Kelsey Nelson ahead in Citrus Heights City Council’s 1st District race, early results show

In the race to fill the vacant seat for the 1st District on the Citrus Heights City Council , Kelsey Nelson was in the lead against two other candidates vying to replace Mayor Bret Daniels.

Nelson, Amie Burgundy Brown and Andrew Wayne Saunders are hoping to win the election and represent District 1, which encompasses the northwest end of the Sacramento County suburb.

In the vote totals released Tuesday evening, Nelson had 66% of vote in the three-way race. Brown was in second place with 17% of the vote, and Saunders was in third with 16% of the vote as of 8:15 p.m.

Daniels' term representing the 1st District was set to expire at the end of this year. In late August, the Citrus Heights mayor announced he was resigning and leaving his seat on the City Council vacant a few months before the end of his term.

"I have not been able to secure housing in my district and I do not want to put the city in any jeopardy, so I must resign," Daniels said in statement to his fellow council members, telling them he was moving to Kentucky.

In July, Daniels told CBS 13 that he planned to leave California at the end of the year due to "an erosion of local control" in the state and move to a place more in line with Christian, conservative values.

Daniels lost in the March primary election to replace Sue Frost , the then-outgoing Sacramento County 4th District supervisor. Daniels came in second with 26% of the vote, losing the county supervisor seat to Rosario Rodriguez. Frost endorsed Rodriguez, who received 51% of the vote.

Jayna Karpinski-Costa, the Citrus Heights councilwoman representing the 4th District, was elected in September by the council to become the city's new mayor. The council elected MariJane Lopez-Taff as Citrus Heights vice mayor.

Incumbent City Councilman Tim Schaefer is running opposed to return to his seat representing 3rd District in Citrus Heights. On Tuesday night, Schaefer had XX% of the vote.