Former Assemblywoman Young Kim lost 115 votes of her lead over Rep. Gil Cisneros Wednesday but is 4,045 votes ahead of the first-term Democratic representative.
Kim leads 50.6%-49.4%, in the race to represent the 39th Congressional District, which consists of portions of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Kim has 168,858 votes and Cisneros 164,813, according to figures released Wednesday by the Secretary of State’s Office.
Kim led by 4,160 votes entering Wednesday’s count.
It is not known how many ballots are left to count. Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day can be received as late as Nov. 20 and still be counted under state law.
The race is a rematch of 2018, when Cisneros, D-Yorba Linda, defeated Kim, 51.6%-48.4%, 126,002-118,391, to succeed Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, who held the seat from 1993-2019. Kim had been a member of Royce’s staff.
Kim, R-La Habra, was leading in the vote count in 2018 and traveled to Washington, D.C., for orientation for newly elected House members, only to be overtaken by Cisneros in late-arriving ballots in 2018.
Kim is seeking to be the second Republican to oust a Democratic House member first elected in 2018 in Orange County. Rep. Harley Rouda, D-Newport Beach, conceded defeat to Board of Supervisors Chair Michelle Steel Tuesday in the coastal 48th Congressional District.