DOMINGUEZ PULLS AHEAD RETIRED TEACHER NOW HAS LEAD IN BOARD RACE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Candidate Dolores Dominguez has regained the lead in the Palmdale School District board election, according to an update of election results released Friday.

Dominguez, a retired district teacher, maintained a 13-vote lead with 3,145 votes over candidate Robert ``Bo'' Bynum, a Palmdale planning commissioner and owner of a sports retail store, who has 3,132 votes.

``I'm not going to get very excited. The way it's been going it's a tossup, it seems,'' Dominguez said. ``It's been a very exciting race and a learning experience for me. It's not over till it's over and the last vote is counted.''

After the election, about 210,000 absentee and provisional ballots remained to be counted. At that time, Dominguez held a 31-vote lead over Bynum.

Before Friday's latest count, election updates showed Dominguez's margin of victory narrowed to 13 votes, and then the two candidates were tied.

County election officials said Friday there are about 35,500 ballots that still need to be processed.

``We intend to get it done before the Thanksgiving holiday,'' said Marcia Ventura, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's Office.

Since the Nov. 5 election, Bynum has gained 183 votes, and Dominguez has garnered 165 more votes.

Bynum, Dominguez and three other candidates ran for the seat left vacant by former trustee Larry Logsdon, who resigned because he moved out of the district.

Absentee ballots are the ones that were dropped off at polling places or that arrived in the mail at the Registrar's Office on Election Day but were not counted election night.

Provisional ballots are those cast by voters whose names were not on the precinct roster; after Election Day, officials verify that the voters are registered to cast ballots in the district or city in which they voted.

Bynum campaigned on accountability in spending, restoring cuts in school bus service, conducting a nationwide search for a new superintendent and switching back from the three-track year-round calendar to the five-track schedule, which Palmdale schools had prior to two years ago.

Dominguez retired in June after teaching more than 16 years in the Palmdale district at Yucca and Juniper intermediate schools.

Dominguez said she ran because of concerns over what appears to be unequal funding of schools and was critical of bus service cuts. She also said the district needs to address overcrowded classrooms, build parent support, raise test scores, have a superintendent and administration that are more accessible and willing to listen to parents, and concentrate more on low-achieving schools in poor and minority neighborhoods.