BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Keith Reckdahl passed Doria Summa tonight (Nov. 8) in the race for the final spot on Palo Alto City Council.
Reckdahl had a seven-vote lead last night over his colleague on the Planning and Transportation Commission, with thousands of ballots still being counted.
Reckdahl, 59, said the counting process seems painfully slow, but it’s better to have a correct answer than a fast answer.
Summa had a 71-vote lead on Tuesday, a 55-vote lead on Wednesday and a seven-vote lead on Thursday.
After last night’s update, Summa gained 753 votes and Reckdahl gained 767 votes to put Reckdahl ahead.
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters estimated yesterday that 238,000 ballots haven’t been counted, but it’s unknown how many of the ballots are from Palo Alto. That means election workers counted about 46,000 ballots yesterday.
Mayor Greer Stone is in first, Planning Commissioner George Lu is in second and Councilman Pat Burt is in third.
Four seats are up for grabs, with Councilwoman Lydia Kou and Councilman Greg Tanaka termed out after eight years.
Summa ran for council in 2022 and finished in fifth place.
She’s been on the Planning and Transportation Commission since 2016.
Summa complained on Election Day about her name appearing by itself on the second page of digital voting machines. She said some of her supporters thought she dropped out because they didn’t see her name on the first page.
“The limitation on the number of candidates visible at a single time on the touchscreen is necessary due to the limited size of the screen and the need to preserve a minimum font size for readability,” Registrar spokesman Steve Goltiao said in an email to the Post when asked about the issue.
Be sure to pick up tomorrow’s Post for more on this, and other local races that are still awaiting an outcome.