OC Voters Tasked with Electing New Supervisors, Reps, Councilmembers

Orange County voters will head to the polls Tuesday to elect candidates for city councils, school boards and Congress, with one of the most closely watched races being for the county's first supervisor district, where former Supervisor Andrew Do resigned amid a bribery scandal.

State Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, is facing off against Democratic Cypress City Councilwoman Frances Marquez.

Do was once Nguyen's chief of staff when she served on the Board of Supervisors, before he was elected to the Garden Grove City Council, then won a special election for Orange County supervisor when Nguyen became a state lawmaker.

The Board of Supervisors currently includes three Democrats: Katrina Foley, Vicente Sarmiento and Doug Chaffee. If Marquez wins, Chairman Don Wagner would be the only Republican remaining. Wagner secured his position outright in the primary, avoiding a general election challenge.

Orange County Republican Chairman Fred Whitaker said he was confident Nguyen will return to the board based on her name recognition and political experience. But Orange County Democratic Party Chairwoman Ada Briceno has confidence Marquez will be competitive.

"We have a talented candidate who has been standing up against corruption for a long time in her city of Cypress," Briceno said. "We need someone like her given all the atrocities we've seen on the Board of Supervisors. We're going to do all we can to get her across the finish line given what we've seen with Andrew Do."

Whitaker was bullish on GOP chances on Election Day.

"I'm really pleased with where we are right now," Whitaker said. "Our effort was to drive early turnout so we have the last week to talk to our low-propensity voters and get them out to vote."

Whitaker said he saw four consecutive days of Republicans voting in higher numbers than Democrats this election cycle.

"That hasn't happened in my memory at all," Whitaker said. "That means if we still have a robust turnout on Election Day, we'll be in great shape."

Republicans traditionally cast ballots on Election Day, but Whitaker said the party has been pushing to bank more early votes.

"We certainly had resistance, and some still will only vote on Election Day," Whitaker said. "But I'm very excited about where we are."

Whitaker said a race he has his eyes on Tuesday will be the contest between Republican Assemblywoman Laurie Davies and Democrat Chris Duncan, a San Clemente City Councilman and former federal prosecutor. The district covers south Orange County and San Diego County.

"They've spent over $5 million against Davies," Whitaker said. "But I believe, looking at turnout, we'll do just fine. That's one where we've had to put more resources than we expected."

Whitaker also highlighted the race between state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, and former Irvine Mayor Steven Choi as one to watch.

"The one we thought would be sleepy is for Josh Newman," Whitaker said. "It's more of a Republican-leaning district, and I think that's one to watch and one we may pop."

Briseno said "there's tremendous enthusiasm" among Orange County Democrats.

"We had hundreds of volunteers in both the 47th and 45th congressional districts this weekend," she said. "We had hundreds of people gather in Irvine to get out the vote."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, who is running for U.S. Senate, attended get-out-the-vote rallies in Orange County, she said.

"We have momentum and enthusiasm on our side so we won't stop until 8 p.m. Tuesday," she said. "We still outpace Republicans by about 50,000 in voter registration."

Briseno said she is confident Newman will win re-election.

"I feel fantastic about Josh Newman," she said. "He's known. He's been through a recall. He's managed to come back on his feet strong."