Election Night’s Less Obvious Winners and Losers

Liberatore and Daigle, on our Winning Despite Losing list

Beneath my text, you’ll find the final vote tallies from last night, with days of uncertainty left in a few close races.  Remember, several races overlap with Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties — and you have to look up their data as well to get the “real” current election night total.  I’ve taken a glance and didn’t find anything that should make much of a difference — but that will be a post that can wait for tonight’s updates, when the other counties’ figures are a bit more fixed.

What’s most striking to about last night was how many of the victories were Pyrrhic and how many of the losers come out looking pretty good.  Let’s presume for now that the results will all stand, and follow through the list of results with me.  I’m mostly going to limit myself to the counterintuitive ones.

General Observation: Especially in a primary, you’re going to be asking supporters some of the people you beat to put their hearts into volunteering to help you win.  For some victors (I wouldn’t call them “winners”) last night, they will not get that support because of conflict with (and maltreatment of) their opponents — mostly true here of Democrats — and the entire Democratic Party will be dragged down when it wastes its own resources supporting them, affecting other winnable races.  My party had some victories last night that — by sopping up financial and volunteer resources that could otherwise go towards local races — will seriously harm our attempts to build a “farm team” in November.  (Wheeee, but we won in June!)

TEN WHO LOST DESPITE WINNING

(1) Larry Agran:  A veterans’ cemetery worthy of the name will not be built, unless Five Point finds a way around this vote (which may still be possible, though it will cost Emil Haddad some more money — and make him a hero.)  Five Point has a panoply of legal means at its disposal to prevent a cemetery being built on the ARDA site — including, if necessary, greasing the wheels of the Veterans Administration to toss a wrench in the works with contributions to the Trump campaign.  Agran apparently thinks that — after several cycles of him and his anointed candidates being puked up by the voters — he can get himself and his toadies back into office.  It won’t happen.  Veterans will follow him everywhere to “thank” him for his role in killing the cemetery — and his political career will end in tatters.  It will be one of the few highlights of November’s election.

(2) Katie Porter:  I’ll endorse Katie Porter right now — although I will never respect the Progressive Change Campaign Committee again for it’s asshattery in supporting Mike Levin in CA-49, and I will remind them of it constantly — but Porter is going to learn that you can’t actually win an election with your own party out to destroy you.  And it will be.  Expect both Min and the local and state parties to be undermining her — Min openly, the parties quietly — at every turn.  2020 is supposedly going to be a good Democratic year as well, after all — and the interest of the Min die-hards will be to see Porter not break into double digits in November, so that she becomes a laughing stock and “box office poison.”  And then Porter and her folks can return the favor when Min is nominated two years from now.  (#winning!)  Nevertheless, she’s good on policies and I endorse her without hesitation.

(3) Gil Cisneros:  I do feel bad about this one, and I endorse Gil without (much) hesitation.  But his putting out the DNC/DCCC’s hatchet job against Thorburn, under his own name, allowing those shady bastards to pretend that their own shit-stained hands are clean, was a terrible mistake.  It seems to have broken Thorburn — he essentially put his campaign in storage for the last few weeks to allow Gil to make the runoff unimpeded — but Republicans got 62% of the vote in the primary and, having already proven that his millions aren’t going to do it — he’s not going to have the fanatical volunteer force he’d need to beat Young Kim.  That report killed two hundred-millionaire’s political careers with one explosion.  And I give Thorburn great credit for, in essence, giving up the race to let the person who claims to have sponsored it walk into the runoff.  Gil should at least tell the truth now about how it came to be.

(4) Hans KeirsteadKeirstead’s offenses against his rivals may be less grave than those of Cisneros and Porter’s (and certainly less grave than Mike Levin’s), and he may benefit from people coming into his district to help him as an alternative to volunteering for Levin, but whoever was going to win this race (unfortunately, not Omar Siddiqi) was going to come away screwed by its tone.  Once the results are final, I’ll endorse the winner — but Rohrabacher has to be quite pleased with how Democrats have exceeded the rancor of his own race with Scott Baugh.  Hans and Harley will surely be back when Dana gives his seat over the Michelle Steel — and Harley will have the advantage there because he’s not the one who will have lost to Rohrabacher.

(5) Mike Levin: This is the only “winner” among the first five who I won’t endorse — which is exactly what Levin and supporter themselves did after Doug Applegate showed that Issa was beatable.  He’s a scum-sucker who ran an absolutely vile, lying campaign that should bring shame on all around him.  I despise Diane Harkey, but I’ll shed no tears when she inevitably squashes Levin.  It’s just too bad that the money that streams into his campaign will prevent our building a farm team — not just in OC, but elsewhere — but it’s not like Levin, the “environmental attorney” pimping for the natural gas industry, gives a damn.

