As Orange County election officials enter a second week of ballot counting, several races remain close, including some with recent changes in front-runners.
In Santa Ana, one incumbent and three first-time progressive candidates lead in the City Council race — a shakeup in the making for the seven-member council. As of Saturday, attorney and mayoral candidate Dan Shimell had pulled ahead of incumbent Mayor Valerie Amezcua and, at the end of counting on Monday, had more than 45% of the vote to her almost 41% — Dwayne Shipp trailed far behind.
Countywide, there were an estimated 116,660 ballots left to count Monday night, according to the OC Registrar of Voters.
Amezcua previously said she would be OK regardless
Amezcua previously said she would be OK regardless of the election’s outcome and would continue to find ways to serve the community.
In Santa Ana’s Ward 2, incumbent Benjamin Vasquez has more than 74% of the vote as of Monday night over challenger Selica Diaz.
Election results:See election results for these races at others.
For Ward 4, Sandra de Anda, director of policy and legal strategy at the Orange County Rapid Response Network, was sitting Monday night with 57% of the vote over incumbent Phil Bacerra.
While this election did not turn out
“While this election did not turn out as we had hoped, my heart is filled with gratitude for everyone who believed in me and gave their time and energy to fulfill our shared vision of a safe, clean, thriving Ward 4 and Santa Ana,” Bacerra wrote in a social media post over the weekend. “As this term on the council comes to a close, I hope that the incoming council will build upon our successes and guide Santa Ana toward a bright and prosperous future.”
In Ward 6, Isuri Ramos, chair of the city’s Planning Commission and executive director of CHISPA, maintained a lead over challenger Giovanni Chavez, a tenants attorney, Monday night with more than 58% of the vote.
Ramos ran for the seat previously held by Councilmember David Penaloza, who is running against his council colleague Jessie Lopez for the 68th Assembly District seat. As of Monday, that race remained tight, with Lopez leading at 51.29%. If she wins, the Ward 2 seat will need to be filled for the remaining two years on her term.
For the OC Board of Supervisors Fourth District
For the OC Board of Supervisors Fourth District race, Connor Traut is leading Tim Shaw with 51.69% of the vote, and for the Fifth District race, Katrina Foley is leading Diane Dixon with 52.16%.
In Tustin, the race for mayor continues to be too close to call, with former councilmember Leticia Clark now leading over incumbent Austin Lumbard with 50.96% of the vote.
Westminster’s mayor race has been another close one, with District 2 Councilmember Carlos Manzo inching ahead in recent returns in his bid to unseat the sitting mayor, Chi Charlie Nguyen. Incumbent Nguyen was leading when polls first closed but results flipped in the following days.
As of Monday, Manzo leads with 40.30%
As of Monday, Manzo leads with 40.30% of the vote to Nguyen’s 37.76% — the remaining field of three trailed far behind. Westminster’s mayor represents the city at-large and may serve up to three consecutive four-year terms on the dais.
“From hearing from the community, one of the most common themes I heard about was they were just tired of the dysfunction and the chaos,” Manzo said.
“I had to deal with a lot of different personalities, you know?” he said, adding, “I always try to make sure that everybody’s happy and ask what we have in common and work off of that, so we can all get the job done.”
In Irvine, City Council incumbents have been leading
In Irvine, City Council incumbents have been leading comfortably in their races, save for District 1 Councilmember Melinda Liu, who is fending off a close challenge from John Park, a city finance commissioner and business owner.
District 1 represents northernmost Irvine and includes several major master-planned communities, such as Northpark and Orchard Hills and The Market Place shopping destination.
Liu was leading Monday night with 40.05%, to Park’s 38.38%.
“I’m excited,” Liu said Monday. “And I have so many things that I want to finish and launch and, you know, new programs that I’m interested in working on right now.”
There’s so many things we can do
“There’s so many things we can do and the fact that this is a four-year term really means I can get a lot more done,” she said.
Some other races that remain close among Orange County city councils are:
• Aliso Viejo District 3: Marie Tsaasan leads 1,422 votes to incumbent Garrett Dwyer’s 1,321.
• Costa Mesa District 3: Cara Steward leads 2,516 to Daniel Morgan’s 2,515.
• Cypress District 2: Helen Le leads 1,090 to Bonnie Peat’s 1,068.
• Fullerton District 5: Oscar Valadez leads 2,947 to Jozef Maldonado’s 2,910
• Huntington Beach: The incumbents have secured three of four seats on the ballot, but for the fourth, Ben Davis leads 31,922 to Erin Spivey’s 31,874.
• Lake Forest District 2: incumbent Benjamin Yu leads 2,196 to Becky Keene’s 2,090.
• Lake Forest District 4: Amy Steves leads 3,123 to Shari Rhodes’ 3,033
• Mission Viejo District 4: James Morrison leads 3,125 to Laura Lacko’s 2,973.
The Registrar of Voters posts updates on the results of ballot counting most days at 5 p.m.
