Amid a historic national blue wave, several candidates are in tight city council and mayoral races across North and Central OC – a county that is politically purple.
The close contest comes as over 154,000 ballots have been counted with nearly 221,000 ballots left to be counted, as of 5:11 p.m. Friday, according to the Registrar of Voters.
The next results update is expected today at 5 p.m.
A Look at Some of OC’s Closest Mayoral Races
Santa Ana
In Santa Ana, police union-backed Mayor Valerie Amezcua – the first woman elected to the role – was leading her race by 140 votes against two first time candidates.
Her initial roughly 13% lead on Election night narrowed down to a 0.27% lead in Friday evening’s election results update
Of the nearly 50,900 votes counted so far, Amezcua held about 43.4% of the vote closely trailed by Attorney Dan Shimell at 43.15% of the vote.
Dwayne Shipp, a city commissioner, had about 13% of the vote.
Westminster
In Westminster, Democrat-backed City Councilman Carlos Manzo was 167 votes ahead of Incumbent Chi Charlie Nguyen in a crowded mayoral race in Friday evening’s result update.
Nguyen was not endorsed by the Republican Party and had a failed bid for congress earlier this year.
As of Friday, Manzo had 39.2% of the vote, Nguyen had about 38.5% of the vote and the three other candidates in the race collectively had 22% of the vote. There were nearly 22,800 ballots counted in the race so far.
Nguyen had a roughly 2.5% lead at the start of Election Night that began to dwindle before flipping in Manzo’s favor in Thursday’s election results with the councilman taking the lead by two votes.
Manzo currently has a 0.73% lead over Nguyen.
Tustin
In Tustin, latest election results showed Democratic backed former Mayor Letitia Clark was narrowly leading over Republican backed incumbent Austin Lumbard.
Over 18,000 ballots have been counted so far in that race — Clark was leading with about 50.6% of the vote, while Lumbard had about 49.4% of the vote. There’s a gap of 221 votes between the two.
At the start of Election Night, Clark held a narrow lead that slimmed down to a difference of eight votes before flipping in Lumbard’s favor. The lead flipped back to Clark in Thursday’s update.
The Closest City Council Contests
Irvine
In Irvine, Democratic backed District 1 incumbent Melinda Liu was narrowly holding onto her lead with about 39.7% of the vote, while Republican backed OC Food Bank Board Member John Park was trailing with about 38.5% of the vote.
There’s a gap of 142 votes between the two and over 11,700 votes have been counted so far in the race.
Former City Councilmember and Mayor Sukhee Kang remained in third place with about 21.8% of the vote
At the start of Election Night, Liu led the race before it flipped in Park’s favor. In Thursday’s election results update, the lead flipped back to Liu.
Fullerton
In Fullerton, Planning Commissioner Oscar Valadez held a 33 vote lead in the District 5 City Council race against Democrat-backed Jozef Maldonado, a chemist.
Valadez held about 42.7% in Friday’s election results update while Maldonado trailed behind with about 42.2% of the vote. Over 6,200 votes have been counted in the race so far.
David Fischbein, a quality assurance inspector, had about 15% of the vote.
Neither Valadez nor Fischbein were endorsed by the Republican Party.
At the start of Election Night, Valadez held a 0.16% – 5 vote – lead ahead of Maldonado which expanded to a nearly 5% lead early Wednesday morning. That lead has since dwindled down to roughly 0.5%.
Costa Mesa
In Costa Mesa, Republican-backed Daniel Morgan, a managing principal at a real estate company, was narrowly leading the District 3 City Council race by 36 votes.
In Friday’s update, Morgan had about 50.4% of the vote while Democrat-backed Cara Stewart, founder of a public relations firm and former OC Register reporter, trailed behind with about 49.6% of the vote.
Morgan’s initial roughly 4.4% lead on election night has dwindled down to a 0.74% lead.
There have been over 4,800 ballots counted so far.
Lake Forest
In Lake Forest, Democrat-backed Amy Stevens, a communications consultant, had a 52 vote lead in the District 4 City Council race against Republican-backed Shari Rhodes, a business owner.
In Friday’s update, Stevens had about 50.5% of the vote while Rhodes had about 40.5% of the vote. Over 5,400 votes have been counted so far.
At the start of Election Night, Stevens had a 5.8% lead that flipped in Rhodes favor later in the night. Stevens retook the lead in Thursday’s election results update and now holds a 0.96% lead over Rhodes.
Cypress
In Cypress, Democrat-backed Helen Le, who lists herself as a community volunteer, was slightly leading the District 2 City Council race by 12 votes in Friday’s results update.
Le had about 50.3% of the vote while Republican-backed Incumbent Bonnie Peat trailed behind with about 49.7%. Over 1,900 votes have been counted in the race.
The Democrat-backed candidate had an 2.68% lead at the start of election night before the lead flipped in Peat’s favor. It flipped back to Le in Friday’s update with her holding about 0.62% lead.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