(6) Pat Bates:  It’s not like Bates did anything wrong — or wronger than usual — in this campaign, it’s that she won with less than 60% — and Democrats generally perform better in November than in June — so Marggie Castellanos doesn’t need to improve much.  And Castellanos will have oceans of volunteers who wouldn’t touch Mike Levin with a 10-foot pole.  She and Scott Rhinehart should open up a joint campaign office WITHOUT Levin’s involvement ASAP — only one Democratic Club has to sponsor it — and give volunteers of good conscience a place they can be proud to be.  Levin can’t be involved because his presence would drive away the volunteers.  (DPOC people will not get this logic — which is one reason why we rarely win.)

(7) Gregg Fritchle:  I’m done talking to Gregg Fritchle, but I’m not done talking about him.  Fritchle’s rationale for running for AD-55 was that this was to be a Democratic wave year and he’d earned the right to ride that wave.  Surprise!  It’s not a Democratic wave year in this district, as Josh Newman’s defeat shows.  And by winning in June, Fritchle kept himself from doing the one thing that he needed to do to eventually stop being a loser in November: win a freaking local office to gain the credibility that that confers.  Winning in Walnut, or in a school board district, would also give him the real campaigning experience that he thinks he has, but lacks.  How many doors has he knocked on; how many long conversations has he had with voters who didn’t know him or weren’t already one of the relatively few Democrats in the district?  OBVIOUSLY, not nearly enough.  Melissa Fazli may be elected to something this year — although her relations with the now-leading Democrat in this tri-county district may be a bit strained — and that “working one’s way up in the world” is exactly the path to eventual success.

(8) Sharon Quirk-Silva:  This is the “winner” whom I agonize about most.  Sharon is less than 2% ahead of Alexandria Coronado in the primary — and keeping her seat should be the top priority for North County Dems right now.  Sharon has to be considered the favorite — once again, Democrats turn out much better in June — but this is the key race upon which other local races depend.  I don’t think that we’ll screw this up — North Vice Chair Jeff LeTourneau knows a bit about campaigning — but we’re at red alert.  Sharon has to win by enough of a margin to discourage the inevitable recall that Republicans now realize they can try.

(9) Josh Lowenthal:  Here’s another place where the party and it’s volunteers really need to step up for a good guy.  Lowenthal got only 36.5% against his four Republican challengers.  He’ll need lots of help to make it past Tyler Diep — although Diep’s opponents/victims Greg Haskin and Long Pham may be willing to help him keep that poisonous scum bucket out of office!

(10) Bill Brough:  Incumbent Brough beat challenger Scott Rhinehart by less than 7%!  Yes, there was another (weak) Republican in the race — but now it looks like we can call Brough a “weak Republican” too!

TEN WHO WON DESPITE LOSING

(11) Brett Murdock: As it stands, incumbent OC District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has a pretty pathetic 39.6% in his race for reelection — goodbye, appearance of invulnerability! — while his arch-enemy Todd Spitzer has 35.0%.  Murdock has 21.6% — and influence with the Democrats who can decide the race.  He lost — yet he has ended up the kingmaker.  What Murdock can do now is to condition any endorsement he may provide on some measure of reform.  He could try to get Rackauckas to stop protecting his friends, persecuting his political enemies, and trampling on the Constitution (when it comes to the accused or convicted) and on the rights of people without means.  Or, he could try to get Spitzer to tone down the self-promotion and grandstanding, find ways to be rights-respecting even while standing up for the law — when it comes to the homeless, for example, one doesn’t have to celebrate “NIMBYism” as Spitzer recently did, but one can make a compelling case that OC cannot be expected to handle more than its share of a state, regional, and national problem, without being a jerk.  One of these tasks looks a whole lot easier than the others.  Spitzer is, in his way, inclined to be a reformer — he wants to be loved, after all while Rackauckas only wants to be feared.  Spitzer’s platform was actually more similar to Murdock’s than it was to Rackauckas’s, largely by being anti-corruption.  Spitzer is loathed by most Democrats (as is Rackauckas, we can finally prove), but if Murdock can negotiate with him to be able to moderate his excesses — with some teeth to enforce that — he would not only become a hero for Democrats and civil rights, but he would make Spitzer a far better DA.  I don’t know if that’s where things will go, but having the power to make it happen or not is a pretty good place for a losing candidate to be.

