Three days after the election, there are still more than 366,000 ballots estimated left to count, and the ongoing trend continued to benefit Democrats.
Friday’s update, which was reported at 5 p.m., added 37,706 ballots to the tallies with an estimated 366,000-plus ballots left to count.
The update showed Democrat Harley Rouda’s lead over Republican incumbent Rep. Dana Rohrabacher growing from 2.4 percentage points to 3.6 points, in the race for the 48th Congressional District.
Republican Rep. Mimi Walters’ lead over Democrat Katie Porter in the 45th Congressional District has steadily narrowed since election day, and was cut in half with the latest election update Friday, from a 2-point lead to 1 point.
In the 39th Congressional District, Republican Young Kim’s lead over Democrat Gil Cisneros also narrowed, from 2.5 percent to 1.6 percent.
Democrat Cottie Petrie-Norris, who is challenging Republican State Assemblyman Matthew Harper for his 74th District seat, took the lead Thursday and continued to gain votes Friday, now with a 1,642-vote lead.
The close races attracted about 130 observers Friday at the county Registrar of Voters – largely volunteers and attorneys from the Orange County Republican Party, California Democratic Party and various campaigns. They hovered over the shoulders of election workers and challenged the validity of signatures on ballot envelopes.
Thousands of mail-in ballots sent to the Registrar on election day have been arriving in the days after the election, according to county officials. About 16,000 ballots arrived Wednesday alone. State law allows mail-in ballots to arrive as late as 8 p.m. Friday and still be counted, as long as they were postmarked no later than Election Day.
Below is a run-down of updated vote counts in some of the county’s key races. The next update is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, with no update Sunday due to Veteran’s Day, and daily 5 p.m. updates starting again Monday.
Congressional Races
48th Congressional District
Harley Rouda (D): 105,047 votes, 51.8% (+6,788 votes from the prior day)
Dana Rohrabacher (R, Incumbent): 97,719 votes, 48.2% (+4,216 votes)
Rouda’s lead over Rohrabacher increased from 2.4 points to 3.6 points since the prior day’s update. 7,328 votes separate the two candidates.
39th Congressional District
Young Kim (R): 83,211 votes, 50.8% (+4,544 votes)
Gil Cisneros (D): 80,539 votes, 49.2% (+5,746 votes)
Kim’s lead fell from 2.5 to 1.6 percent since the prior day’s update. Updated figures are calculated based on vote counts report from Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
45th Congressional District
Mimi Walters (R): 103,975 votes, 50.5% (+4,336 votes)
Katie Porter (D): 101,955 votes, 49.5% (+6,353 votes)
Walters’ lead narrowed from 2 percentage points to 1 point since the prior day’s update.
49th Congressional District
Mike Levin (D): 100,146 votes, 53.7% (+1,906 votes)
Diane Harkey (R): 86,506 votes, 46.3% (+1,870 votes)
Updated figures are calculated based on vote counts reported from Orange and San Diego counties.
State-Level Races
65th State Assembly
Sharon Quirk-Silva (D): 43,556 votes, 53.4% (+2,144 votes)
Alexandria “Alex” Coronado (R): 38,004 votes, 46.6% (+1,241 votes)
Quirk-Silva’s lead increased from 6 percentage points to to 6.8 points since the prior day’s update.
74th State Assembly
Cottie Petrie-Norris (D): 68,461 votes, 50.6% (+4,177 votes)
Matthew Harper (R): 66,819 votes, 49.4% (+3,155 votes)
Harper was previously ahead, but Petrie-Norris pulled ahead Thursday with a 0.4 percentage-point lead, which increased to a 1.2 point lead Friday.
County-Level Races
Fourth District Supervisor
Tim Shaw (R): 45,980 votes, 50.8% (+2,636 votes)
Doug Chaffee (D): 44,481 votes, 49.2% (+2,787 votes)
The margin between the two candidates stayed virtually the same, with Shaw’s lead narrowing slightly in Friday’s update from 1.6 points to 1.4 points.
District Attorney
Todd Spitzer (R): 322,274 votes, 53.1% (+16,821 votes)
Tony Rackauckas (R): 284,877 votes, 46.9% (+13,394 votes)
Spitzer’s lead grew from 5.8 points to 6.2 points in the latest update.
Sheriff-Coroner
Don Barnes (R): 351,709 votes, 56.5% (+15,804 votes)
Duke Nguyen (D): 270,966 votes, 43.5% (+15,839 votes)
The margin between the two candidates stayed virtually the same. Duke Nguyen conceded this race on Wednesday.
City Races
This list only shows the top vote-getters. View results for all the candidates on the Registrar of Voters website.
Anaheim Mayor
Harry Sidhu: 17,771 votes, 35.5% (+915 votes)
Ashleigh Aitken: 14,957 votes, 29.9% (+1,068 votes)
Sidhu’s lead narrowed slightly in the latest update, though he continued to have a significant 5.6-point lead.
Anaheim City Council, District 2
Jordan Brandman: 2,856 votes, 40.6% (+208 votes)
James Derek Vanderbilt: 2,208 votes, 31.4% (+157 votes)
The margin between the two candidates is virtually the same since the last update.
Anaheim City Council, District 3
Jose F. Moreno: 3,155 votes, 50.5% (+303 votes)
Mitch Caldwell: 2,058 votes, 32.9% (+199 votes)
The margin between the two candidates was virtually the same since the prior day’s update.
Anaheim City Council, District 6
Trevor O’Neil: 7,204 votes, 45.8% (+277 votes)
Patty Gaby: 5,482 votes, 34.8% (+200 votes)
The margin between the two candidates is virtually the same since the prior day’s update.
Anaheim Measure L
Yes: 26,038 votes, 51.0% (+1,801 votes)
No: 25,032 votes, 49.0% (+1,347 votes)
The measure gained ground in the latest update, going from a 1.2 point lead to a 2 point lead.
Santa Ana Mayor
Miguel Pulido: 16,053 votes, 53.4% (+1,350 votes)
Sal Tinajero: 14,020 votes, 46.6% (+1,295 votes)
The margin between these two candidates stayed virtually the same from the prior day’s update.
Santa Ana City Council, Ward 2
David Penaloza: 8,096 votes, 28.1% (+624 votes)
Sandra Pena Sarmiento: 5,506 votes, 19.1% (+503 votes)
The margin between these two candidates stayed virtually the same since the prior day’s update.
Santa Ana City Council, Ward 4
Roman Reyna: 15,254 votes, 53.2% (+1,390 votes)
Phil Bacerra: 13,424 votes, 46.8% (+1,116 votes)
Reyna’s lead grew slightly from the prior day’s update, from 6 percentage points to 6.4 points.
Santa Ana City Council, Ward 6
Cecilia “Ceci” Iglesias: 11,539 votes, 39.9% (+979 votes)
Nelida Medoza: 9,035 votes, 31.2% (+918 votes)
Mirna Velasquez: 8,344 votes, 28.9% (+659 votes)
Iglesias’ lead narrowed slightly from the prior day’s update, from 9.3 percentage points to 8.7 points, though she continued to have a significant lead.