Special election set for Tuesday

A special election to fill the vacant seat for the 37th state Senate district is being held Tuesday.

Throughout the district — a wide swath of Orange County from Laguna Beach to Anaheim Hills — nearly 1,000 poll workers are scheduled to man 189 polling stations, according to county registrar data.

Voters will have four candidates to choose from: state Assemblyman Don Wagner (R-Irvine); former county Supervisor John Moorlach, a Republican from Costa Mesa; Naz Namazi, a Republican congressional aide from Irvine; and Democratic write-in candidate Louise Stewardson, a nurse from Huntington Beach.

The winner will take the seat vacated by Mimi Walters, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives last fall. The term lasts through December 2016.

The district is made up of nearly 500,000 registered voters, about 42% of them Republicans and 28.6% Democrats.

As of Friday, registrar officials said they’ve received 56,388 mail-in ballots, an 11.45% turnout so far.

The 37th state Senate district includes Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine and portions of Anaheim and Huntington Beach.

For more information on finding polling places and candidates, visit ocvote.com.

—Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint