Teachers' union official Scott Wildman won election to the state Assembly on Friday, eking out a victory in the closest legislative race in the county to become the first Democratic legislator elected to the Glendale-Burbank area seat in six decades.
In the last county race to be decided, Wildman's margin over GOP businessman John Geranios in the Nov. 5 balloting was a slim 192 votes.
As the close vote count stretched out 17 days after the election, Wildman saw his initial 544-vote lead dwindle to 81 before climbing slowly again over the last week to 192.
The final count, released late Friday by the county registrar-recorder, was 49,452 votes (48.35%) for Wildman and 49,260 votes (48.16) for Geranios.
Libertarian Willard Michlin won the remaining 3.49%.
"Excellent," said Wildman, who was waiting for the final results to be posted on the Internet when a reporter informed him of his victory. "I like that news."
Although a Geranios spokesman alleged voter fraud just after the election, the Republican has been noncommittal about whether he will either seek an investigation or a recount. He did not return phone calls Friday, but has maintained a positive attitude over what both candidates agree was an agonizing wait for the outcome of their hard-fought contest.
"Win or lose, I have been energized by this race," Geranios said Thursday.
He was expected to win, as Republicans always have in a district that was most recently represented by conservative James Rogan, who won a seat in Congress in this election.
Indeed, it was virtually impossible even a month before the election to find a political pundit who thought Wildman could prevail. "In newspapers after the primary, I was the guy who was also on the ticket," Wildman recalled Friday.
Even the Democratic Assembly caucus, which carefully selected viable races to bankroll, put the 43rd District on the back burner in favor of other contests.
It was only in mid-October after tracking polls consistently showed Wildman and Geranios running neck-and-neck that the caucus bought into the race. The party pumped roughly $300,000 into his race in the final three weeks, triple the amount he had raised before that, Wildman said.
Geranios, 34, a successful businessman and management professor at Mt. St. Mary's College in Brentwood, spent more than $400,000 of his own money in the primary alone. Although final spending reports are not available, Geranios said he was prepared to spend an equal amount to beat Wildman.
