2018 primary election update for Seal Beach voters
The votes are in for the June 5 California Direct Primary Election but some are still being counted as of Friday, June 8, and at least one race is still too close to call. Tuesday’s election determines which candidates will advance to the general election in November. Tuesday’s election was a top-two primary which means the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party. So far voter turnout in Orange County appears to be at nearly 28 percent, according to the Orange County Registrar of Voters. That number could change as more votes are counted. Many of the remaining votes, estimated to be in the tens of thousands, are mail-in ballots and provisional ballots. It could be weeks before official results are known. Here’s what we know so far as of the morning of Saturday, June 9, 2018.
Who will face Rohrabacher?
Seal Beach is in the 48th Congressional District and incumbent Republican Dana Rohrabacher got 30 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary to advance to the general election in November. But it’s unclear who Rep. Rohrabacher will face in that race as he seeks a 16th term in Congress. As of Saturday morning, Democrat Hans Keirstead was ahead of fellow Democrat Harley Rouda by a mere 20 votes. That’s a change from just a few hours after the polls closed when businessman Rouda was ahead of stem cell scientist Keirstead by 73 votes. As more votes were counted, the lead changed and the race for second tightened. Republican Scott Baugh is in fourth place and trails Rouda by roughly 1,500 votes. It could weeks before the second-place finisher is officially determined.
A post on the Keirstead campaign Facebook page from Wednesday was optimistic but cautioned that votes still needed to be counted, “We look forward to celebrating a win, but what is needed now is patience and kindness. There will be a Democrat on the ballot to challenge Rohrabacher and whoever prevails will need the support of a united party behind them.”
The 48th is one of several California congressional districts targeted by Democrats in their effort to take back control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats need to win 23 seats nationwide to accomplish that. Unofficial election results show a Democrat possibly advancing to face a Republican in four Republican-held congressional districts in Orange County.
Democrats suffered a loss in state government representation after an effort to recall State Senator Josh Newman, a Democrat, was successful. Fifty-nine percent of voters in the 29th State Senate District, which includes parts of Los Alamitos and Cypress, supported the recall. Newman was targeted for recall after voting for SB1, the 2017 State Senate bill that raised the gasoline tax by 12 cents a gallon to pay for road and bridge repairs. An effort to place a repeal of that tax on the November ballot is underway. Newman won the seat in 2016 after beating Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang by just 1 percent of the vote. Now, Republican Chang is poised to finish out his term after she garnered 35 percent of the vote in Tuesday.
Republicans are celebrating the fact that the GOP will be represented in the California Governor’s race in November. With an endorsement from President Trump, Republican businessman John Cox won 26 percent of the vote to advance to the general election. Cox will face current Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, who garnered 33 percent of the vote. In third place was former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat. Finishing fourth was Seal Beach’s current State Assemblyman for the 72nd District, Republican Travis Allen.
To check for updates on races in Orange County, including results on the 48th Congressional District, visit the Orange County Registrar of Voters: https://www.ocvote.com/fileadmin/live/pri2018/results.htm#c-1653
Here is a list of the results for the races impacting voters in the 90740, 90720 or 90743 zip codes as of Saturday, June 9. Again, some of these numbers could change as more votes are tallied. (* denotes incumbent)
County-level Offices
Orange County Supervisor, 2nd District
Michelle Steel*: 66 percent
Brendon Perkins: 24 percent
Sheriff-Coroner
Don Barnes: 51 percent
Duke Nguyen: 30 percent
Assessor
Claude Parrish*: 70 percent
Richard B. Ramirez: 17 percent
Auditor-Controller
Eric J. Woolery*: 75 percent
Toni Smart: 25 percent
County Clerk-Recorder
Hugh Nguyen*: 79 percent
Steve Rocco: 21 percent
District Attorney-Public Administrator
Tony Rackauckas*: 39 percent
Todd Spitzer: 35 percent
Treasurer-Tax Collector
Shari L. Friedenrich*: 100 percent
County Superintendent of Public Schools
Al Mijares*: 100 percent
Judge of the Superior Court, Office #13
Theodore “Ted” Howard* 79 percent
Franklin Dunn 21 percent
Board of Education, Trustee Area 2
Mari Barke: 40 percent
David L. Boyd*: 36 percent
State Government
State Senate, 29th District
Recall of Incumbent State Senator Josh Newman, 29th District:
Yes: 60 percent
No: 40 percent
Replacement for State Senate, 29th District if recall succeeds:
Ling Ling Chang (R): 34 percent
Bruce Whitaker (R): 20 percent
Joseph Cho (D): 20 percent
State Senator, 34th District:
Janet Nguyen* (R): 59 percent
Tom Umberg (D): 27 percent
State Assembly, 72nd District
Josh Lowenthal (D): 37 percent
Tyler Diep (R): 30 percent
State Assembly, 65th District
Sharon Quirk-Silva* (D): 51 percent
Alexandria Coronado (R): 49 percent
Congress
U.S. Senator
Dianne Feinstein* (D): 44 percent
Kevin De León (D): 11 percent
James Bradley (R): 9 percent
48th Congressional District
Dana Rohrabacher* (R): 30 percent
Hans Keirstead (D): 17 percent
Harley Rouda (D): 17 percent
Scott Baugh (R): 16 percent
47th Congressional District
Alan Lowenthal* (D): 58 percent
John Briscoe (R): 23 percent
Propositions
68: Bond for parks and water systems Yes: 56 percent No: 44 percent
69: Gas tax Transportation Funds Yes: 81 percent No: 19 percent
70: Cap-and-trade spending vote Yes: 36 percent No: 64 percent
71: Ballot-measure start dates Yes: 77 percent No: 23 percent
72: No property reassessment for rain recycling Yes: 84 percent No:16 percent
Statewide Offices
Governor
Gavin Newsom (D): 33 percent
John Cox (R): 26 percent
Antonio Villaraigosa (D): 13 percent
Travis Allen (R): 10 percent
Lt. Governor
Eleni Kounalakis (D): 24 percent
Ed Hernandez (D): 21 percent
Secretary of State
Alex Padilla* (D): 52 percent
Mark Meuser (R): 32 percent
Attorney General
Xavier Becerra* (D): 45 percent
Steven Bailey (R): 25 percent
Insurance Commissioner
Steve Poizner (No Party Preference): 42 percent
Ricardo Lara (D): 40 percent
Controller
Betty Yee* (D): 61 percent
Konstantinos Roditis (R): 35 percent
Treasurer
Fiona Ma (D): 43 percent
Greg Conlon (R): 22 percent
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Marshall Tuck: 38 percent
Tony Thurmond: 35 percent
Lily Ploski: 17 percent
State Board of Equalization, 4th District
Joel Anderson (R): 32 percent
Mike Schaeffer (D): 17 percent
John F. Kelly (R): 17 percent
