The Orange County Registrar of Voters continues counting the votes cast by OC residents in the March primary after they hit the polls Tuesday to weigh in on races that will impact their quality of life, education and public safety.
But three days after Election Night, it’s becoming clearer who will represent Orange County going forward.
Here’s where voters stand in the latest election results, as of Thursday March 7.
Republicans In Position To Keep Two OC Supervisor Seats
OC Supervisor Don Wagner is set to hang onto his seat on the board for another four years, beating Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan in the primary election and avoiding a runoff race in the fall.
As of Thursday evening, Wagner held over 64% of the vote in the race, with a 32,000 vote lead over Khan.
“I’m very gratified, and the margin of victory is particularly satisfying,” Wagner said in a Thursday interview. “The results show my approach is what the voters want.”
Khan did not reply to requests for comment.
To the northwest, state Senator Janet Nguyen is the frontrunner in the race to replace Andrew Do on the board of supervisors, where she’ll likely face off against Cypress City Councilwoman Frances Marquez this fall because they both failed to grab a majority of votes.
But Marquez faces an uphill battle against Nguyen, who received ten times more campaign spending support than Marquez during the primary election and still has over $200,000, according to her most recent campaign finance disclosures.
Nguyen also won’t be up against other Republican candidates in the fall election, who altogether received 75% of the votes cast in her race.
In an interview, Marquez said she’s not worried about that spending, adding that her focus was on talking to voters directly and ensuring they get “effective delivery of services.”
“I talked to voters, they want a government that works for them. They are hungry to be heard, and that’s what my campaign is about,” Marquez said. “We need someone ethical who will just focus on the delivery of services and be sure every resident is heard, regardless of income and zip code.”
“The era of corruption in district one needs to end.
Nguyen did not respond to requests for comment.
A Recall May Make Way For a Democrat Majority on the Orange Unified School Board
Conservative Orange Unified School Board Members Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner may soon be kicked out of office in a recall election – making way for a more liberal leaning majority to take hold of one of OC’s bigger school districts until at least November.
Thursday’s result update showed Ledesma was on track to lose his seat with roughly 53% of voters choosing to recall, while about 47% chose to keep him – a difference of 2,158 votes – according to the OC Registrar of Voters.
Miner is also on track to lose her seat with about 53% voters choosing to recall, while 47% chose to keep her – a difference of 2,010 votes.
Ledesma and Miner did not respond for comment.
Recall efforts kicked off against the two with support from parents and teachers in January 2023 after Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen was abruptly fired.
Darshan Smaaladen, a member of the recall group, said in a Thursday emailed statement to Voice of OC that regardless of the outcome the group feels as though they already won because now there are more people paying attention to the local school board.
“If the recall continues our lead in votes and is successful, we look forward to the board refocusing on what they should: making prudent fiscal decisions that benefit taxpayers and prioritizing OUSD students first,” she wrote.
“We hope this will end the staff exodus we’ve seen this past year and OUSD can stabilize and move forward.”
Both Miner and Ledesma have also faced scrutiny for supporting a host of controversial policies after Hansen’s firing.
This included a transgender notification policy, temporarily suspending their digital library over concerns of age inappropriate books and banning the flying on LGBTQ+ flag on district flagpoles.
If the two trustees are recalled, the board will have to choose between appointing two people to fill the vacancies until the November election, call a special election to fill the spots or wait until November for voters to elect two new board members.
Voters May Soon Need IDs to Cast a Ballot in Surf City
Residents in Surf City might soon need an ID to vote in person, with 53% of voters currently supporting the shift to more paperwork as of Thursday evening.
This is the first time voters have weighed in at the ballot box on the work of the council’s Republican majority that was elected in 2022, who have since frequently brought a spotlight on the city through a series of controversial proposals around libraries, housing development and other social issues.
There is currently no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Orange County.
Councilman Dan Kalmick, a Democrat and an outspoken critic of the majority, said turnout was too low in the primary election to say the results represented residents fairly.
“You’re looking at 20,000 people in a city of 200,000. Ten percent of the people is not an indicator of how Huntington Beach people feel, it’s just on how the people who voted feel,” Kalmick said in an interview. “We have to fight in November to make sure the folks who oppose these things actually show up to vote.”
But Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark disagreed with that in a statement to Voice of OC, saying that these measures showed the council majority had community backing.
“The results show that our voters believe in the direction our City is headed – one of unity, and the restoration of election integrity,” Van Der Mark said. “The passing of these Measures reassures me that we are on the right track.”
Osama Danasoury, 47, and his children, Islam, 11. And Talie, 8, accompany their father to the polls. “I really want them to understand the importance of voting,” shared Danasoury. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Correction: A previous version of this article stated Republicans have an OC Supervisors majority. It’s a Democratic majority. We regret the error.
