Election Ballots Still Being Counted: Barbara Bry passes Scott Sherman for second slot in San Diego mayoral runoff

NOTE: See this more recently updated story:

Election Update: Barbara Bry widens lead to 444 votes over Scott Sherman for second slot in San Diego mayoral runoff
lajollalight.com/news/story/2020-03-18/bry-widens-lead-to-169-votes-over-sherman-for-second-slot-in-san-diego-mayoral-runoff

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Barbara Bry passed Scott Sherman on Monday for the second slot in a November runoff for San Diego mayor, and Bry seems likely to keep the spot, based on how the count of late-arriving ballots has trended since the primary.

The candidate who secures the second slot in the runoff will face Assemblyman Todd Gloria, who took first place in the primary by a wide margin. Bry and Sherman are both on the City Council.

Bry now leads Sherman by nine votes after trailing him by 3,063 votes the morning after the primary. Bry has gained on Sherman in each nightly update from the county Registrar of Voters.

The lead dropped from 3,063 to 2,140 on March 5, then to 2,019 on March 6, 1,701 on March 7, 1,264 on March 8, 903 on March 9, 836 on March 10, 758 on Wednesday, 678 on Thursday and 337 on Friday. And on Monday night, Bry pulled ahead.

There are still 37,000 late-arriving countywide ballots left to be counted, just over 10 percent of the 350,000 that were remaining the morning after the primary.

It is not known how many of the 37,000 are from city voters. The registrar said the next update would come at 5 p.m. Tuesday “or later.”

If the margin is particularly small, either side might request a recount.

Bry and Gloria are Democrats and Sherman is a Republican.

Campaign officials say the late-arriving votes are trending in Bry’s direction because more Democrats than Republicans delayed casting their ballots because of uncertainty regarding the Democratic presidential primary.

The new ballots added Monday to candidate totals also changed the size of the leads of two candidates who are in second place in separate races for Council District 1 and Council District 3.

In District 1, Will Moore’s lead over Aaron Brennan shrank slightly from 744 votes to 728 votes on Monday for the second slot in the November runoff. The candidate who ends up securing second place will face Joe LaCava, who finished first in the primary by a wide margin.

In District 3, Toni Duran’s lead over Chris Olsen increased from 1,056 votes to 1,065 votes on Monday for the second slot in the November runoff. The candidate who secures second place will face Stephen Whitburn, who finished first in the primary by a wide margin.