EDITORIAL: Flood of ballots hinders call of close races EDITORIAL: Flood of ballots hinders call of close races (November 10, 2004)

As voters, driven by the intense presidential contest between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, swamped polling places in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, they left thousands of uncounted absentee and provisional ballots in their wake.

As a result, overwhelmed workers are continuing to count ballots many days after the election, leaving the final tally of one close Menlo Park race up in the air and a late-coming concession in the other.

In the race for the District 21 state Assembly seat, Midpeninsula voters waiting to find out if Democrat Ira Ruskin's 6,000-vote lead over Republican Steve Poizner would hold up, found out Monday that Mr. Poizner had conceded, calling Mr. Ruskin to congratulate him.

The other tight race, for the second seat in the Menlo Park City Council race, was a virtual dead heat Monday, with newcomer Andy Cohen holding a 34-vote lead over planning commissioner Lorie Sinnott.

In the Assembly race, Mr. Ruskin declined to claim victory throughout the week, though his 6,000-vote margin was a virtually insurmountable lead in the two-county district. The concession was understandably difficult for Mr. Poizner, who spent nearly $6 million in the effort. In the end, he acknowledged the difficulty of a Republican winning in the predominantly Democrat district, but took pride in achieving about 48 percent of the vote.

During the campaign, Mr. Ruskin emphasized his Democratic credentials, forcing Mr. Poizner to admit that although he agrees with many Democratic values, he is a Republican. Some voters had a negative view of Mr. Poizner's relentless mail campaign that flooded every home in the district with an endless stream of political broadsides.

In the Menlo Park council race, the winner of the second seat remains up in the air as candidates Andy Cohen and Lorie Sinnott nervously eye the tabulation of absentee and provisional ballots at the county registrar's office. At press time Monday, Mr. Cohen held on to a 34-vote lead, less than 1 percent of the total. He was apparently riding the coattails of his running mate and top vote-getter Kelly Fergusson, who was about 700 votes in front at the last count. Michael Lambert, who teamed up with Ms. Sinnott, finished fourth.

Whoever wins the second seat, the results show that the current City Council majority of Lee Duboc, Mickie Winkler and Nicholas Jellins, who all endorsed the Sinnott-Lambert slate, have lost some traction with voters. The three swept into office two years ago, but the luster has apparently worn off. Now voters seem more concerned about the majority's effort to rewrite the city's home-building rules, a big campaign issue.

Mr. Cohen, a retired judge, has no local government experience, although he learned quickly and did well in the candidate forums held prior to the election. The Fergusson-Cohen candidacy was aided by a last-minute mailer, which claimed their opponents were supported by developers who had an interest in seeing a change in the city's building rules. The piece, roundly condemned by the Sinnott-Lambert team, was sent from the home address of Paul Collacchi, who is stepping down from the council after two terms.

It is easy to understand why the Sinnott-Lambert campaign is upset about the last-minute brochure, but over the years similar and worse fliers were distributed on the weekend before the election by various factions. We doubt that Menlo Park voters were swayed by this so-called "hit piece." It is much more likely that a good number of residents are beginning to turn against the views of the current majority, and voted to keep a 3-2 split on the City Council. Whether they succeeded won't be known until all the votes are counted.

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