The special election to fill a vacated state Assembly seat in Riverside County may be headed to a runoff, early results show.
As of Wednesday morning, Republican Natasha Johnson leads Democrat Chris Shoults by just 271 votes. None of the five candidates has reached the 50% threshold needed to win outright.
The seat was vacated in April by Republican Bill Essayli, who was appointed by the Trump administration as interim U.S. Attorney for Southern California.
Johnson, backed by Essayli and Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, told KVCR her priorities are public safety, economic growth, and parental rights.
Shoults, who ran against Essayli last year and lost, told KVCR in April this is another chance to flip the seat, which covers parts of Riverside and Orange counties.
Republican Vincent Romo is in third with nine percent of the vote. Libertarian Zachary Gonsalvo has one percent. Write-in candidate Maricar Payad has just one vote.