Election 2022: Early results come in for local, state races in Orange County
With the polls now closed, early returns of vote-by-mail ballots reported by the Orange County Registrar of Voters office on Tuesday night suggest that Newport Beach’s “Elect Our Mayor” campaign was not supported by the city’s residents.
As of press deadline, election officials were reporting that 59.7% of Newport Beach voters who cast their ballots by mail were against Measure B.
For the record:
10:44 a.m. June 8, 2022This article has been updated to correct the year Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) was elected.
The ballot measure, which would allow for the direct election of Newport Beach’s mayor, is arguably one of the most contentious campaigns on the primary ballot in Orange County.
Proponents of the measure contended that making the mayor an electable position allows for voter choice, as opposed to maintaining the city’s current system of rotating a largely ceremonial position annually among the city’s seven council members.
Opponents of the measure, on the other hand, have emphatically described the measure as a “power grab” by Councilman Will O’Neill, who brought forward the measure, and argue establishing the seat as an elected position would allow for undue influence.
As recently as the past weekend, the debate between Newport Beach voters made headlines with a video circulated on social media that showed an actor, who O’Neill believes is depicting him when he was a mayor in 2020, being shot multiple times in the chest. Officials from the “Stop the Power Grab — No on B” have since apologized for the posting of the video to its social media channels and said they were not involved in its making.
“The purpose of Measure B is to let voters decide whether they want to directly elect their mayor or let the City Council appoint a person amongst them to that position every year,” O’Neill said Tuesday, prior to the election results being announced. “It’s about voter choice, so letting voters decide is beautiful. The campaign has been marred in the last days by No on B’s posting of a horrific, disgusting video.
“So, we hope voters see through that brand of politics and vote for accountability by voting Yes on B.”
The No on Measure B committee reiterated previous concerns prior to the vote, arguing that the ballot measure was not only about the election of the mayor.
“As the polls prepare to close today, the No on Measure B committee is hopeful that we have been able to sufficiently inform Newport Beach voters regarding the underlying details of the initiative that make it so damaging to our city,” the committee wrote in an email statement Tuesday. “The elected mayor proposal is not simple and it is not simply electing our mayor. Rather, it would create the most powerful mayor in California, and concentrating that much power in one person is never a good idea.
“The collective wisdom of bipartisan city leaders is that Measure B is bad for Newport. We have worked hard to convey that message as we believe that anyone who fully understands the measure will vote no.”
About 1.8 million ballots were mailed out to registered Orange County voters, according to data tracked by the county.
Mail-in ballot results also showed O.C. voters still supporting Gov. Gavin Newsom, with his reelection efforts carrying about 54% of that vote. Newsom survived the election in Orange County last year with 51.7% of the votes. Second to Newsom is Republican candidate Brian Dahle, who garnered about 18.6% of the mail-in votes.
Here’s a round-up of the early returns for other races affecting readers in the Daily Pilot’s coverage area:
45th Congressional District
The November election for the 45th Congressional District will come down to Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Surfside) and Jay Chen.
This district represents Cerritos, Buena Park, Westminster, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley and is represented by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), who is running in the 47th Congressional District.
The race included Chen, a Democrat veteran and business owner, Long Pham, a Republican and former member of Orange County Board of Education, and Steel.
In a tight race between Steel and Chen, Chen eked out a small margin over Steel with 45.4% of the mail-in votes. Steel, by comparison, had about 44.3% of those votes.
Pham managed to garner about 10.3% of the votes.
Steel was initially elected to the House in 2020, beating out competitor and then-incumbent Harley Rouda.
47th Congressional District
Facing off this November in the 47th Congressional District will be Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and Scott Baugh. This district is represented by outgoing Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and now encompasses Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine and Laguna Beach.
Five candidates were seeking the seat, though Porter is the only Democrat running.
Four others — former state Assemblyman Scott Baugh, business owner Brian Burley, filmmaker Errol Webber and business owner Amy Phan West — are running as Republicans.
