While the final vote counts have not been completed, the winners are known.

The state legislative races were the latest to be determined.

Before Thanksgiving, the Democratic candidates for both local State Assembly Districts conceded to their Republican opponents.

Assembly District 36

First, on Monday, Nov. 18, Joey Acuna, the Democratic candidate for AD 36, announced his concession to Jeff Gonzalez, the Republican candidate.

“Although many ballots remain to be counted, it’s clear that this election didn’t go our way. I congratulate Jeff Gonzalez and wish him all the best in representing Assembly District 36,” he said on his Facebook page.

That afternoon, Gonzalez held a brief press conference claiming his victory. “There comes a time in the life of a community when people make a decision to stop fighting and to become ‘We the people.’ Democrats, independents, and Republicans all come together for a mandate – it is time to get back to work put community first and people over politics.”

As of Saturday evening, Nov. 30, Gonzalez held a 5,040-vote lead over Acuna. With 146,000 votes counted, a 67.5% turnout, Riverside County voters gave him a 5,100-vote advantage.

Assembly District 47

In 2022, District 47, which includes most of the Hill communities, was the closest election in years. Only 85 votes separated the winner, Republican Gregg Wallis, from his opponent Democrat Christie Holstege. The final results were not determined until December.

In 2024, it was again a close race, but on Wednesday, Nov. 20, Holstege did offer a concession to Wallis. “While this wasn’t the outcome we wanted, I remain deeply proud of everything we accomplished together. We fought an uphill battle . . . ,“ she said in a press release.

Holstege had been optimistic that the 2024 results would be reversed. She, and several Democratic legislative candidates, thought the higher turnout in a Presidential Election would make a difference. But it didn’t help her.

In Riverside County this year, the total votes cast for this race were 81,000 greater than in 2022. However, her edge over Wallis declined to 8.936 compared to 10,455 in 2022. And Wallis’s San Bernardino advantage grew from 10,540 to 14,454. This was a similar result in AD 36.

“This campaign showed what was possible: that a Democrat could compete in a district once considered unwinnable. . . “ she said beginning her concession statement. “Our region has not been represented by a Democrat in over 25 years; our work on these historic campaigns over the last three and a half years has ignited a movement that cannot be ignored.”