Fresno City Council Member Larry Westerlund is waiting for the results in the District Four race - at Fort Jackson, S.C., where he's preparing for a deployment to Iraq.

Westerlund has been staying in touch with friends and family who are gathered tonight at Old Spaghetti Factory on Shaw Avenue, using Skype, an Internet-based phone and video system. They can see fuzzy images of one another.

"It's great to see everyone but it's tough too," Westerlund said in a short conversation with The Bee. "You want to share the experience with everybody."

Westerlund is facing Susan Good, district director for state Sen. Dean Florez, in the race for the east-central Fresno district.

He expects his deployment with the Naval Reserve to last a year.