Cunningham, Addis anxiously waiting for next election update in tight District 35 race

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The race for the District 35 seat in the California State Assembly is still too close to call.

As of Wednesday, Jordan Cunningham was leading challenger Dawn Addis in very close race, with just 6,523 votes separating the two candidates.

With tens of thousands of ballots in both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties still to be counted, it's now a waiting game to see who wins.

Cunningham, a two-term Republican incumbent said in a statement, "This election - like all of 2020 - has been unprecedented. Given the impacts COVID-19 has had on the electoral process, we need to be patient and wait for all the votes to be counted."

Addis, a Democrat and current Morro Bay city council member, said Wednesday that she is being patient as the election process plays out.

"Right now, we're watching as the ballots come in. We're watching the ballots get counted," said Addis. "You always wanted processes to move quickly, but more important than quick is accurate. We want to make sure that each person's vote is counted."

Election officials in both counties said they expect the next update on vote totals to be released on Friday.

The close race is a big turnaround from the March primary when Cunningham beat Addis by more than 20,000 votes.

This race was much closer and was quite heated at times in months leading up to Election Day.

Both candidates spent more than $1 million as they flooded the district with television, radio and mail advertising.

"I am proud of the campaign we ran," said Addis. "When I went into this campaign thinking is, when I go to bed at night, I have to be proud of what I've done each day. I have to be proud of the way I've showed myself. I have to be proud of the way I've treated other people and I absolutely think we've done that."

"I am proud of the race we’ve run and look forward to seeing the final results," said Cunningham. "We are ready to get back to work for the Central Coast.”

As of Wednesday night, Cunningham had 86,328 votes (52%), while Addis had 79,805 votes (48%).