Supervisor race still neck and neck

Challenger Jesus Eduardo Escobar had the slimmest of margins over incumbent Supervisor John R. Renison in the runoff race for the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, District 1, according to the 10 p.m. count Tuesday night.

In addition to the remaining precincts, there are likely thousands of vote-by-mail and provisional ballots left to be counted, according to Imperial County election officials.

As of Tuesday night, with 21 of 23 physical precincts tallied, Escobar was leading Renison by only 66 votes.

Escobar had 872 votes, or 50.49 percent of the votes tallied, while Renison had 855 votes, or 49.51 percent.

“It’s tight, close, but the ball game’s not over,” Renison said Tuesday night. “We still have … a couple more days (for votes to come in). We’ll watch it closely and hope for the best.”

Escobar could not be reached for comment by deadline.

The 45-year-old Escobar, of Calexico, a U.S. Customs broker by trade, rode on a ticket promising economic development and job creation for not just his district but the entire region, promoting industrial and manufacturing jobs for Imperial County.

Incumbent Renison, 70, of Calexico, ran on a platform promoting jobs and investment in his district and touted bringing 60 additional jobs to the county in 2019. He added he wanted to see the completion of the New River Improvement Project as well as Salton Sea restoration efforts.

District 1 is composed of primarily the Calexico area and border region.