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It could be days before District 4 voters know if Republican Tom McClintock can hang on to his razor-thin lead over Democrat Charlie Brown for the U.S. Congress seat that used to be a slam dunk for the GOP.
At 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, the California Secretary of State’s office showed McClintock leading Brown by a mere 451 votes, with plenty more to count in the northeastern California district. McClintock had 155,771 votes for 50.1 percent to Brown’s 155,320 for 49.9 percent.
As previously reported in The Union, the same 451 vote margin separated the two candidates at 2:43 a.m. with the question of counting final ballots still an issue.
Though all the district’s 807 polling place precincts reported full vote counts Tuesday night, many more mail and provisional ballots have to be tallied in the district, a Secretary of State Office spokeswoman said.
In Nevada County alone, thousands of mail ballots handed in to the county Election Office on Tuesday had yet to be counted.
As a result, the District 4 race could be decided as late as Dec. 2, the deadline for county voting canvasses.
McClintock and Brown jockeyed for position much of the night, with each candidate coming into the lead at different times. In Nevada County, Brown beat McClintock, just as he defeated John Doolittle two years ago.
But the district also encompasses El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Placer, Plumas and Sierra counties, and parts of Butte and Sacramento counties — a large pocket of conservative voters.
McClintock briefly visited Nevada County on Election Day, stopping at the Republican Party headquarters.
Brown made a brief appearance Monday at Democratic headquarters in Nevada City.
Brown spokesman Todd Stenhouse said, “It’s too close to call. We’re going to make sure that every last vote is counted.”
Though Brown handily won Nevada County, he was narrowly losing in Placer County, where Republican voters outpoll Democrats by a wide margin. Throughout the district, Republicans hold a 15 percentage point voter registration advantage over Democrats.
Despite that disadvantage, Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who has focused on veterans issues, had predicted the race for the seat would be close.
Some political pundits had considered the race a toss-up in the final days: In 2006, Brown lost the seat by a slim margin to Doolittle, who won with 49 percent of the vote.
McClintock, a former candidate for governor and other state offices, does not live in the district he represents. He is a state senator from Thousand Oaks, though his family resides in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento.
He campaigned on a platform of core Republican values, contending that his place of residence doesn’t matter to supporters.
The conservative district was left open when nine-term Congressman Doolittle stepped down amid a lobbying scandal that has dragged on for more than three years.
McClintock is well-known among California Republicans from a series of failed statewide races, including for governor in the 2003 recall, and 22 years in the Legislature.
Supporters cite his staunch opposition to taxes and the expansion of government spending. He tried to portray Brown as a liberal “yes man” for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.
Brown, helped by spending from the national Democratic Party, called McClintock a career politician who was shopping the state for a new job and had abused the perks of his office.
At 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, the California Secretary of State’s office showed McClintock leading Brown by a mere 451 votes, with plenty more to count in the northeastern California district. McClintock had 155,771 votes for 50.1 percent to Brown’s 155,320 for 49.9 percent.
As previously reported in The Union, the same 451 vote margin separated the two candidates at 2:43 a.m. with the question of counting final ballots still an issue.
Though all the district’s 807 polling place precincts reported full vote counts Tuesday night, many more mail and provisional ballots have to be tallied in the district, a Secretary of State Office spokeswoman said.
In Nevada County alone, thousands of mail ballots handed in to the county Election Office on Tuesday had yet to be counted.
As a result, the District 4 race could be decided as late as Dec. 2, the deadline for county voting canvasses.
McClintock and Brown jockeyed for position much of the night, with each candidate coming into the lead at different times. In Nevada County, Brown beat McClintock, just as he defeated John Doolittle two years ago.
But the district also encompasses El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Placer, Plumas and Sierra counties, and parts of Butte and Sacramento counties — a large pocket of conservative voters.
McClintock briefly visited Nevada County on Election Day, stopping at the Republican Party headquarters.
Brown made a brief appearance Monday at Democratic headquarters in Nevada City.
Brown spokesman Todd Stenhouse said, “It’s too close to call. We’re going to make sure that every last vote is counted.”
Though Brown handily won Nevada County, he was narrowly losing in Placer County, where Republican voters outpoll Democrats by a wide margin. Throughout the district, Republicans hold a 15 percentage point voter registration advantage over Democrats.
Despite that disadvantage, Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who has focused on veterans issues, had predicted the race for the seat would be close.
Some political pundits had considered the race a toss-up in the final days: In 2006, Brown lost the seat by a slim margin to Doolittle, who won with 49 percent of the vote.
McClintock, a former candidate for governor and other state offices, does not live in the district he represents. He is a state senator from Thousand Oaks, though his family resides in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento.
He campaigned on a platform of core Republican values, contending that his place of residence doesn’t matter to supporters.
The conservative district was left open when nine-term Congressman Doolittle stepped down amid a lobbying scandal that has dragged on for more than three years.
McClintock is well-known among California Republicans from a series of failed statewide races, including for governor in the 2003 recall, and 22 years in the Legislature.
Supporters cite his staunch opposition to taxes and the expansion of government spending. He tried to portray Brown as a liberal “yes man” for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.
Brown, helped by spending from the national Democratic Party, called McClintock a career politician who was shopping the state for a new job and had abused the perks of his office.
