Polls close tonight at 8 pm in Orange County to determine a slate of new county supervisors, a county treasurer and a host of other tight races at the state level.
While many of the elections on the ballot tonight only determine who proceeds to a runoff election in November, candidates vying for county office can win outright at the Primary if they cross the 50% mark of votes cast.
Tuesday’s election caps off months of campaigning and millions of dollars spent by special interest groups to determine who makes the rules moving forward.
Read: OC’s Most Competitive Races For The June Primary Election
Every registered voter in Orange County has already been sent a mail-in ballot, but those looking to vote in person must be in line by 8 p.m. to vote at one of the county registrar’s dozens of voting centers throughout the county.
For a map of every vote center in Orange County and their wait times, click here.
If you still need to register to vote, click here.
Registered Democrats are the largest party in the county, with around 36% of all voters, while Republicans make up just shy of 34%.
Non-party voters represent over 23% of the county’s registered voters, and make up at least one in five voters throughout the county’s largest cities.
Read: Santana: How Will Orange County’s Purple Voters Impact the June Primary?
One of the biggest races in the county that could be decided tonight are three races for county supervisor, which will determine whether Democrats maintain a majority on the board or flop back to Republican control.
North Orange County is guaranteed to get a new supervisor this year as Supervisor Doug Chaffee is terming out, with Buena Park Mayor Connor Traut, Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung, Board of Education Trustee Tim Shaw and La Habra Councilwoman Rose Espinoza vying for the top two spots to stay in the race.
Democrat Supervisor Katrina Foley is running for reelection against Republican Assemblywoman Diane Dixon and educator Lucy Vellema.
Democrat Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento is running largely unopposed, with many of his opponents not disclosing any kind of spending or funding, but the OC Sheriff’s Deputies Union has spent $116,000 in recent days opposing his candidacy.
For the first time in more than a decade, incumbent Treasurer/Tax Collector Shari Friendenrich is facing off against a challenger, which this year is her own deputy, Dana Schultz.
While county supervisors and Schultz called out Freidenrich for what they say are poor management practices when they took the funds away from her, she points to her record of returns on investments as one of the most successful treasurers in the state.
Read: Santana: Who Should Be Managing OC’s $16 Billion Investment Pool?
There are also a set of competitive races for California’s State Assembly, including an open seat where a union leader is facing millions of dollars in special interest spending.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
