Ruskin relishes victory

"I need to take some time off to relax with my wife," he said.

Ruskin is still not the official victor in the contentious battle for the seat currently occupied by Joe Simitian, who is ascending to the Senate. But with a vote tally of 75,202 to opponent Steve Poizner's 69,675, the tally of a handful of provisional ballots to be announced Friday will not be enough to reverse the total. Poizner has yet to call Ruskin to congratulate him and calls to Poizner or his spokeswoman were not returned yesterday.

"He put his heart and soul into the election and a lot of money," Ruskin said, referring to Poizner.

Republican Poizner outspent Ruskin nearly three-to-one, a decision he believed was necessary because the district was heavily gerrymandered to favor Democrats.

Ruskin, a Redwood City councilman, announced his victory just before 1 a.m. Wednesday.

At 2 p.m., he was wrapping up final details before going into "deep meditation," joked campaign manager Jim Evans.

Despite tha battle between political parties, Ruskin wanted to emphasize his desire to serve everyone in the district.

Ruskin will take the oath of office Dec. 8 and plans to get to work soon after. His first task will be to craft legislation to close loop holes that allow for corporations to set up offshore accounts to keep tax money from the state. He relished this victory, particularly since he won the primary election by 341 votes.

"You have to work as hard as possible from start to finish," he said.

Jon Mays can be reached by e-mail at jon@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 107. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.