Bera leading the battle by 2,094 votes.
The race between Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones for Sacramento County’s 7th Congressional District remains too close to call.
News reports said that Bera is leading the battle by 2,094 votes out of about 171,000 counted. If the reports are to be believed, Bera has a less-than 2-percentage-point lead.
In 2012, and 2014, Bera won the elections in the same manner with a narrow margin. In 2012 he defeated then-Rep. Dan Lungren and two years later won over former Rep. Doug Ose.
“I feel pretty confident about where we are,” Bera said pointing that last time it took more than a week to declare the result.
But, Jones is still hopeful and is waiting for the remaining votes to be counted. “The race is far from over,” Jones said in a statement Wednesday, adding that “the most important thing is for every vote to be counted.”
Reports said that Bera made large margins in the district’s western precincts while Jones gained in Orangevale and other northern parts of the district as well as its rural areas.
The outstanding ballots postmarked by Election Day are to be counted in coming days. The race may not be called this week as the ballots arrive by Monday can be counted.
According to California Target Book, which analyzes state congressional and legislative races, 39 percent of registered voters in the district were Democrats, 36 percent were Republican and about 20 percent did not have any party lineage in 2014.
The race for the 49th District between Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Democrat Marine Col. Doug Applegate has also not been called. According to Wednesday reports, Issa is leading the race by 2 percentage points, or about 4,000 votes of some 183,000 counted.