Early numbers currently indicate Porter has come out with the highest number of mail-in votes at 58.1%, followed by Baugh with about 30% of the votes.
Porter was initially elected to the House in 2018 and was the first Democrat elected to represent her district.
36th State Senate District
For residents in Westminster, Seal Beach, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente and parts of Buena Park, Garden Grove and Los Angeles County, the two candidates are already decided.
The race is between former Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr and former state Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen. The district is currently represented by state Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), who is running for a position on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
On Tuesday night, Nguyen emerged with the greatest number of mail-in votes by press deadline with 51.1%, closely followed by Carr, who received 48.9% of the votes.
Carr was elected to her position in 2018 and will be ending her time on the dais this November. Nguyen was elected to the state assembly in 2007 but lost her seat in 2018 to state Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange).
70th State Assembly District
In a six-man race to November, Garden Grove Mayor Pro Tem Deirdre Thu-Ha Nguyen and Westminster Mayor Tri Ta received the highest percentage of mail-in votes.
The district represents Westminster, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley and was previously represented by state Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach).
Of the six candidates running, five are Republicans and only one is a Democrat. Nguyen won 42.8% of the votes, followed by Ta with 22.8% of the votes.
Running were Fountain Valley Councilman Ted Bui, Westminster Councilwoman Kimberly Ho, Jason Gray, Nguyen, business owner Emily Hibard and Ta.
Bui was elected to his position in 2020. Ho was elected in 2016. Nguyen was elected to the Garden Grove City Council in 2016. Ta was initially elected to the Westminster City Council in 2006 and to his mayoral position in 2012.
72nd State Assembly District
Representing a majority of Orange County’s coastal communities will fall between Judie Mancuso and Newport Beach Councilwoman Diane Dixon, if the early results hold.
The district represents Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Woods, Laguna Hills and Lake Forest and is currently represented by state Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach), who is running for a seat in the 36th State Senate District.
The race is between Dixon, Mancuso and veteran and business owner Benjamin Yu. Dixon and Yu are Republicans; Mancuso is a Democrat.
Mancuso is the top mail-in vote-getter in this district with 50.4% of the votes. Mancuso is followed by Dixon, who emerged Tuesday night with about 37% of the mail-in votes.
Dixon was elected to her position in 2014 and narrowly lost a different seat in the state Assembly in 2020.
73rd State Assembly District
In November, voters will be deciding between state Assemblyman Steven “Steve” Choi (R-Irvine) and state Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach).
The new district includes Costa Mesa, Irvine and Tustin and is currently represented by state Assemblywoman Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel). Petrie-Norris emerged with the greatest number of mail-in votes Tuesday night with 60.4%. Choi follows with 39.6% of the votes.
Choi was initially elected to the state Assembly in 2016. Petrie-Norris was also initially elected to her post in 2018 and was reelected in 2020 after a close race with Dixon.
O.C. Supervisor, Fifth District
Four competitors are running for a seat representing the fifth district on the Orange County Board of Supervisors this year, and it appears the race will come down to county Supervisor Katrina Foley and state Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) in November.
Foley led the four in mail-in votes Tuesday night with about 47.2%, followed by Bates with 21.7% of the votes. The two are followed by Harkey and Muldoon, who received 17% and 14.1% of the mail-in votes, respectively.
This district represents Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine, Laguna Woods, Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente.
O.C. District Attorney
Also included in the county races is the race for district attorney. The position is currently held by Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer, who is running for reelection but who has been challenged by three other competitors.
Peter Hardin, who is a veteran and former prosecutor, former prosecutor Mike Jacobs and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency attorney Bryan Chehock were also on the ballot.
As of press time, Spitzer was in the lead with 61.9% of the mail-in votes. Hardin follows with 20.2% of the electorate.
Spitzer was elected to his position in 2019.
Also on the ballot Tuesday was the election for the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner. Current Sheriff-Coroner Don Barnes ran unopposed and was elected to his position in 2018.
Readers can visit ocvote.gov/results/whats-left-to-count for the latest tallies.
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