48th, 39th District Congressional Race Results: Too Close To Call

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Two Republican challengers have widened the still-narrow leads over Orange County Democratic House members. Sitting Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel holds a slender lead over sitting congressman Harley Rouda in the 48th District. Young Kim, a former California Assemblywoman, is leading by a slim margin over 38th District Gil Cisneros.

The races for the 48th and 39th districts remained too close to call as of late Thursday, with the results susceptible to change as county election officials continue tabulating votes from Tuesday's election.

As of Thursday evening, the Orange County Registrar of Voters was reporting a total of 175,516 ballots await being tallied.
California law dictates that registrars can tabulate mail-in ballots, bearing Election Day postmarks, as late as Nov. 20.

The number of ballots yet to be counted is not currently known.

Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said about 63,000 votes were counted, and 1,600 new ballots arrived in the mail Thursday.

48th District Election: Rouda Vs. Steel

On Thursday, Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel leads Rep. Harley Rouda, D-Newport Beach, by 4,774 votes in the coastal 48th District. Steel has 50.67% of the vote to Rouda's 49.33% or 179,452 votes to 174,678.

The most current figures available as of this report:

39th District: Cisneros Vs. Kim

Former Assemblywoman Young Kim led Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Yorba Linda, by 2,497 votes, 50.4%-49.6%, in the race to represent the 39th Congressional District that includes portions of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties. Kim has 146,297 votes and Cisneros 143,800.

Kim is seeking to be the first Korean-American woman in Congress.

The most current figures available as of this report:

The GOP continues their hope to regain their congressional foothold in the once-decidedly conservative county.