(12) Joe Kerr:  Kerr’s shocking and distressing loss to Doug Chaffee for the chance to run against Tim Shaw (if it holds up) puts him too in a position of being a broker.  He has as many votes in third place as Rose Espinoza and Cynthia Aguirre do combined, in fifth and sixth — ideally they would come together as a group and put forth some demands.  While Chaffee is a Democrat, he’s as close to a Republican as one can be when it comes to slavish devotion to the public safety unions who successfully libeled Kerr out of the race.  Shaw has to be the favorite here: if he agrees to various concessions to reason — which does not include kowtowing to the Sheriffs deputies — then even Kerr’s refusal to endorse Chaffee could hand the election to Shaw.  Kerr had an agenda to pursue as supervisor — more involving narrowing the imbalance between firefighters and and sheriffs deputies than just pumping up firefighters salaries as much as possible — and he’s now well-placed to figure out how to advance it from the sidelines.  (And if he promotes common cause with Shaw, what are the Sheriffs deputies going to do — start slagging the guy who would be the favorite to win?)  One could argue that Kring is also in this “kingmaker” category — but the people who voted for her aren’t going to follow her anywhere.

(13 and 14) Katherine Daigle and Karina Onofre: In AD-74, where Republican incumbent Matt Harper got 41.8% and leading Democrat Cottie Petrie-Norris got 27.6%, we have two women, each involuntarily estranged from their own party, who could tip the balance between them.  (I wrote months ago about how a runoff between them would be fun to see.)  Although Onofre got more votes — 12.2% — her supporters will likely verge towards Cottie regardless.  What she has to offer is her charm and persuasiveness if she works with Cottie’s campaign.  I don’t think that Cottie slammed her at all, although Karina has long been sniped at — in a way I’ve considered sexist — for some political movements she made as a young Catholic woman, dating a man (Mike Dalati) with his own complicated political past, in a party that sneers at anyone who ever opposed abortion out of serious conviction or who “consorts with the enemy.”  I find Karina intelligent and thoughtful and I hope that Cottie will energetically recruit her to her team.  But the real wild-card here is Daigle, who has repeatedly been treated shabbily by her party’s establishment (of which Harper is definitely part).  If Daigle meets with Cottie and judges her by her heart and her talents rather than just her party label, then she could absolutely swing this race.  (Face it: Harper is not exactly endearing.)  So she too should be preparing to endorse based on who would be the person she would most respect in office.  And she’s plenty sharp as well, and would be an asset to Cottie in reaching out — especially after being elected — to the Republican parts of this still pretty red district.  I hope that Karina and Katherine meet Cottie together — because I’ve been hoping for the two of them to meet and I’m confident that they’d get along.

15. Ed Sachs:  Ed Sachs would have certainly lost the AD-73 runoff himself had he beaten out Scott Rhinehart for the second spot against incumbent Bill Brough.  Brough had 46.3, Rhinehart 39.4, and Sachs 14.3%.  I don’t know much about Sachs — except that he’s a Republican and now, if he wants to be, a kingmaker.  His votes would tend to go to Brough if he does nothing — and Brough might lose in November anyway even with them, as they were most likely anti-Brough votes than pro-Sachs votes — but if he meets with Rhinehart and likes him then his endorsement could help get rid of an Assembly member who seems to have managed to be a disappointment to almost everyone.

16 & 17.  Greg Haskin and Long Pham:  Pham is an very admirable Republican Viet of whom OJB has written kindly in the past, where he was a voice of reason and decency on the OC Board of Education.  I believe that he knows the leader in this race, Tyler Diep, quite well, and probably understands as well as anyone that he’s selfish and crooked.  Greg Haskin actually just got censured by the Republican Party for telling some unpleasant truths about Diep.  (The OCGOP seems to see selfish and crooked as virtues for legislators, so long as the selfishness extends to them.)  They should both get in touch with Josh Lowenthal, who is — like his father the Congressman — an entirely decent and intelligent guy.  Lowenthal has 36.5% of the vote; Diep has 29.8%; Haskin 20.4%; and Pham 8%.  Pham should do it to remind us that there are Vietnamese politicians out there can be upstanding rather than Diep-like; Haskin should do it because the only thing he owes the Republican Party now is a metaphorical punch in the chops.  Remember, it was just Lowenthal against four Republicans; a Republican was guaranteed a shot in the runoff!  They didn’t even have to endorse — and they CERTAINLY didn’t have to censure a Republican just to push their crook past the cleaner Viet.  This is a tough district for a Democrat, but the OCGOP is just begging for a loss here.  They should meet with Josh and measure his character — and maybe move an election.  (Josh would be up for re-election in 2020 anyway; he has to “behave well.”)

