The Votes Are In!
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View Winners → Politics Nov 07, 2024
The U.S. Capitol. | Photo by Louis Velazquez on Unsplash
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State Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, trailed Republican Scott Baugh by 1,133-votes Wednesday in Southern California’s most closely contested race for Congress, according to election results from the Orange County Registrar of Voters.
Baugh leads 50.2%-49.8% for Orange County’s 47th Congressional District seat that Democratic Rep. Katie Porter vacated to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Former U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, handily won the Senate seat in Tuesday’s election over Republican Steve Garvey, a former infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
Baugh lost to Porter in the last election two years ago by a margin of 51.7%-48.3%. The district is comprised of parts of Irvine, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and Seal Beach.
UC Irvine political science professor Lou DeSipio told City News Service it was a “relatively close race in the 47th with a number of ballots still to come so that could in principal flip.”
Results for Orange County’s 45th District race showed Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Huntington Beach, was ahead of Democrat Derek Tran 52.1%-47.9% with a 10,136-vote lead.
It was unclear how many ballots have not yet been tallied in the region’s various congressional districts.
In the 49th District, Republican Matt Gunderson is challenging Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point.
Levin’s lead was 5,221 votes at Wednesday’s end-of-the-day update. Gunderson is ahead in Orange County, but Levin has has more votes in San Diego County.
In the 49th, “Democrats narrowly lead, but I would expect that would hold,” DeSipio said. “It appears Michelle Steel was able to hold (her seat). It confirms Orange County’s purpleness. Either way it shows how evenly divided the county is.”
In the 40th Congressional District, Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim, defeated Democrat Joe Kerr with 56.6% of the vote.
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, is defending his seat in Riverside County’s 41st District from a second challenge from Democrat Will Rollins.
Calvert was initially elected to Congress in 1992 and currently has the lead with 51.4%, or 6,742 more votes than Rollins as of late Wednesday afternoon.
In 2022 Calvert won by a margin of 52.3%-47.7%.
The 27th District race in northern Los Angeles County features Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, and Democrat George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff.
Garcia pulled ahead as of late Wednesday afternoon with 51.1%, ahead by 4,767 votes.
The outcome of many races for Congress may remain unknown for a few more days as vote-counting proceeds and late ballots arrive.
Republicans gained three seats to reach 52 in the Senate this election, giving the GOP the majority. Democrats lost three seats for a total of 45, the Associated Press reported Thursday morning.
Neither side reached the 218-seat majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans gained one House seat to total 206, while Democrats lost one for a total of 192.
