District 2
ballots remain untallied countywide, according to the registrar's office. That number includes 3,500 mail-in ballots and 1,500 conditional ballots.
The registrar is tentatively scheduled to certify the election on March 29.
If the current numbers hold, Lewis would win her first council election.
Lewis, who serves as the manager of Homeland Security at the Port of Long Beach, was first appointed to the Torrance City Council in August 2022 to succeed Mayor George Chen.
Chen left the District 2 seat vacant when he won the mayoral election that year.
“I am 480 votes ahead and we agree that it's safe to call it,” Lewis said in a Friday
interview. “With this, I just became the first Black female elected to office in Torrance's 111-year history. I'm super excited.”
Unlike other municipal races around Los Angeles County, Torrance does not have a runoff. Instead, candidates in Districts 2, 4 and 6 who secured the most votes during the March 5 election, will serve on the City Council.
Besides the District 2 campaign, another closely watched Torrance race is in District 6, where three candidates are vying to fill the seat held by termedout Councilmember Mike Griffiths.
Jeremy Gerson, a member of the Torrance Unified School District's Board of Education, remained slightly ahead of Torrance Planning Commissioner Tony Yeh on Friday.
Gerson had 38.20% support, or 2,040 votes, while Yeh had garnered 36.89%, or 1,970 votes. The gap between them stood at 70 votes, as of Friday.
John “Jack” Walser, a longtime business owner in Torrance, trailed behind the two with nearly 25%, or 1,330 votes, as of Friday. Congressional District 36
Democratic incumbent Rep. Ted Lieu continued to lead with 68.55% of the vote in the race to represent West L.A. and the South Bay — but the battle for second place remained close.
The top-two finishers will head to the November general election.
Republican investigative journalist Melissa Toomin held nearly 15% of the vote, as of Friday, followed closely by Republican financial advisor Ariana Hakami with approximately 14% and business owner Claire Ragge Anderson with 2.45%.