18. Phil Liberatore:  Republican Trumpster Liberatore came out of nowhere, startling everyone by finishing third with 13.9% in the race.  That’s “winning while losing.”  He probably has dripping contempt for Young Kim.  He should understand that he WILL NEVER HAVE ANOTHER SHOT AT THIS OFFICE if Young Kim wins; she will stay there until the district inevitably turns blue, and then it’s gone for him too.  He’d have a much better shot at beating Cisneros in 2022.  So: is he going to be a slave to his party — or will he act out of pure self-interest?  What would Donald Trump do?

19. Andy Thorburn:  Most of these “winning while losing” people are possible kingmakers.  For Thorburn, it’s more complicated.  Yes, he could use his stature and following to help Cisneros beat Young Kim, and as I’ve said I suspect that he cut the gas on his own campaign in order to let Cisneros win.  But I’d neither ask nor expect him to do so after the DCCC/Cisneros character assassination of him.  I’ll be very interested in which of my fellow Democrats is brazen and ghoulish enough to do so; I’d be happy to publish their names.

20. Dave Min: Min finished a close second to Katie Porter — 17.2% to 20.0% — in the race to defeat Mimi Walters, who is vulnerable with only 53.4%.  As her chief antagonist, he could turn the race in her favor by showing some party loyalty and push hard for her … for her victory in Nov … Novem … BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!   I’m sorry, I just can’t type the rest of this premise with a straight face.  Haters gonna hate — am I right, Professor?  Go ahead, just TRY to prove me wrong!

ALSO APPEARING:

There are possible kingmakers in CA-48, but I’m not sticking my keyboard into that burning crocodile.  I’m grateful for any party solidarity that anyone can muster.  I’ll bet that Omar Siddiqi could pull it off — but it’s not going to come near to “kingmaking.”  Not even near.

 

 

Registration and Turnout
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Reg/Turnout Percentage
Total Registered Voters 1,481,881
Precinct Registration 1,481,881
Precinct Ballots Cast 136,081 9.2%
Early Ballots Cast 766 0.1%
Vote-by-Mail Ballots Cast 192,204 13.0%
Total Ballots Cast 329,051 22.2%

