Republicans are in a series of tight races along Orange County’s coast – places they’ve historically won easily, with narrow leads in races for state assembly and the Huntington Beach City Council. They also appear to be losing a coastal state senate seat.
State Senate
As of 5 p.m. Friday, Democrat Chris Duncan was in the lead for the 36th District California Senate seat with 50.6% of the vote, his third day in a row leading over incumbent Republican Senator Tony Strickland, with his lead expanding to over 4,000 votes.
State Assembly
In the race for the 72nd Assembly District, Republican Huntington Beach Councilwoman Gracey Van Der Mark expanded her lead over Democrat Chris Kluwe, leaving over 2,200 votes between the two and Van Der Mark with just under 50.6% of the vote.
Huntington Beach City Council
While Republicans have carried the last two city hall elections in Huntington Beach, this year Democrats are on track to retake one of those seats.
However, the three incumbent Republican council members are on track to be reelected, with Mayor Casey McKeon being the top vote getter.
In the race for Huntington Beach City Council, McKeon and Councilman Pat Burns were in the lead with an over 1,400 vote lead ahead of other challengers with Councilman Andrew Gruel and Democrat challenger Ben Davis on track to pick up the final two council seats.
Democrat Erin Spivey was behind Davis by 24 votes, leaving them just out of reach of a city council seat as of Friday evening.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
