Democrat Assemblymember Avelino Valencia and Republican Mike Tardif will both advance to face off in the November general election, with the former having a comfortable lead over his opponent in early returns Tuesday night.
Valencia, an incumbent, and Tardif were the only two candidates competing in the primary.
The 68th Assembly District encompasses central Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana. District voters had consistently elected Republican candidates since the 1990s until Valencia won the seat in 2022 after redistricting.
This is not the first time the two have competed against each other. Valencia defeated Tardif in the 2022 election to take the district’s seat in the assembly. In that election, Valencia got 62% of the vote.
See the latest election results.
Valencia, a former Anaheim councilmember, told the Register that his budget priorities are funding public education, public safety and safety net programs. He chairs a budget sub committee focused on oversight of tax dollars, and last year pushed for state auditors to audit tourism money in Anaheim.
Tardif is a retired small business owner from Santa Ana. He has said addressing crime and safety, parent choice in education and lowering taxes to help discourage taxpayers from leaving California are his priorities. He supports across-the-board budget cuts of 5%, he’s said, and that misguided policies in the legislature have caused inflation to be high.
Tardif has said California’s Democrat supermajority is harmful to residents.
Tallying election results is far from over. The Orange County Registrar of Voters will post updates throughout Tuesday night and then each weekday at 5 p.m. until all ballots are counted.
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