Incumbent candidates representing Orange County were largely pulling away in the state Assembly races, as more voting results were updated Wednesday following the close of Tuesday’s primary election.
All nine appear set to advance to the November general election. Only three faced more than one challenger, in the other races, both candidates automatically advance. Ballot counting is still ongoing, and county elections officials have until April 2 to report final results to the secretary of state.
Orange County currently has five Republicans and four Democrats representing it in the 80-member Assembly, though some districts include portions of other Southern California counties.
The most competitive three-way race was between Democrat Cottie Petrie-Norris and her Republican challengers, Scotty Peotter and Henny Abraham in Assembly District 73.
Petrie-Norris led the race with about 54% of the vote, and she is set to run against Peotter who earned 32%. The winner in November will represent the cities of Irvine, Costa Mesa and Tustin in the Assembly. Peotter is a former Newport Beach councilmember. Abraham trailed Tuesday at close to 14%.
The two other Assembly seats with more than two candidates running were less competitive in terms of who got to advance to the runoff.
Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva had 50% of the vote as of Wednesday for Assembly District 67. Republican Beth Culver, a retired entrepreneur, followed with 42%. Trailing far behind was Jacob Woo Ho Lee, a pastor, who ran as a no party preference candidate, at just over 7%.
Assembly District 67 covers Los Angeles and Orange counties, including parts of Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton and La Palma. If reelected in November, Quirk-Silva could not run again in the future due to term limits.
The third competitive Assembly race was in Assembly District 71, where incumbent Kate Sanchez faced challenges from Democrat Gary Kephart and Peace and Freedom party candidate Babar Khan.
Sanchez appears set to…
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