COSTA MESA CITY COUNCIL:

At 11 p.m. Tuesday night, Costa Mesa’s unpredictable City Council battle remained up in the air.

The field of nine candidates challenging for three seats was effectively whittled down to four, though, as a marked difference emerged between the experienced politicians and the newcomers.

The absentee vote, expected to make up a significant portion of the electorate, was reported about 8 p.m. with former Mayor Gary Monahan in first place, followed by incumbent Councilwoman Katrina Foley in second place and incumbent Mayor Eric Bever hanging on to the third and final spot.

Although he was the top fundraiser, bringing in about $60,000 as of the last reporting deadline, Planning Commissioner Jim Righeimer sat in fourth place, about 600 votes behind Bever as of the Pilot’s deadline to go to press.

Righeimer, Monahan and Bever, who ran as a Republican Party-backed slate, all got together to watch the results at Monahan’s pub off of Newport Boulevard. Monahan was excited and upbeat, and happy about the prospect of serving on the council again for the 13th year after a two-year hiatus.

“It was a nice break, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Monahan said.

Meanwhile, a couple of blocks away, Foley was at a far bigger event at Triangle Square. Thousands of Democrats came out to cheer for President-elect Barack Obama at a party hosted by Sutra Lounge that overflowed into the neighboring Chronic Cantina.

“The energy here is incredible. Everyone is excited about what’s happening with the country,” Foley said.

She was feeling good about her prospects and credited much of her success to the people who helped her with her campaign. Young people played a big role in helping her spread her message, Foley said.

“They’ve been in Costa Mesa their whole lives and this is the first election they’ve participated in,” she said.

Righeimer stayed upbeat despite falling further behind as the first one-third of the precincts were reported. As he crowded around the two computers setup in the entryway of Skosh Monahan’s, he pointed out his support in Mesa Verde as evidence that his campaigning was effective.

As of deadline, the race was far from over, but even if he came in fourth place Righeimer said he would be happy with the result and would continue to be involved in Costa Mesa politics through the planning commission, where he still has two years left to serve.

“Clearly with nine people running I’m happy to be in the top four. Not being an incumbent and being in the top four, I’m very pleased,” Righeimer said.

Popular president of the Mesa Del Mar Homeowners’ Assn. Lisa Reedy was in fifth place, but she trailed Bever by a few thousand votes making her a long shot to win a seat.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.