Long Beach election results: Updated tally shows Austin with just over half the vote

Long Beach Councilman Al Austin is still on pace to win re-election without any need for a runoff vote, an updated tally from the city’s Tuesday primary election shows.

Austin has 50.56 percent of votes counted in the 8th Council District, according to a count released after 5 p.m. Friday. Primary candidates need to top the 50 percent threshold by a single vote to avoid a runoff, and Austin’s 1,937 votes beat that mark by about 21 votes.

“We’re looking pretty good,” Austin said, before noting the City Clerk’s office has informed him there are still ballots to be counted in his race.

“We’re very confident that we will prevail.”

Businessman Wesley Tubow, the chief executive of EME, Inc., is currently in second place with 33 percent of the vote and would be able to move on to a runoff if the final count pushes Austin below the 50 percent threshold. He could not be immediately reached for comment after the City Clerk’s office published the new numbers.

Cal State Long Beach business manager Laurie Angel took third place in the 8th District race by eaing nearly 17 percent of the vote.

The 8th District includes Bixby Knolls, Los Cerritos and parts of North Long Beach. Voters in Long Beach’s 2nd and 6th council districts also had an opportunity to vote in competitive elections this year.

The new totals for those districts don’t change the story told by election night results published late Tuesday — contests in both districts appear headed to a runoff vote.

Runoffs are scheduled for June 7. That’s the same date when Long Beach voters are scheduled to vote on a 10-year sales tax increase proposed to finance infrastructure and public safety, as well as a companion measure that would assign 1 percent of future tax revenues to a rainy day fund. It’s also the same date as the Califoia presidential primary.

2nd Council District

Friday’s totals in the 2nd Council District continue to show Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy policy director Jeaine Pearce headed to a runoff against ITO Solutions owner Eric Gray. The latest count gave Pearce 44 percent of the vote to Gray’s 36 percent.

Gaica Interiors owner Joen Gaica finished third with 19 percent of the vote.

The district includes the Port of Long Beach, part of downtown, the East Village Arts District and neighborhoods as far east as Redondo Avenue.

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6th Council District

Incumbent Councilman Dee Andrews, ruing for a third full term as a write-in candidate, is on the cusp of avoiding a runoff in the 6th Council District with 49 percent of the vote. Erik Miller, community relations director for Operation Jump Start, is in second place and still poised to go on to a runoff vote with 27 percent of the vote.

Robert Harmon, owner of medical device startup Harmony Medical-Swanzus and Josephine Miller, partner at Pinata Fiesta Supply & Rentals, finished 14 percent and 10 percent of the vote, respectively.

The district includes neighborhoods around Long Beach Poly and parts of the Wrigley and Cambodia Town areas.

Low tuout

Nearly 13 percent of registered voters able to vote in this year’s contests actually did so. The Long Beach Unified School District and Long Beach Community College District also had elections this year.

Mayor Robert Garcia issued a statement Thursday lamenting the low tuout and declaring his intention to work with the council, City Clerk’s office and residents to increase tuout.

The mayor’s statement did not promote any specific proposals, instead asserting “all ideas should be on the table.”

Last year, Los Angeles voters agreed to ballot measures intended to improve tuout by changing election schedules to match June and November dates when state and federal contests are on ballots.

Long Beach voters rejected a similar measure, called Measure O, in 2012.