Election 2022: Newsom, Porter take leads in state and national elections

It looks as though Gov. Gavin Newsom will be sticking around for another term, according to early results Tuesday night.

As of Tuesday night, Newsom held the lead over Republican challenger Brian Dahle. In Orange County, early results are indicating that Newsom has 54.2% of the votes compared to Dahle’s 45.8% — a roughly 35,625 difference.

In other contested races throughout Orange County, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) looks to be holding ground in the race to represent the 47th District against competitor Scott Baugh. Porter is reporting in at 57.5% while Baugh is reporting 42.3% of the votes. Districts have recently been redrawn on the state level, and this district now includes Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach.

In the 45th District, which includes Fountain Valley, Westminster, Garden Grove in addition to some cities in Los Angeles County, the heated contest between Republican Rep. Michelle Steel and Democratic candidate Jay Chen has come to a head with Steel eking out a tentative lead over Chen with 50.2% of the votes. Chen follows closely behind with 49.8%.

Here, as follows, are the remaining state and county elections that affect the Daily Pilot’s coverage area in Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach:

5th Supervisorial District

County Sup. Katrina Foley is holding the lead in the race to represent District 5 on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The district represents Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Laguna Woods, Irvine, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and some unincorporated land. Foley is maintaining a lead of 56.8% over state Sen. Patricia Bates, who is reporting just 43.3% of the votes.

36th State Senate District

Democrat and Huntington Beach Councilwoman Kim Carr is falling behind to state Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen. Nguyen currently represents the 72nd Assembly District but moved to run for the state Senate this election cycle. Carr currently has 47.6% of the votes and Nguyen has 52.4%.

The district includes Cerritos, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and San Clemente.

70th State Assembly District

In the race for the 70th State Assembly District, which includes Westminster, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley, Westminster Mayor Tri Ta appears to be leading the votes with 27,787 of the ballots counted in his favor. But, Ta is holding a slim margin over competitor Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen, who is following behind with 27,642 of the votes — a difference of just 145 votes.

72nd State Assembly District

With the seat to be vacated by Nguyen, Newport Beach Councilwoman Diane Dixon faced off against Democratic candidate Judie Mancuso in the 72nd State Assembly District, which includes the coastal cities of Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. The race in this assembly district is also fairly close, with Mancuso currently holding the lead with 50.1% of the votes and Dixon not far behind with 49.9%.

73rd State Assembly District

Meanwhile, in the 73rd State Assembly District, Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris is charging ahead of competitor Steven “Steve” Choi with 60.1% of the votes. Choi is reporting in with 39.9% of the ballots cast for this distrct. The 73rd State Assembly District is currently represented by Assemblywoman Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel).

This district includes the cities of Costa Mesa and Irvine.

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