With Democrats again trying to regain supermajorities in the state Senate and Assembly, two Orange County races should draw much attention in November.
With all precincts reporting, the rematch between Republican Assemblywoman Young Kim and former Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat, in the 65th Assembly District showed Quirk-Silva finishing first with 52.8 percent of the vote to 47.2 percent for Kim.
In the 29th Senate District, Ling Ling Chang, the lone Republican, finished first with 45.4 percent of the vote. Josh Newman finished second with 29.7 percent while fellow Democrat Sukhee Kang was third with 24.8 percent.
Chang and Newman will advance to the general election.
In the 68th Assembly District, it’s unclear who will join Democrat Sean Jay Panahi on the November ballot. Harry Sidhu held a 715-vote lead over fellow Republican Steven Choi, but vote-by-mail and provisional ballots could put Choi into second place.
In the 72nd Assembly District, Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen received 50.9 percent of the vote with Democrats Leonore Albert-Sheridan and Nam Pham getting the rest. Albert-Sheridan will advance with 28.9 percent.
In the races for Orange County Superior Court judges, three Orange County prosecutors won. Veteran senior deputy district attorneys Larry Yellin, Mike Murray and Megan Wagner racked up large-margin victories.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Scott Steiner defeated Deputy District Attorney Karen Lee Schatzle 56.3 percent to 43.7 percent.
Voters put Steiner back into office despite the state’s judicial watchdog agency censuring him for having sex in his chambers with two women, trying to get a job for one of the women and then failing to disqualify himself from a case involving a close friend.
In other races of note, Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do led Santa Ana City Councilwoman Michele Martinez, 36 percent-35.3 percent in the First District.
Garden Grove Councilman Phat Bui, who criticized Do throughout the campaign and lodged ethical complaints against him with the Fair Political Practices Commission, was third with 19.3 percent. Perennial candidate and gadfly Steve Rocco received 9.5 percent of the vote.
Former state Sen. Lou Correa was far ahead of multiple rivals in the campaign to succeed Rep. Loretta Sanchez in the House of Representatives. Correa, a Democrat, was leading the field of eight with 41.7 percent of the vote, followed by Republican Bob Peterson at 14.6 percent, Garden Grove Councilman Bao Nguyen at 13.8 percent and fellow Democrat Joe Dunn at 12.6 percent.
Turnout on Election Day was “double where we were in 2012,” said Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley.
“It fell short of 2008, but we had a huge number of dropped-off mail-in ballots at the polls,” so that could help catch up to 2008’s historic turnout, Kelley said.
“And we received about 25,000 more in the mail today,” Kelley said. “We might pass ’08.”
–City News Service