In a battle for Orange County’s 47th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), Republican candidate and former Assemblyman Scott Baugh was in the lead by over 8,000 votes.
Baugh was leading State Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine) with 35,557 votes compared to Min’s 27,166 at the end of Tuesday, according to the OC Registrar of Voters.
Democratic candidate Joanna Weiss, a local activist, was in third place with 20,089 votes.
The top two vote getters in the primary election will advance to the November election.
It’s a crowded primary for the seat as both national Republicans and Democrats are targeting the district in an effort to secure the U.S. House majority in the upcoming November election.
The candidates who’ve fundraised the most are Min, former Assemblyman and former county GOP chair Baugh, and Weiss, a Democrat and founder of the Women for American Values and Ethics (WAVE) local activist group.
Democrats have a slight voter registration edge in the 47th Congressional District – roughly 4,000 voters.
45th Congressional District
In the 45th District, Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach) had 46,075 votes, while Democrat Derek Tran had 13,046 votes.
In third place was Garden Grove Democratic Councilwoman Kim Nguyen-Penaloza with 11,380 votes.
Steel, a former OC Supervisor, was elected to Congress in 2020 and is looking to defend her seat in a district where Democrats have a voter registration advantage – there’s roughly 22,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the 45th Congressional District.
The Congresswoman is running against a host of Democratic challengers, including Cheyenne Hunt, a social media influencer and former clerk for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Garden Grove Councilwoman Kim Nguyen-Penaloza; and personal injury attorney Derek Tran.
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.
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