Heading into the second weekend after Election Day, these local races in Orange County remain tight.

Other races might not be as close, but with an estimated 74,700 ballots still to count in the county, as of Friday evening, these could potentially see a change. How results unfold as the Orange County Registrar of Voters continues its vote counting will impact who takes the helm of cities and school boards across the county.

Here’s a breakdown of the closest races in the county as of Friday afternoon:

Aliso Viejo City Council, District 1

Tim Zandbergen: 2,466 votes (51.34%)

Jennifer Engle: 2,336 votes (48.65%)

Engle is a project manager. Zandbergen is a small business owner.

Costa Mesa City Council, District 6

Jeff Pettis: 4,260 votes (50.56%)

Jeffrey Harlan: 4,166 votes (49.44%)

Pettis is a Veterans Health administrator, serving as a deputy chief nurse of mental health. Harlan, an attorney, is the incumbent. He was first elected to the post in 2020.

Cypress City Council, District 3

Kyle Chang: 1,909 votes (43.96%)

Mark H. Plager: 1,888 votes (43.47%)

Chang is a public health statistician. Plager is a small business owner. The two of them have pulled away from a third candidate.

Cypress School District, Area E

Jamie Needham: 2,050 votes (50.97%)

Candi Kern: 1,972 votes (49.03%)

Needham is a parent and a teacher with K-6 experience. Kern has been a trustee for the Cypress School District for 12 years.

Fullerton City Council, District 4

Jamie Valencia: 3,305 votes (35.74%)

Vivian “Kitty” Jaramillo: 3,299 votes (35.66%)

The lead in this race has changed multiple times this week. These two candidates have distanced themselves from two others in the race. Jaramillo is a former city employee. Valencia is a registered nurse.

Fountain Valley School District

Ashley Ramirez: 10,045 votes (27.77%)

Huy Tran: 9,844 votes (27.21%)

Steven Schultz, the incumbent, comfortably won the first of two seats at stake. Ramirez and Tran are battling for the second. Ramirez is associate director of recruitment & admissions at UC Irvine. Tran is an assistant principal at Santiago High School in Garden Grove Unified.

Fullerton School District, Area 5

Vanesa Estrella: 3,707 votes (51.27%)

Leonel Talavera: 3,523 votes (48.84%)

Talavera, the incumbent, has been in the position for four years. Estrella is an executive manager at a Fullerton apparel business.

Garden Grove City Council, District 6

Ariana Arestegui: 3,159 votes (51.51%)

Tri Lam: 2,974 votes (48.49%)

Arestegui was elected in March to the Democratic Party of Orange County Central Committee. Lam is a biomedical engineer and business owner.

Huntington Beach City School District, Area 1

Brian Burley: 4,263 (50.76%)

Cindy Barrios: 4,135 (49.24%)

Burley is a business owner. Barrios is a parent and former intelligence analyst.

Irvine City Council, District 1

Melinda Liu: 5,729 votes (32.34%)

John Park: 5,645 votes (31.86%)

Liu and Park have pulled away from three other candidates in the race to represent District 1 for a two-year term through 2026. Irvine switched from at-large to district council elections this year, prompting this unique two-year term.

Liu is a city finance commissioner and an attorney focused on estate planning and trusts. Park owns an advertising agency based in Irvine and is a city transportation commissioner.

Laguna Beach Unified School District

Sheri Morgan: 5,611 (23.26%)

Howard Hills: 5,514 (22.86%)

Jan Vickers: 5,331 (22.10%)

Voters are selecting two of five candidates. Morgan and Hills have surged to the lead, but Vickers, the only incumbent in the race, is not far behind. Two others trail.

Morgan is a parent and business owner. Hills is an attorney with a long history in Laguna politics. Vickers was first elected to the board in 2000.

La Habra City Council

Delwin “Del” Lampkin: 7,444 votes (16.03%)

Susan M. Pritchard: 7,191 votes (15.49%)

La Habra voters are electing three at-large representatives from a field of six candidates. Incumbents Daren Nigsarian and Rose Espinoza secured re-election. The race for the third seat remains close between Lampkin and Pritchard.

Lampkin is a deputy sheriff. Pritchard has served on the La Habra City School District board and spent more than 30 teaching science in town.

Los Alamitos City Council, District 1

Tanya Doby: 520 votes (51.90%)

Wendy Grose: 482 votes (48.10%)

Incumbent Doby and challenger Grose have been separated at times by a handful of votes in the race to represent Los Alamitos District 1.

Doby, a small business owner, was elected to the council in 2020. Grose is a city planning commissioner.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Area 1

Leah Ersoylu: 5,781 (51.73%)

Robin Mensinger: 5,394 (48.27%)

Ersoylu was elected to the board in 2020. Mensinger runs a small business.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Area 3

Carol Crane: 6,847 (51.71%)

Philip Stemler: 6,395 (48.29%)

Crane is the incumbent. Stemler is a public corruption prosecutor at the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office.

Santa Ana City Council, Ward 3

Jessie Lopez: 8,687 votes (50.86%)

Jeffrey Katz: 8,392 votes (49.14%)

Lopez was first elected to the City Council in 2020. Katz, an attorney, lost to Lopez in that race.

Santa Ana Unified School District, Area 1

Brenda Lebsack: 6,024 (50.66%)

Rigo Rodriguez: 5,867 (49.34%)

Lebsack is a special education teacher. Rodriguez, the incumbent, was first elected to the board in 2016. He is an associate professor at Cal State Long Beach in the Department of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies.

Tustin City Council, District 1

Lee Fink: 3,939 votes (51.90%)

Tanner Douthit: 3,650 votes (48.10%)

Fink is an attorney. Douthit is a planning commissioner.

Sunset Beach Sanitary District

John H. Woods: 401 votes (25.17%)

Graham Hoad: 326 votes (20.46%)

David E. Evans: 323 votes (20.28%)

John Dentzer: 281 votes (17.64%)

Peter Amundson: 262 votes (16.45%)

The Sunset Beach Sanitary District serves Sunset Beach in unincorporated Orange County and the Surfside Colony of Seal Beach. Voters were tasked with selecting four sanitary district directors from five candidates.

Incumbents Woods, Hoad and Evans appear to have retained their seats. Dentzer and Amundson are in a close race for the final seat.

Yorba Linda City Council

Jess Battaglia: 12,498 votes (15.74%)

Shivinder Singh: 12,495 votes (15.74%)

Yorba Linder voters re-elected Tara Campbell and Peggy Huang. Battaglia and Singh are in a close race for the third open seat, separated by three votes. Battaglia is a sales director. Singh is a city planning commissioner.

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