Voters in the heart of Orange County will determine who the front runners are to represent them in the state assembly that will face off to succeed Assemblyman Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim).
Election results after final updates Tuesday night showed Republican Mayra Ruiz taking a slight lead over Santa Ana Councilman David Penaloza, a Democrat.
Ruiz was in the lead with nearly 35% of the vote ahead of Penaloza at 33% – a difference of over 605 votes between the two.
Santa Ana Councilwoman Jessie Lopez, a Democrat, was trailing behind Penaloza by 3,259 votes.
So far, 39,500 votes have been tallied. There are over 197,000 ballots left to process in OC.
The district covers parts of Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana.
[Read: OC’s Most Competitive Races For The June Primary Election]
Penaloza is endorsed by a host of public safety unions, labor unions and the California Democratic Party and received his largest support from tech companies and executives.
Lopez is endorsed by California Working Families Party, Chispa, CAIR Action, progressive organizations and some labor unions, including the Service Employees International Union.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
