Spitzer Declares Victory In OCDA Race, Supervisor Seats Head To Runoff

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced his re-election victory Wednesday amid preliminary results from the OC Registrar of Voters showing him with a significant lead over his challengers.

As of 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Spitzer took in 64.1 percent of the vote while challenger Pete Hardin was a distant second at 18.97 percent. Bryan Chehock had 8.73 percent of the vote while Michael A. Jacobs received 8.21 percent.

Spitzer needed more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid the race heading to a runoff in the Nov. 8 election.

Voter turnout was low this primary season, with 19.2 percent of registered voters casting their ballots, the Registrar of Voters reported.

In a statement sent Wednesday evening, Spitzer thanked voters for "prioritizing public safety" with his re-election.

"As crime skyrocketed in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, I vigorously and consistently prosecuted violent criminals while also defending victims’ rights," he said. "Voters showed up to the polls and overwhelmingly supported my 30-year public service commitment."

Spitzer and his office faced several widely-covered controversies and allegations in the lead-up to the election, including a former employee saying the district attorney used racist remarks during a death penalty case involving a Black man.

RELATED: OCDA Reportedly Made 'Racist Comments' In Case Of Black Defendant

Hardin issued a statement Wednesday saying his campaign's "effort to bring reform to the Orange County District Attorney's Office will not be successful."

"As a first-time candidate in one of the most populous counties in the country, I always knew that this was going to be an uphill battle," Hardin said in a statement. "I am forever grateful to our staff, volunteers and supporters, all of whom were undeterred by the odds and welcomed the opportunity to offer Orange County a modern approach based on facts rather than fear."

Although Spitzer avoided a runoff election, several races for the Orange County Board of Supervisors were not so lucky.

Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento will face Garden Grove City Councilwoman Kim Bernice Nguyen in November to see who takes the Second District post. Sarmiento took 32.30 percent of the vote while Nguyen garnered 23.2 percent.

Incumbent Supervisor Katrina Foley will likely head to a runoff election with former Supervisor Pat Bates for the Fifth District seat. Foley received 41.27 percent of the vote while Bates had 23.09 percent.

The race for the 4th District is still too close to call as incumbent Supervisor Doug Chaffee is in a neck and neck race with Brea City Councilman Steve Vargas and Buena Park Mayor Sunny Park.

Chaffee had 33.26 percent of the vote, while Vargas took in 31.17 percent. Park was in the lead with 35.57 percent.

The Los Angeles Times reported that California Sen. Alex Padilla clinched a spot on the November ballot.

Republican attorney Mark Meuser is anticipated to advance to the November ballot as well, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Three Orange County cities voted on local ballot measures.

Results show with 100 percent of precincts reporting Newport Beach and Westminster are poised to reject changes to their mayor positions.

As of 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, 58.91 percent of voters in Newport Beach voted against Measure B, which would allow residents to directly elect the mayor. Around 60.21 percent of Westminster residents voted against eliminating Measure C, which would have eliminated the elected mayor position and add a City Council seat.

Early results show that 66.4 percent of voters in Huntington Beach approve of Measure A, which would impose a cannabis business tax if and when the city allows recreational marijuana.

Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Don Barnes won re-election after running unopposed.

Scroll to the bottom of this story for real-time Orange County election results.

Click here to track your ballot and make sure it is counted.

Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen also led in his race with 83.62 percent of votes. Sandy Kimble and Steve Rocco trailed behind, at 8.71 percent and 7.67 percent, respectively.

As of April, the California Secretary of State reported that 26,948,297 Californians were registered to vote, accounting for almost 82 percent of the state's eligible voting population.

Not surprisingly, there are far more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state, with 46.75 percent for the former and 23.92 percent for the latter. GOP registration in the state has been dropping steadily, a trend that shows no sign of slowing down even as Republican registration climbed at the national level over the last year.

In Orange County, the rate of voter registration is high. As of June, 1,810,317 residents were registered to vote— with 37.4 percent of voters registered as Democrats, 33.33 percent as Republicans and 23.6 percent as having no party preference.

RELATED: Real-Time Results: California Governor Primary Election 2022

Real-time results are below — use the scroll on the right and the "customize viewing results" box to select the race of your choice. Patch will be updating the results throughout the night as votes are tallied — refresh the page for the latest updates.

Can't see the widget below? Click here for all Orange County election results.

For a complete guide to statewide races, see the CalMatters California Election 2022 Voter Guide.