As of Dec. 8, a month after the Nov. 8 election, Republican Greg Wallis has defeated Democrat Christy Holstege. But the race to represent California Assembly District (AD) 47 was extremely close.

Wallis outpolled Holstege by a mere 85 votes out of nearly 170,000 ballots. The difference is 0.06%, less than one 10th of one percent.

“With today’s certification in San Bernardino County, all of the ballots in the 47th Assembly District have been counted and we’ve seen the democratic process through to its end. I’m honored that the people have elected me to serve our community,” Wallis said in a Dec. 8 press release. “Now, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get right to work. The governor has initiated a special session, and the legislature has already convened and started organizing. I’m excited to get to Sacramento right away and represent all constituents of our district.”

Monday morning, Holstege issued this statement: “The votes have all been counted, and it is clear that by the very thinnest of margins, we have fallen just short of victory, coming the closest this district has ever come to electing a Democrat to State Assembly. With slightly better turn out, we would have flipped this district blue. I called Greg Wallis this morning to congratulate him, and expressed to him that I hope we can work together these next two years to deliver measurable results for our communities.”

There is no automatic recount for elections in California. Any registered voter may request a recount but would have to pay for it if there were no change in the results. Requests for recounts may be by county or precinct.

On the Riverside County Board of Supervisors’ consent calendar for Tuesday, Dec. 13, the law firm Olson Remcho LLP out of Oakland and Sacramento requested a waiver of a conflict of interest to ask for a recount. The firm is representing the California Democratic Party. The firm has done work for the county in the past.

AD 47 is mostly in Riverside County, but about 30% of its voters reside in San Bernardino County.

Riverside County voters favored Holstege by 10,455 votes; she garnered 54% of the county’s votes. However, San Bernardino County was overwhelming in support of Wallis. He garnered nearly 64% of the San Bernardino vote resulting in a 10,540-vote advantage, which gave him the victory.

The Hill is divided by two Assembly Districts. AD 36 includes Garner Valley and Anza. AD 47 includes Idyllwild, Pine Cove and Mountain Center.

While Mountain Center with 32 votes supported Wallis, Idyllwild and Pine Cove were bigger supporters of Holstege than the countywide voters. Each precinct gave her 60%.

Most of the desert cities were overwhelming Holstege bastions. As a former Palm Springs mayor, she gained more than 11,000 votes over Wallis there. Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs and Rancho Mirage gave her another 7,500-vote edge.

But the cities to the west and north closer to San Bernardino County — Banning, Beaumont and Calimesa — favored Wallis enough to reduce her Riverside County lead. This is more easily seen when the votes are identified by the supervisorial district in which the precincts are located.

The 5th District precincts were overwhelming in Wallis’s corner. He gained nearly 6,000 votes there with 58% of the vote.

Turnout of voters in the Assembly District was 55% in Riverside and 53% in San Bernardino, which was greater than the countywide turnouts of 46% and 40%, respectively.

Within the whole district, the number of registered Democratic votes is almost 20,000 greater than registered Republicans. Together they represent about 74% of registered voters in the district and another 19% have no party preference.