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Governor
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
JOHN H. COX (REP) 118,608 36.6%
GAVIN NEWSOM (DEM) 80,118 24.7%
TRAVIS ALLEN (REP) 39,204 12.1%
ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (DEM) 35,422 10.9%
JOHN CHIANG (DEM) 28,094 8.7%
DELAINE EASTIN (DEM) 6,215 1.9%
AMANDA RENTERIA (DEM) 4,387 1.4%
ROBERT C. NEWMAN, II (REP) 2,367 0.7%
MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER (DEM) 1,624 0.5%
PETER Y LIU (REP) 1,476 0.5%
YVONNE GIRARD (REP) 882 0.3%
J. BRIBIESCA (DEM) 685 0.2%
ZOLTAN ISTVAN (LIB) 677 0.2%
THOMAS JEFFERSON CARES (DEM) 606 0.2%
GLORIA ESTELA LA RIVA (P-F) 514 0.2%
JOSH JONES (GRN) 492 0.2%
NICKOLAS WILDSTAR (LIB) 440 0.1%
ALBERT CAESAR MEZZETTI (DEM) 391 0.1%
ROBERT DAVIDSON GRIFFIS (DEM) 346 0.1%
CHRISTOPHER N. CARLSON (GRN) 281 0.1%
JEFFREY EDWARD TAYLOR 272 0.1%
AKINYEMI AGBEDE (DEM) 250 0.1%
HAKAN “HAWK” MIKADO 248 0.1%
JOHNNY WATTENBURG 220 0.1%
KLEMENT TINAJ (DEM) 197 0.1%
DESMOND SILVEIRA 190 0.1%
SHUBHAM GOEL 128 0.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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Lieutenant Governor
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
COLE HARRIS (REP) 79,816 25.7%
ED HERNANDEZ (DEM) 61,081 19.7%
ELENI KOUNALAKIS (DEM) 55,104 17.8%
DAVID FENNELL (REP) 27,971 9.0%
DAVID R. HERNANDEZ (REP) 27,344 8.8%
LYDIA ORTEGA (REP) 24,222 7.8%
JEFF BLEICH (DEM) 17,673 5.7%
GAYLE MCLAUGHLIN 6,367 2.1%
TIM FERREIRA (LIB) 4,517 1.5%
CAMERON GHARABIKLOU (DEM) 3,724 1.2%
DANNY THOMAS 2,490 0.8%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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Secretary of State
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
MARK P. MEUSER (REP) 135,643 43.9%
* ALEX PADILLA (DEM) 126,160 40.9%
RAUL RODRIGUEZ JR (REP) 18,141 5.9%
RUBEN MAJOR (DEM) 13,690 4.4%
GAIL K. LIGHTFOOT (LIB) 6,829 2.2%
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN (GRN) 4,295 1.4%
C. T. WEBER (P-F) 2,407 0.8%
ERIK RYDBERG (GRN) 1,633 0.5%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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Controller
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* BETTY T. YEE (DEM) 142,841 48.6%
KONSTANTINOS RODITIS (REP) 139,848 47.5%
MARY LOU FINLEY (P-F) 11,504 3.9%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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Treasurer
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
FIONA MA (DEM) 101,854 33.3%
GREG CONLON (REP) 87,148 28.5%
JACK M. GUERRERO (REP) 78,670 25.7%
VIVEK VISWANATHAN (DEM) 32,526 10.6%
KEVIN AKIN (P-F) 5,448 1.8%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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Attorney General
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* XAVIER BECERRA (DEM) 111,400 36.0%
STEVEN C BAILEY (REP) 100,436 32.5%
ERIC EARLY (REP) 62,522 20.2%
DAVE JONES (DEM) 35,095 11.3%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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Insurance Commissioner
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
STEVE POIZNER 148,686 50.9%
RICARDO LARA (DEM) 99,486 34.1%
ASIF MAHMOOD (DEM) 31,177 10.7%
NATHALIE HRIZI (P-F) 12,531 4.3%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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Member, State Board of Equalization 4th District
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
JOEL ANDERSON (REP) 97,545 32.8%
JOHN F. KELLY (REP) 56,607 19.1%
MIKE SCHAEFER (DEM) 48,440 16.3%
DAVID DODSON (DEM) 38,426 12.9%
KEN LOPEZ-MADDOX (DEM) 37,607 12.7%
JIM STIERINGER (REP) 11,351 3.8%
NADER F. SHAHATIT (REP) 7,093 2.4%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES SENATOR
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* DIANNE FEINSTEIN (DEM) 113,886 36.5%
JAMES P BRADLEY (REP) 35,878 11.5%
ARUN K. BHUMITRA (REP) 22,042 7.1%
KEVIN DE LEON (DEM) 21,474 6.9%
PAUL A TAYLOR (REP) 19,692 6.3%
TOM PALZER (REP) 17,935 5.7%
ERIN CRUZ (REP) 14,845 4.8%
PATRICK LITTLE (REP) 9,994 3.2%
JERRY JOSEPH LAWS (REP) 7,452 2.4%
ROQUE “ROCKY” DE LA FUENTE (REP) 6,163 2.0%
PAT HARRIS (DEM) 5,541 1.8%
