Elaine Holmes Earns Fourth Term in Indio

Elaine Holmes returns with experience, institutional knowledge and history

INDIO — Though not all votes have been counted, the likelihood of Elaine Holmes remaining on the City Council for a fourth term are good.

As the vote stands now, Holmes has garnered 841 votes, or 61% of the vote, while her challenger Jonathan has grabbed 541 votes, or 39% of the votes cast, according to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.

As a 12-year veteran on the City Council helping to guide the Coachella Valley’s largest city, Elaine Holmes says she has more to give and more she wants to do while representing District 3.

Mayor Waymond Fermon and Mayor Pro Tem Oscar Ortiz were unopposed in Districts 2 and 4. The city council chose to appoint both men to save an estimated $52,000 that elections in those districts would have cost.

In addition to her work on the City Council, Holmes, since 2004, has owned PJ’s Desert Trophies & Gifts in downtown Indio.

In a Q&A with Uken Report in September, Holmes said her goals for moving forward are:

• Providing ongoing educational opportunities, business resources and economic development.
• Housing, Public Safety and quality of Life.

Becerra seemed to run an unusual campaign. He put a lot of stock in having the alleged endorsement of incumbent Councilmember Oscar Ortiz though Ortiz never confirmed that. Unlike Holmes, he declined to participate in a Q&A with Uken Report.

Approximately 295,000 Vote-by-Mail and 10,000 Provisional ballots still must be processed. Ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day also remain to be counted. The next updated results will be posted at 6 p.m. today, Thursday, Nov. 10.