Voter Turnout Low In Orange County For Tuesday Primary

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Turnout in Tuesday's presidential primary election was lagging in Orange County with the percentage of voters casting ballots expected to match the June primary two years ago.

"Through yesterday, we've had 274,000 mail ballots returned ... with 12,600 in-person votes," Orange County Registrar Bob Page said Monday.

That would amount to 15.7% turnout.

"It appears we're on pace with the turnout in the June 2022 primary," Page said. In that election, turnout statewide was 35.2%.

The presidential primary contest in 2020 saw half of the state's voters cast ballots, Page said.
The county has 183 vote centers that will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Voters wanting to find one that is most convenient for them can get locations at ocvote.gov/votecenter.

The county also has 122 boxes voters can drop a ballot into. They have to be dropped off by 8 p.m.
Voters who cast a ballot by mail must have it postmarked Tuesday, and it must be delivered within seven days, Page said.

Orange County Republican Chairman Fred Whitaker said he was optimistic about his party's chances.

"Turnout is pretty low, but the great thing in Orange County is Republican turnout is beating Democratic turnout across the board," Whitaker said. "We're actually beating Democrats by registration and gross numbers."

Whitaker added, "We know a lot of Republicans will only vote on Election Day."

Whitaker said turnout was likely low because it is a presidential primary in which the nominees have already been settled as it is shaping up to be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Whitaker believes Orange County Board Chairman Don Wagner will win his reelection over Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan in the Third Supervisorial District.

The race to succeed termed-out Supervisor Andrew Do features multiple candidates, but could be shaping up to be a contest between state Sen. Janet Nguyen, a former county supervisor, and former Assemblyman Van Tran, who is Do's chief of staff, many political observers say.

The other candidates on the ballot are Westminster Councilwoman Kimberly Ho, former Fountain Valley councilman Michael Vo and Cypress City Council member Frances Marquez.

The county GOP has endorsed Nguyen. Whitaker said it will be difficult with all of those candidates for Nguyen to win outright.

Democratic Chair Ada Briceno said Monday turnout was "incredibly low," so her camp is "moving as much as we can to reach voters and make sure they cast their ballot by tomorrow."

She said it was "disappointing to see where turnout is now," adding it was "mostly white affluent older voters who have come out to vote, and we have to turn that around. But I have faith Democrats will come out to voting centers today and tomorrow."

Briceno said the turnout could be a result of "a little bit of burnout" on elections.

Another race of note, observers say, is who will advance to the November general election to succeed Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, who is running for U.S. Senate. Former Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh, who narrowly lost to Porter two years ago, is the party's backed candidate in the 47th Congressional District.

Experts expect Baugh to face off against Democratic activist Joanna Weiss, who has Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley's endorsement, or state Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine.

The races in Orange County could factor into which party controls the House next year.

The other candidates in the 47th Congressional district include economics professor Terry Crandall, retired general counsel Bill Smith, and chemical engineer, Tom McGarth, all of whom have no party preference. Security officer Shariq Zaidi, a Democrat, is also on the ballot.

UC Irvine political science professor Lou DeSipio said because he lives in that district "I'm inundated every day with mailers from both sides, which confirms how much money is blowing around."

Weiss, he added, was "running a very serious campaign against the more establishment Dave Min."

DeSipio said he assumes Baugh "will be in the top two," and that the race will come down to Weiss or Min.

"Weiss is hitting it hard and sending multiple messages that run the risk of discouraging voters because the less-engaged voter doesn't like the negativity, but she is running a serious challenge to an establishment candidate and his response has not been all that effective," DeSipio said.

"But if I had to money on it I'd bet on Min. The party endorsement and elite endorsements help in a low-turnout race."

But Weiss also can count on "family connections to old-line Democrats in the district" as well, he said.

Min's conviction for a DUI may factor in the race as television commercials have been reminding voters of his arrest in Sacramento last year.

Voters in the Orange Unified School District will also cast ballots in the proposed recall of board members Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner.

The two came under fire from some parents, teachers and other residents as the board has engaged in hot-button issues such as a policy to require school staff to notify parents if their child wants to switch pronouns, a ban on the gay pride flag on campuses and clashes over books in the library.

Huntington Beach has a ballot measure asking voters to consider requiring identification when voting in city elections, which critics say will lead to a costly court battle, but supporters say will cut down on fraud.