Republican Rep. Michelle Steel’s lead over Democratic challenger Derek Tran shrank Friday to a mere 58 votes in the 45th Congressional District, a week after leading by 7,590 votes.
Steel, R-Seal Beach, led by 236 votes when ballot counting resumed Friday.
Steel led by 7,590 votes after last Friday’s count, 6,901 after Saturday’s, 6,128 after Sunday’s when only ballots from the Los Angeles County portion of the district were counted, 3,908 after Monday’s, 2,227 after Tuesday’s and 349 after Wednesday’s, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The latest tally showed Steel with 152,415 votes, compared to Tran’s 152,357. Both candidates are at 50%.
Steel leads 137,790-133,544, 50.8%-49.2%, in the Orange County portion of the district but trails 18,813-14,625, 56.3%-43.7%, in the Los Angeles County portion.
It is not known how many ballots remain to be counted in the district.