posted video, "This looks like we are heading to a runoff."

Bray-Ali said he had representatives at the registrar's office monitoring the count, and only about 1,000 votes remain outstanding in the district after the latest update.

City News Service; Photo: Public Domain