There are only 100 ballots left to count in Orange County’s November 2022 General Election and some tight races still hang in the balance.
While the remaining ballots are spread throughout the county, there’s still a handful of races across OC with margins of less than 100 votes.
On Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors at their meeting are expected to declare the election winners for county supervisor and OC Superior Court judge races.
That same day, a handful of OC cities like Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Placentia are expected to declare the results of the election and swear in newly elected city council members.
In Anaheim, there is still one tight race left in District 2 where reformist candidate Carlos Leon is ahead of resort-backed Councilwoman Gloria Ma’ae by 78 votes.
Meanwhile, Ashleigh Aitken – another candidate who promised reform– has declared victory in the Mayor race while resort-backed Candidates Natalie Rubalcava and Natalie Meeks have maintained leads in their District 3 and 6 races since election night. Aitken is the daughter of Wylie Aitken, chair of Voice of OC’s board of directors.
[Read: Aitken Declares Victory in Anaheim Mayor Race; Resort Ally On Track to Lose Council Race]
There’s also a tight race in Costa Mesa for the district 3 city council seat where incumbent Andrea Marr has a 78-vote lead over opponent, financial advisor John Thomas Patton.
In that same city, a “Yes” vote on Measure K – which would roll back restrictions on development – has inched slightly ahead this week.
[Read: Will Costa Mesa Voters Make it Easier to Build Housing in the City?]
Currently, support for the measure has 22 votes more than opposition for the measure.
In Los Alamitos, Emily Hibard, a small business owner, is ahead of real estate broker Randy W. Hill by 4 votes in the race for the district 5 city council seat.
In San Clemente – a city that holds at-large elections with three seats up for grabs this year – incumbent Steve Knoblock has a 23-vote lead ahead of his closest competition Donna Vidrine.
Earlier this year, Knoblock made waves in San Clemente after introducing a resolution to ban abortions across the city. The resolution was thrown out.
Knoblock’s race will also determine whether or not the city maintains a conservative majority, with Vidrine – endorsed by the county Democratic Party.
In Santa Ana, school teacher Benjamin Vazquez is maintaining an 80-vote lead ahead of incumbent Nelida Mendoza.
[Read: Will Santa Ana’s Progressive City Council Majority Stay]
And in Seal Beach, Stephanie Wade – former Marine Infantry officer – is in the lead to become one of, if not the first, transgender woman to win office in Orange County, taking over the city’s newly drawn third district.
However, if she fails to make it to 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff election in January to determine who wins the seat, as called for in the city charter.
[Read: Orange County’s Election Pushes Some Big Changes to Small Cities]
Wade is ahead of opponent accountant Lisa Landau in the city council district 3 race by 55 votes.
In Villa Park – a city that holds at-large elections with three seats up for grabs this year – Jordan Wu, a community volunteer, is ahead of his closest competition, Donna Buxton, by 6 votes.
Meanwhile in Westminster, Amy Phan West is ahead of small business owner John Gentile by 21 votes in the district 1 race.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam