Republican Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen was preparing for a shift to Sacramento Wednesday after defeating Democratic Rancho Santiago Community College District Board President Jose Solorio in their bitterly fought battle to represent the 34th Senate District.
In the June primary, Nguyen trounced Solorio 52.7 percent to 31.9 percent, with Republican Long Pham picking up the remainder. Solorio had expressed hope that more Democrats would turn out during the general election, but he still lost handily to Nguyen in Tuesday’s general election.
Nguyen will succeed termed-out state Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana.
Pham, who received 15.4 percent of the votes in the June primary, announced last month he would begin an effort to recall Nguyen from the Board of Supervisors. Solorio tipped reporters that Pham would confront Nguyen at a Board of Supervisors meeting, prompting Nguyen’s camp to claim the Republican was working with the Democrat to embarrass Nguyen.
Orange County’s other legislative race of note was in the 65th Assembly District, where incumbent Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva was unseated by Republican former congressional staffer Young Kim — despite Democrats having an advantage in registration in the district.
— City News Service