Olvera widens lead over Lopez in Shafter council race

With the newest update from the Kern Elections Office, candidate Gustavo Olvera has widened his lead over incumbent Cesar Lopez in the race for one of two open City Council seats. Mayor Cathy Prout has a wide lead for the first seat. Prout has 33% of the vote, with a total of 1,162 votes. Olvera increased his margin over Lopez by 75 votes, leading Lopez now by 100 votes, 879 to 779, as of the Nov. 15 update.

Rafael Zamudio has 18%, with 620 votes.

An unknown number of mail-in ballots continue to be counted. Those ballots are accepted for 10 days after the election.

Results will become official on Dec. 9.

--Jamie Stewart