The race to be Oceanside's next leader is between an incumbent and a deputy mayor. It is down to less than 1,000 votes as of mid-Thursday.

Outside the city of San Diego, a number of mayoral races remain up in the air as of Tuesday night. The incumbents in the cities of Oceanside, Lemon Grove and Encinitas are in a dead-heat in their re-election bids based on early returns from the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.

In the hotly contested race that could decide which party controls the county Board of Supervisors, Democratic incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer was leading her challenger, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer,

City Councilman Stephen Whitburn Wednesday defeated lawyer and educator Coleen Cusack in the race for the Council District 3 seat representing the city's downtown and governmental core.