Republican incumbent Dante Acosta conceded Wednesday to Democratic challenger Christy Smith in the tight race for California’s 38th Assembly District seat in the Nov. 6 general election.

While the final ballot tally by Los Angeles County and Ventura County registrars (the 38th District includes areas of both counties) is not yet complete, after the registrars’ second update Tuesday, in which Smith pulled ahead in the overall count, Acosta called Smith to congratulate her, according to a post on his Facebook page, which follows:

“With (Tuesday’s) vote update it has become clear that the voters have spoken. While votes are still being counted the outcome appears set. Last night, I called Christy Smith to congratulate her on her victory.

“I am proud that our campaign focused on issues that I believe matter to our community: affordability, public safety, supporting our foster youth and elderly, fairness for our small businesses, and transparency in government.

“During my term in office I fought hard for bipartisanship. In that spirit our community must come together and work hand-in-hand to solve the problems that face us.

“It has been an honor meeting so many more wonderful people while representing the area where I was raised and am raising my family.

“Thank you to everyone who supported my campaign with your time, your financial support, and the hundreds who knocked on doors and made phone calls. Your support means the world to Carolyn and me. We couldn’t have done it without you. May God bless you all.

“Finally, thank you to my staff. You did a wonderful job helping the 38th District residents navigate a byzantine state government and represented the district well.”

“I have just gotten off the phone with Assemblyman Acosta and I would like to thank him for his gracious congratulations to our campaign,” Smith said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “I would like to thank him, Carolyn, and their children for their service to our district and our nation.

“I would also like to thank the countless volunteers who knocked on doors, made phone calls, and put us over the top,” Smith said.

“After a week of devastation in our communities, we are reminded of the hard work urgently needed to be done and we are ready to get to work,” she said. “Together, I know our community will come out stronger during these trying times. I look forward to meeting with constituents, stakeholders and community leaders in the coming weeks to set our agenda. I am honored to begin serving you as your next Assemblywoman for the 38th District.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Smith led by 1,718 votes out of 150,504 ballots counted so far.

Almost 700,000 ballots remain to be counted in LA County alone as of Tuesday’s update. Of those, roughly 4 percent should be from the 38th Assembly District.

The next updates from both county registrars are due Friday, and Tuesdays and Fridays after that until all ballots are counted. The election is not legally binding until the count is complete and certified.

On Election Night, Acosta led by 1,222 votes.

While Tuesday’s tally showed Acosta’s lead slipping only slightly in Ventura County compared to election night, Smith widened her lead more dramatically in LA County, which has more 38th Assembly District voters than Ventura County.

Late absentee ballots are generally those mailed on election day or dropped off at polling places. Provisional ballots are cast at polling places on election day. The election-day ballots have been trending Democrat, compared to traditional “early” absentees, aka vote-by-mail ballots that were returned well ahead of election day, which trend Republican locally and are included in the initial vote tally.

Here are the numbers on Election Night:

STATE (OVERALL: L.A.+Ventura)
Acosta – 64,444 – 50.5%
Smith – 63,222 – 49.5

L.A. County only
Acosta – 44,886 – 49.13%
Smith – 46,477 – 50.87

Ventura County only
Acosta – 19,558 – 53.87%
Smith – 16,745 – 46.13

Total difference – 1,222 (Acosta)

Here are the numbers as of Tuesday afternoon, with ballot count updates from both the L.A. County and Ventura County registrars:

STATE (OVERALL: L.A.+Ventura)
Acosta – 74,393 – 49.43%
Smith – 76,111 – 50.57

LA County only
Acosta – 52,587 – 47.89%
Smith – 57,220 – 52.11

Ventura County only
Acosta – 21,806 – 53.55%
Smith – 18,891 – 46.42

Total difference – 1,718 (Smith)