Remember Election Day? It was way back before the Giants World Series parade in San Francisco, Johannes Mehserle's sentencing in Los Angeles and before we "fell back" into daylight savings began.
Here we are, six days later and we don't have a winner in at least three key Bay Area races. Oakland residents still don't know who their next mayor is. The state does not have an attorney general. And the people who live in the 11th Congressional District don't know who will represent them in Washington, D.C.
The Oakland contest is expected to be officially called at 4 p.m. Monday. That's when the Alameda County Registrar has scheduled a news conference to give the final totals. Oakland used something called ranked-choice voting for the first time this year (explained here). It takes into account voters' second and third choices. The new system, and 90,000 last minute ballots, led to marathon hours for election officials and an apparent surprise win for candidate in Jean Quan.
The state attorney general's race has been a see-saw affair with Kamala Harris and Steve Cooley jockeying for the lead. As of Monday morning, Cooley was ahead by .5 percent.
A race that is even closer than that is the race for congress between Jerry McNerney and David Harmer. As of Monday monring McNerney is ahead, but by a mere .3 percent.
Recounts will likely not be part of the Oakland race, but you can count on it for the congressional and AG races. For now, the candidates will all have to keep the bubbly on ice.