ALISON HARTSON (DEM) 5,372 1.7%
JOHN “JACK” CREW (REP) 5,366 1.7%
KEVIN MOTTUS (REP) 4,155 1.3%
DERRICK MICHAEL REID (LIB) 2,985 1.0%
ADRIENNE NICOLE EDWARDS (DEM) 2,570 0.8%
DOUGLAS HOWARD PIERCE (DEM) 2,360 0.8%
HERBERT G. PETERS (DEM) 2,094 0.7%
LING LING SHI 2,067 0.7%
MARIO NABLIBA (REP) 1,682 0.5%
DONNIE O. TURNER (DEM) 1,147 0.4%
GERALD PLUMMER (DEM) 1,098 0.4%
DAVID HILDEBRAND (DEM) 1,033 0.3%
JASON M. HANANIA 798 0.3%
DAVID MOORE 797 0.3%
LEE OLSON 762 0.2%
DON J. GRUNDMANN 733 0.2%
JOHN THOMPSON PARKER (P-F) 698 0.2%
RASH BIHARI GHOSH 571 0.2%
COLLEEN SHEA FERNALD 511 0.2%
TIM GILDERSLEEVE 412 0.1%
MICHAEL FAHMY GIRGIS 281 0.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 38th District
Completed Precincts: 9 of 9
Vote Count Percentage
RYAN DOWNING (REP) 992 53.1%
* LINDA T. S�NCHEZ (DEM) 876 46.9%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 39th District
Completed Precincts: 246 of 254
Vote Count Percentage
YOUNG KIM (REP) 13,883 25.5%
GIL CISNEROS (DEM) 9,864 18.1%
PHIL LIBERATORE (REP) 7,574 13.9%
ANDY THORBURN (DEM) 4,646 8.5%
SHAWN NELSON (REP) 4,494 8.3%
SAM JAMMAL (DEM) 3,151 5.8%
MAI KHANH TRAN (DEM) 2,371 4.4%
BOB HUFF (REP) 2,292 4.2%
STEVEN C. VARGAS (REP) 1,701 3.1%
HERBERT H. LEE (DEM) 1,560 2.9%
SUZI PARK LEGGETT (DEM) 859 1.6%
JOHN J. CULLUM (REP) 742 1.4%
ANDREW SAREGA (REP) 347 0.6%
KAREN LEE SCHATZLE 312 0.6%
STEVE COX 295 0.5%
SOPHIA J. ALEXANDER (AI) 221 0.4%
TED M. ALEMAYHU (AI) 62 0.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 45th District
Completed Precincts: 337 of 395
Vote Count Percentage
* MIMI WALTERS (REP) 47,792 53.4%
KATIE PORTER (DEM) 17,884 20.0%
DAVE MIN (DEM) 15,395 17.2%
BRIAN FORDE (DEM) 4,942 5.5%
JOHN GRAHAM 2,120 2.4%
KIA HAMADANCHY (DEM) 1,446 1.6%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 46th District
Completed Precincts: 194 of 233
Vote Count Percentage
* LOU CORREA (DEM) 20,862 59.7%
RUSSELL RENE LAMBERT (REP) 12,298 35.2%
ED RUSHMAN 1,045 3.0%
WILL JOHNSON 741 2.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 47th District
Completed Precincts: 131 of 159
Vote Count Percentage
* ALAN LOWENTHAL (DEM) 11,982 48.6%
JOHN BRISCOE (REP) 6,510 26.4%
DAVID MICHAEL CLIFFORD (REP) 6,180 25.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 48th District
Completed Precincts: 323 of 415
Vote Count Percentage
* DANA ROHRABACHER (REP) 27,911 30.4%
HANS KEIRSTEAD (DEM) 15,920 17.3%
SCOTT BAUGH (REP) 15,346 16.7%
HARLEY ROUDA (DEM) 14,939 16.3%
OMAR A. SIDDIQUI (DEM) 4,520 4.9%
JOHN GABBARD (REP) 2,742 3.0%
RACHEL PAYNE (DEM) 2,002 2.2%
PAUL MARTIN (REP) 1,511 1.6%
MICHAEL KOTICK (DEM) 1,443 1.6%
LAURA OATMAN (DEM) 1,355 1.5%
SHASTINA SANDMAN (REP) 1,342 1.5%
DEANIE SCHAARSMITH (DEM) 787 0.9%
TONY ZARKADES (DEM) 743 0.8%
BRANDON REISER (LIB) 479 0.5%
STELIAN ONUFREI (REP) 378 0.4%
KEVIN KENSINGER 374 0.4%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
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UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 49th District
Completed Precincts: 36 of 96
Vote Count Percentage
DIANE L. HARKEY (REP) 5,991 31.8%
MIKE LEVIN (DEM) 3,643 19.4%
SARA JACOBS (DEM) 2,295 12.2%
DOUG APPLEGATE (DEM) 1,490 7.9%
BRIAN MARYOTT (REP) 1,309 7.0%
KRISTIN GASPAR (REP) 1,286 6.8%
ROCKY J. CH�VEZ (REP) 1,085 5.8%
PAUL G. KERR (DEM) 603 3.2%
MIKE SCHMITT (REP) 414 2.2%
JOSHUA SCHOONOVER (REP) 201 1.1%
CRAIG A. NORDAL (REP) 161 0.9%
DAVID MEDWAY (REP) 129 0.7%
ROBERT PENDLETON 92 0.5%
DANIELLE ST. JOHN (GRN) 60 0.3%
JOSHUA L. HANCOCK (LIB) 51 0.3%
JORDAN P. MILLS (P-F) 13 0.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Shall Josh Newman be recalled (removed) from the office of State Sentator, District 29?
Completed Precincts: 328 of 369
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 39,966 59.7%
No 26,944 40.3%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Candidates to succeed Josh Newman if he is recalled, for the duration of the term ending
Completed Precincts: 328 of 369
Vote Count Percentage
LING LING CHANG 21,720 34.6%
BRUCE WHITAKER 12,774 20.4%
JOSEPH CHO 12,393 19.7%
JOSH FERGUSON 7,060 11.2%
KEVIN CARR 5,572 8.9%
GEORGE C. SHEN 3,246 5.2%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

