In a late night e-mail from her campaign that was sent out Wednesday, it was announced that Santa Barbara's Hannah-Beth Jackson has conceded the race in the 19th State Senate District to her opponent, Tony Strickland.
Approximately 415,000 ballots having been counted in the California 19th District Senate election, Hannah-Beth trails her opponent by about 800 votes and has officially conceded his victory. She carried Santa Barbara County by 15,000 votes, lost Ventura County by 11,000 votes (giving her a 4,000 vote edge in the combined counties), but lost the Santa Clarita area of Los Angeles County by 5,000 votes. It has been a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs, and she has been a courageous and gallant competitor to the end. Thank you for your continuing support.
Indeed, it was a race she was never meant to win, the district having been skillfully gerrymandered to make it a safe one for Republicans. And despite furious opposition to her candidacy by the Santa Barbara News-Press, she decisively won that portion of the district that was in the newspaper's region of circulation.
