Former Assemblywoman Young Kim leads Rep. Gil Cisneros by 4,058 votes Friday in their rematch in the 39th Congressional District.
Kim leads 50.6%-49.4% in the district, which runs from Walnut in the north to Chino Hills in the east, Hacienda Heights in the west and Fullerton in the south. Kim has 170,593 votes and Cisneros 166,535, according to figures released Thursday by the Secretary of State’s Office.
Kim led by 4,045 votes entering Thursday’s count, then added 13 votes to her lead.
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.
In 2018 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.
Kim is seeking to be the second Republican to oust a Democratic Orange County House member first elected in 2018. Rep. Harley Rouda, D-Newport Beach, conceded defeat to Board of Supervisors Chair Michelle Steel Tuesday in the coastal 48th Congressional District.