STATE SENATOR 32nd District, Full Term
Completed Precincts: 41 of 46
Vote Count Percentage
RITA TOPALIAN (REP) 1,371 33.3%
VANESSA DELGADO (DEM) 601 14.6%
ION SAREGA (REP) 417 10.1%
TONY MENDOZA (DEM) 399 9.7%
ALI S. TAJ (DEM) 307 7.4%
VICKY SANTANA (DEM) 285 6.9%
BOB J. ARCHULETA (DEM) 262 6.4%
VIVIAN ROMERO (DEM) 256 6.2%
RUDY BERMUDEZ (DEM) 160 3.9%
DAVID CASTELLANOS (DEM) 63 1.5%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

STATE SENATOR 32nd District, Short Term
Completed Precincts: 41 of 46
Vote Count Percentage
RITA TOPALIAN 1,297 32.0%
TONY MENDOZA 560 13.8%
VANESSA DELGADO 534 13.2%
ION SAREGA 448 11.1%
ALI S. TAJ 288 7.1%
VICKY SANTANA 282 7.0%
BOB J. ARCHULETA 221 5.5%
VIVIAN ROMERO 182 4.5%
RUDY BERMUDEZ 154 3.8%
JOHN PAUL DRAYER 60 1.5%
DARREN JOSEPH GENDRON 21 0.5%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

STATE SENATOR 34th District
Completed Precincts: 307 of 339
Vote Count Percentage
* JANET NGUYEN (REP) 41,527 59.8%
TOM UMBERG (DEM) 18,345 26.4%
JESTIN L. SAMSON (DEM) 5,920 8.5%
AKASH A. HAWKINS (DEM) 3,607 5.2%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

STATE SENATOR 36th District
Completed Precincts: 137 of 255
Vote Count Percentage
* PATRICIA C. ‘PAT’ BATES (REP) 32,719 59.7%
MARGGIE CASTELLANO (DEM) 22,069 40.3%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY 55th District
Completed Precincts: 122 of 127
Vote Count Percentage
* PHILLIP CHEN (REP) 14,204 47.2%
GREGG D. FRITCHLE (DEM) 6,191 20.6%
JAMES G. GERBUS (REP) 4,200 13.9%
MELISSA FAZLI (DEM) 4,194 13.9%
SCOTT LEBDA (REP) 1,334 4.4%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY 65th District
Completed Precincts: 238 of 271
Vote Count Percentage
* SHARON QUIRK-SILVA (DEM) 19,487 50.9%
ALEXANDRIA “ALEX” CORONADO (REP) 18,811 49.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY 68th District
Completed Precincts: 260 of 270
Vote Count Percentage
* STEVEN S. CHOI (REP) 33,440 60.2%
MICHELLE DUMAN (DEM) 22,139 39.8%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY 69th District
Completed Precincts: 105 of 127
Vote Count Percentage
* TOM DALY (DEM) 14,590 100.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY 72nd District
Completed Precincts: 213 of 231
Vote Count Percentage
JOSH LOWENTHAL (DEM) 19,722 36.5%
TYLER DIEP (REP) 16,104 29.8%
GREG HASKIN (REP) 11,013 20.4%
LONG PHAM (REP) 4,340 8.0%
RICHARD LAIRD (REP) 2,785 5.2%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY 73rd District
Completed Precincts: 137 of 255
Vote Count Percentage
* WILLIAM (BILL) BROUGH (REP) 25,042 46.3%
SCOTT RHINEHART (DEM) 21,308 39.4%
ED SACHS (REP) 7,718 14.3%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY 74th District
Completed Precincts: 201 of 280
Vote Count Percentage
* MATTHEW HARPER (REP) 23,328 41.8%
COTTIE PETRIE-NORRIS (DEM) 15,384 27.6%
KARINA ONOFRE (DEM) 6,834 12.2%
KATHERINE DAIGLE (REP) 6,434 11.5%
RYAN TA (DEM) 3,820 6.8%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Judge of the Superior Court Office No. 13
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* THEODORE R. “TED” HOWARD 210,116 79.1%
FRANKLIN DUNN 55,438 20.9%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Superintendent of Public Instruction
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
MARSHALL TUCK 128,234 45.9%
TONY K. THURMOND 74,381 26.6%
LILY (ESPINOZA) PLOSKI 44,259 15.8%
STEVEN IRELAND 32,577 11.7%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

