Wednesday, November 17, 2004
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Campbell Concedes Victory Unlikely As Escobedo Lead Widens in Tight Judicial Race
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Deputy District Attorney Patrick David Campbell conceded yesterday that he is unlikely to catch Los Angeles Superior Court Referee Mildred Escobedo as her lead in their close contest for an open Superior Court judgeship continued to widen yesterday.
With nearly all the absentee ballots tallied, the registrar-recorder reported that Escobedo had added 31,973 votes to totals reported last Wednesday and now has 1,102,359. Campbell meanwhile added 30,160 for a total of 1,083,777, giving Escobedo a lead of 18,582, or 0.85 percent of the vote cast.
A spokesperson for the registrar-recorder cautioned that about 91,000 provisional ballots remain to be reviewed. But Campbell said that based on the trends so far he doubts he can close the gap.
Escobedo could not be reached for comment yesterday. The winner of the contest will succeed Judge Marcus O. Tucker, who did not seek re-election.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company