The historic recount of votes cast in the race for state controller will enter its second week on Monday, with the candidate who's asking for a second look still moving forward with the process — and refusing calls by some of his fellow Democrats to call it quits.
Elections officials in San Bernardino County agreed on Thursday to take a second look at votes in the race, as requested by former Assembly Speaker John Pérez. It will be the third county whose votes have been retabulated as Pérez seeks to make up the June 3 election gap of 481 votes with fellow Democrat Betty Yee, a member of the state Board of Equalization.
Yee, unless the certified results are overturned, will face Republican Ashley Swearengin, the mayor of Fresno, on Nov. 4. Pérez has asked for as many as 15 counties to recount their votes.
"We'd like to speed this thing up," said Doug Herman, campaign consultant to Pérez on Thursday evening. That may include a recount by machine, rather than continuing the tally by hand, of the remaining votes in Kern County — one of the first two counties that Pérez asked to take another look.
But the count so far has not discovered the votes Pérez needs to change the expected outcome. Parke Skelton, the campaign consultant for Betty Yee, sends emails to reporters daily with a running tally. He estimates that Pérez has, at best, picked up just two or three votes through almost the first full week of the recount.