County Superintendent of Schools
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* AL MIJARES 216,206 100.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Member, County Board of Education Trustee Area 2
Completed Precincts: 293 of 340
Vote Count Percentage
MARI BARKE 25,999 39.8%
* DAVID L. BOYD 23,948 36.6%
MATT NGUYEN 15,441 23.6%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Member, County Board of Education Trustee Area 5
Completed Precincts: 222 of 375
Vote Count Percentage
LISA SPARKS 39,139 56.9%
MARY NAVARRO 16,610 24.2%
KIMBERLY CLARK 6,475 9.4%
DAN DRAITSER 4,125 6.0%
MIKE DALATI 2,407 3.5%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

County Supervisor 2nd District
Completed Precincts: 327 of 386
Vote Count Percentage
* MICHELLE STEEL 44,497 63.7%
BRENDON PERKINS 16,808 24.1%
MICHAEL MAHONY 8,564 12.3%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

County Supervisor 4th District
Completed Precincts: 265 of 299
Vote Count Percentage
TIM SHAW 10,347 21.4%
DOUG CHAFFEE 10,158 21.0%
JOE KERR 9,685 20.0%
LUCILLE KRING 8,188 16.9%
ROSE ESPINOZA 5,606 11.6%
CYNTHIA AGUIRRE 4,407 9.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

County Supervisor 5th District
Completed Precincts: 198 of 343
Vote Count Percentage
* LISA BARTLETT 55,252 100.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Assessor
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* CLAUDE PARRISH 192,890 69.7%
RICHARD B. RAMIREZ 47,702 17.2%
NATHANIEL FERNANDEZ EPSTEIN 36,170 13.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Auditor-Controller
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* ERIC H. WOOLERY 199,009 75.0%
TONI SMART 66,402 25.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Clerk-Recorder
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* HUGH NGUYEN 215,432 78.7%
STEVE ROCCO 58,348 21.3%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

District Attorney-Public Administrator
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* TONY RACKAUCKAS 114,285 39.6%
TODD SPITZER 100,898 35.0%
BRETT MURDOCK 62,284 21.6%
LENORE ALBERT-SHERIDAN 10,858 3.8%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Sheriff-Coroner
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
DON BARNES 144,575 50.8%
DUKE NGUYEN 85,663 30.1%
DAVID C. HARRINGTON 54,547 19.2%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

Treasurer-Tax Collector
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
* SHARI L. FREIDENRICH 241,773 100.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

68-AUTHORIZES BONDS FUNDING PARKS, NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTION, CLIMATE ADAPTATION, WATER QUALITY
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 148,481 48.4%
No 158,027 51.6%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

69-REQUIRES THAT CERTAIN NEW TRANSPORTATION REVENUES BE USED FOR TRANSPORTATION
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 239,147 77.2%
No 70,812 22.8%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

70-REQUIRES LEGISLATIVE SUPERMAJORITY VOTE APPROVING USE OF CAP-AND-TRADE RESERVE
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 122,227 40.9%
No 176,752 59.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

71-SETS EFFECTIVE DATE FOR BALLOT MEASURES. LEGISLATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 229,692 76.3%
No 71,353 23.7%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

72-PERMITS LEGISLATURE TO EXCLUDE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED RAIN-CAPTURE SYSTEMS FROM PROPERTY-TAX
Completed Precincts: 1276 of 1561
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 260,154 85.1%
No 45,704 14.9%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

A-City of Cypress, Cypress Town Center and Commons Specific Plan 2.0
Completed Precincts: 25 of 32
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 3,514 65.0%
No 1,893 35.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

B-City of Irvine, Ordinance No. 17-08, Facilitating Veterans
Completed Precincts: 79 of 101
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 8,068 37.3%
No 13,571 62.7%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

C-City of Irvine, Requiring a 2/3 Vote of the City Council to Propose Taxes
Completed Precincts: 79 of 101
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 16,318 76.9%
No 4,904 23.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

D-City of Irvine, Prohibiting Voter Approval Requirements on Fiscally Beneficial Projects
Completed Precincts: 79 of 101
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 9,685 46.9%
No 10,975 53.1%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any
Top 

E-City of Westminster, A Measure to Change the Term of Office for the Office of Mayor
Completed Precincts: 30 of 32
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 4,620 52.2%
No 4,223 47.8%

 


About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)