Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/politics/)
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered that Santa Ana’s special recall election –deciding the fate of Councilwoman Ceci Iglesias’ seat — will happen entirely through mail-in ballots. Meanwhile, final election numbers on Westminster city council recall shows majority faction retaining their seats.
After city staff said the council didn’t have the legal authority to rescind or suspend the sales tax increase, which voters approved in 2018, council members David Penaloza and Phil Bacerra criticized Iglesias for bringing up the issue.
More than 700 ballots remain to be counted, though recall election results Tuesday night showed a clear majority of voters chose to keep Westminster City Council members Kimberly Ho, Charlie Nguyen, and Mayor Tri Ta in office.
It would be the latest city to join a growing list banning evictions throughout the county amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Many residents in Little Saigon area live in rental units with many others living in accessory dwelling units and mobile homes.
In-person voting has been cancelled for a special recall election in Westminster. It’s still up in the air whether Santa Ana’s special recall election will follow suit. Meanwhile, county elections officials will proceed to review a referendum movement against a controversial Santa Ana apartments project and a ballot initiative to relocate a planned Veteran’s Cemetery in Irvine.
Nearly all of Orange County’s incumbent state legislators will be advancing to November, except for Republican Assemblymen Bill Brough and Tyler Diep. In addition, finalists for a central county supervisors seat and numerous congressional elections are now set for November, following the final tally of results from the March Primary, finalized on Monday by the OC Registrar of Voters.
Assemblyman Tyler Diep (R-Westminster) could join Assemblyman Bill Brough (R-Dana Point) on the elections sidelines this fall, after Diep lost his second place spot Wednesday evening.
Assemblymen Tyler Diep and Bill Brough could be sitting out the November General Election after Diep was barely holding on to second place by 17 votes, according to Tuesday’s updated election results from the OC Registrar of Voters. Brough, who’s far behind in fourth place in the 73rd district, seems unlikely to catch up.
Diane Dixon, a Republican candidate for state Assembly, is among the current and former Newport Beach City Council members who were found to have failed to properly disclose campaign finance efforts.
If the results still hold when vote counting is over, it will be a rare case in Orange County of a state legislator failing to make it to the November runoff for their seat.