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Righeimer wins Costa Mesa council seat by 47 votes

Jim Righeimer poses for a portrait at his office in Newport Beach on Wednesday, November 5.
Jim Righeimer poses for a portrait at his office in Newport Beach on Wednesday, November 5.
(SCOTT SMELTZER / Daily Pilot)
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After two weeks of ballot counting, Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer edged out his closest challenger to hold on to his council seat, according to results certified Tuesday.

Orange County Registrar Neal Kelley had said his goal was to tabulate all outstanding ballots by Nov. 17.

Challenger Jay Humphrey trailed by 47 votes, meaning Righeimer’s three-man voting bloc will remain intact for at least the next two years. Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, a Righeimer ally, is up for reelection in 2016.

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Righeimer had 7,524 votes to Humphrey’s 7,477, an unchanged tally since Saturday evening’s update. At times, the Righeimer-Humphrey vote gap was as narrow as 18.

Righeimer said that although his win might not be “a runaway,” it sends a message.

“The message is that the community is 50-50 on the important issues,” he said. “As an elected official, you have to look at that. They didn’t go out there and give you a mandate to do whatever you’re doing and continue to do.”

Humphrey, a former councilman, said Monday that he would consider asking for a recount but didn’t want to make any decisions until the vote is certified this week.

After certification, Humphrey would have up to five days to request a recount, which would be done at his expense.

“I’m certainly going to take full advantage of where I can on that,” he said. “We’ll make the decision in that time frame and provide, or not provide, the letter of intent to the registrar.”

Humphrey added that “no matter where we go, I couldn’t be where I am right now if it weren’t for all my wonderful volunteers and voters. I am very proud to have had all those folks associated with me. And, hopefully, we’ll reach a point to take care of their desires also.”

Humphrey and running mate Katrina Foley, a school board trustee and former councilwoman who came in solidly atop the list of eight candidates with nearly 27% of the vote, ran on a campaign of opposition to the Righeimer-led council majority.

Collectively, the Foley-Humphrey slate won 16,823 votes. Of those, 9,346 went to Foley.

In comparison, Righeimer and his ally, Lee Ramos, who campaigned alongside Righeimer though not as closely as Foley and Humphrey did, garnered 12,829 votes. Ramos came in fourth place behind Humphrey, getting 5,305 votes.

Foley’s and Humphrey’s campaigns were boosted by local activists — including endorsements from Costa Mesans for Responsible Government, which has opposed Righeimer’s tenure — as well as funding from organized labor and small donations from residents.

Righeimer easily raised the most money, more than $150,000, much of which came from area business interests. He was also backed by the Republican Party of Orange County.

Righeimer said he’ll meet with Foley “to see what’s important to her. I think there are things we all agree on that we can get done right away. And the things we don’t agree on, we’ll work on those issues and close those gaps ... our job is to represent the whole city, not half.”

Foley and Righeimer will begin their terms Dec. 2, when council members also will choose, from among themselves, a new mayor for the next two years.

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