California election results: Not all races end on election day

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Tuesday night meant the end of the line for hundreds of candidates, while selected others advanced to the November elections. But a small cadre of candidates find themselves in electoral limbo, mired in races that are too close to call.

Among the close ones as the sun rises Wednesday morning are races in Sacramento and San Diego. Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson holds a 33-vote lead over Sacramento Councilman Kevin McCarty for a 9th Assembly District seat -- a lead of 0.2%.

In San Diego, a race between Democrats Mary Salas and Juan Vargas for state Senate finds Salas clinging to a 306-vote lead out of more than 32,000 Democratic ballots cast. That race saw outside groups spend more than $2 million and is being viewed as a test for Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), who backed Salas.

Counties will spend the coming days tallying the remaining ballots. If at the end of the counting, the candidates are separated by less than 0.5%, a full recount automatically will be triggered. Any candidate can request a recount regardless of the vote spread, but they must pay the cost of the count if the margin is more than 0.5%.

-- Anthony York in Los Angeles