Ten days after balloting, Republican Tony Strickland finally edged ahead of Hannah-Beth Jackson this morning in 19th Senate District vote counts posted by the secretary of state.
Strickland holds a razor-thin lead over Jackson, 1,560 votes, a margin of only 0.6 of a percentage point.
The updated tally posted by Secretary of State Debra Bowen confirms unofficial reports by monitors who had kept close tabs on absentee and provisional ballots counted since Election Day.
Strickland and Jackson, former Assembly colleagues, are vying for the seat of termed-out Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, in a district representing portions of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
If Strickland holds on, Republicans will retain 15 seats in the upper house and majority Democrats will remain at 25, two seats shy of a two-thirds supermajority.
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