After a recount and the tallying of all absentee ballots, recently-sworn in openly gay Vallejo, California Mayor Gary Cloutier was forced to give up his office as it was revealed that his rival Osby Davis won the election by three votes, the SF Chronicle reports:
“Davis, 62, asked for a recount, and the results showed that he finished with 5,718 votes to Cloutier's 5,715. Cloutier made headlines after he publicly apologized for his Nov. 18 arrest in Palm Springs for public intoxication. He was sworn in Tuesday under a city rule requiring the mayor-elect to take office by the first Tuesday in December. He became the Bay Area's first openly gay mayor. Davis will become the first African American mayor in the city of 117,000. ‘This campaign is not about me; it never has been,' Davis, a devout Christian, said in thanking supporters and family who joined him at a news conference Thursday night. ‘It's about the things God wants to do in this great city of ours called Vallejo.' Cloutier called Davis on Thursday to offer his congratulations; however, the lame-duck mayor didn't say whether he was going to challenge the recount, Davis said. Cloutier declined comment when reached by phone Thursday.”
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