In a surprise upset, newcomer Karmolette O’Gilvie won her bid for a seat for District 4 on the Twentynine Palms City Council, by two votes, over incumbent John Cole, 347 to 345. The county Registrar of Voters released its final results of the November 6 election at 4 p.m. Thursday, needing a
full 30 days to tabulate the results. Other close races include Morongo Unified School District’s Measure O was just short of the 55 percent of the votes it needed to pass with 54.90 percent, and Joshua Basin Water District, where Mike Reynolds was elected by 11 votes over Paul Coate. They ran neck and neck but the final count revealed that challenger Karmolette O’Gilvie has beaten incumbent John Cole in the race to represent the Fourth District of Twentynine Palms. Reporter Heather Clisby has details…
To those who say their one vote won’t count, consider the Fourth District election results of Twentynine Palms. Winning by just two votes, challenger Karmolette O’Gilvie bested incumbent John Cole and will now represent the Fourth District thereby launching her first term on the City Council. Shortly after final election results were posted last evening, we reached out to O’Gilvie for comment on her narrow victory:
“It was an up-and-down roller coaster ride. I didn’t event fathom – the counting, the voting – to last that long. I feel relief, I feel exhilarated, I feel okay. I want to make all the right moves. I know a lot of people had faith in me otherwise I would not have won the election. I don’t want to let anyone down.”
For weeks, O’Gilvie had trailed behind Cole but as the votes were counted, she pulled in to a final lead. After serving two four-year terms with the
council, Cole offered encouraging words to O’Gilvie:
“I think she’s stepping in to an exciting time for the city, and there’s lots of terrific people on the staff and on the council for her to work with. It should be a rewarding experience for her.”
