Voters in northern Orange County and parts of Los Angeles County will determine who will face off in November to represent them in the State Assembly when Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva terms out this Fall.
Early election night results Tuesday night showed Former Cypress Mayor Paulo Morales, a Republican, was in the lead with over 32% of the initial 42,014 ballots tallied, which put him ahead of Cerritos Mayor Mark Pulido, a Democrat, at 27% – a difference of over 2,058 votes.
Democrat Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here 11, trailed behind Pulido by 2,900 votes.
The district covers a chunk of northern OC, stretching from Cerritos to Disneyland encompassing Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma, Anaheim, parts of Fullerton along with Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens in LA county.
[Read: OC’s Most Competitive Races For The June Primary Election]
Morales is endorsed by the OC Republican Party and LA County Republican Party.
Pulido is endorsed by a host of labor unions and Asian American political advocacy groups.
Briceño is endorsed by the California Democratic Party and the OC Democratic Party – a group she used to head, a host of labor unions and political advocacy groups like Working Families Party.
The race has seen millions of special interest dollars pour in from tech companies, fast food chains, unions, hotel and apartment industry groups, a casino and more, with most of the money going against Briceño and in favor of Pulido.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
