Absentee ballots confirm winner of Long Beach council race
Michael Delury won the third open seat on the Long Beach City Council. Credit: James Escher
Long Beach Republican candidate Michael Delury finished with a 46-vote lead for a two-year term on the Long Beach City Council after absentee ballots were counted, officials said.
Delury edged out Democrat Ron Paganini for the third seat on the council. Delury held an 80-vote lead on election night and maintained his lead after counting more than 260 absentee ballots. Delury, 60, is the first Republican candidate elected to the city council in a decade. He is officially registered with the Independence Party.
Voters also elected Democrats Karen McInnis and Elizabeth Treston, both to four-year terms. The three challengers defeated incumbents Anthony Eramo, Chumi Diamond and Long Beach City Council president Anissa Moore, who ran on the Republican line.
Delury, McInnis and Treston will join the board with incumbent Democratic Council vice president John Bendo and Democratic Councilman Scott Mandel. Mandel and Bendo both have two years remaining on their terms.
The official election results are expected to be certified next week. The three winners of the election will be sworn in Jan. 1 at Long Beach City Hall.
The new city council, which will take office in January, will be tasked with handling criminal investigations into the city’s payouts to current and former employees and the recommendations of a state audit that found more than $500,000 in improper payments were made to 10 employees.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
