A week after Election Day, these OC school and city races remain nail-biters

A week after Election Day, more than a handful of local races remain real nail-biters.

Others might not be as close, but with more than 120,000 ballots still to count in the county, they could potentially see a change. How results unfold as the OC Registrar of Voters continues its vote counting will impact who takes the helm of cities and school boards across Orange County.

Here’s a breakdown of the closest races in the county as of Tuesday afternoon:

Aliso Viejo City Council, District 1

Tim Zandbergen: 2,255 votes (51.23%)

Jennifer Engle: 2,147 votes (48.77%)

Neither candidate is an incumbent. Engle, a project manager, said city spending is her most significant concern in her responses to the OC Register’s voter guide.

Zandbergen, a small business owner, said he would focus on maintaining police and fire budgets with low taxes.

Cypress City Council, District 3

Mark H. Plager: 1,752 votes (44.06%)

Kyle Chang: 1,727 votes (43.44%)

Plager and Chang have distanced themselves from Gayel Kaplan, the third candidate in this race. But just 25 votes separated the two leaders as of Tuesday night.

Plager, a small business owner, said his city needs to add new revenue sources to offset the growing cost of providing community services without raising taxes.

Chang, a public health statistician, said transparency in city business is Cypress’ biggest issue.

Cypress School District, Area E

Jamie Needham: 1,941 votes (51.03%)

Candi Kern: 1,863 votes (48.97%)

In Area E, incumbent Kern and Needham are locked in a tight race for the seat — separated by less than 80 votes.

Needham is a parent and a teacher with K-6 experience. She said the top two needs of the district are fiscal transparency and community engagement.

Kern has been a trustee for the Cypress School District for 12 years. She said the top needs of the district are funding and student wellness.

Fullerton City Council, District 4

Jamie Valencia: 3,174 votes (35.64%)

Vivian “Kitty” Jaramillo: 3,167 votes (35.56%)

These two candidates have distanced themselves from two others in the race. Linda Whitaker, wife of incumbent Bruce Whitaker, who termed out of the District 4 seat, is in third place. Scott Markowitz, who threw a curveball into this race when he admitted shortly before the election to falsifying his nomination paperwork, is in last.

Valencia, a registered nurse, has said Fullerton’s biggest need is to replace aging infrastructure.

Jaramillo, a former city employee, said the City Council must address inequities in economic development and infrastructure quality on the city’s south end.

Fullerton School District, Area 5

Vanesa Estrella: 3,534 (51.16%)

Leonel Talavera: 3,374 (48.84%)

Talavera, the incumbent, has been in the position for four years. He has said the district needs to address post-COVID-19 learning loss and improve campus facilities.

Estrella, an executive manager at a Fullerton business, said the district needs to focus on improving mental health support for students and ensure students are getting equal learning opportunities.

Garden Grove City Council, District 6

Ariana Arestegui: 3,070 votes (51.33%)

Tri Lam: 2,911 votes (48.67%)

Arestegui, a former campaign finance director, was elected in March to the Democratic Party of Orange County Central Committee, AD 70. Lam is a biomedical engineer and business owner.

Both candidates agree that adding more housing is currently Garden Grove’s biggest need, according to their responses to the Register’s voter guide.

Huntington Beach City School District, Area 1

Brian Burley: 4,071 (50.99%)

Cindy Barrios: 3,913 (49.01%)

Burley, a business owner, and Barrios, a parent and former intelligence analyst, both agree that the district needs to focus on managing its budget and upgrading school facilities, such as adding air conditioning in classrooms that lack it.

Irvine City Council, District 1

Melinda Liu: 5,405 votes (32.19%)

John Park: 5,387 votes (32.08%)

Liu and Park have pulled away from three other candidates in the race to represent District 1 for a two-year term through 2026. Irvine switched from at-large to district council elections this year, prompting this unique two-year term.

Liu, a Northwood resident for nearly 20 years, is a city finance commissioner and an attorney focused on estate planning and trusts.

Park, an Irvine resident for 24 years, owns an advertising agency based in Irvine. He is an Irvine transportation commissioner and was formerly an Irvine finance commission chairman.

This is Park’s fourth run for the Irvine City Council, but first for the newly-created District 1 seat.

Laguna Beach Unified School District

Sheri Morgan: 5,243 (23.40%)

Howard Hills: 5,158 (23.02%)

Jan Vickers: 4,927 (22.99%)

Voters are selecting two of five candidates for the school board. Sheri Morgan and Howard Hills have surged to the lead, but Vickers, the only incumbent in the race, is not far behind. Lauren Boeck and Margaret Mary Warder trail.

Morgan, a parent and business owner, said the top needs of the school district are “better governance and accountability.” She cited raising administrative costs despite declining enrollment as a top fiscal concern.

Hills, an attorney with a long history in Laguna politics, said he would use his turn at the dais to build community trust and improve academic proficiency.

Vickers was first elected to the board in 2000. She said the district must focus on supporting families struggling to afford housing near Laguna Beach schools and to combat declining enrollment.

La Habra City Council

Delwin “Del” Lampkin: 6,780 votes (16.14%)

Susan M. Pritchard: 6,477 votes (15.42%)

La Habra voters are electing three at-large representatives from a field of six candidates. Incumbents Daren Nigsarian and Rose Espinoza sit comfortably in first and second place, respectively.

The race for third place — and the third seat — is tight. Lampkin holds a narrow lead over Pritchard. Incumbent Carrie Surich is in a distant fifth followed by Michelle Bernier.

Lampkin, a deputy sheriff, said La Habra’s biggest need is more transparency on city spending as the city collects more revenue from residents. A local half-cent sales tax increase is passing by a margin of 2:1.

Pritchard has served on the La Habra City School District board and spent more than 30 teaching science in town.

Los Alamitos City Council, District 1

Tanya Doby: 509 votes (51.57%)

Wendy Grose: 478 votes (48.43%)

Incumbent Doby and challenger Grose have been separated at times by a handful of votes in the race to represent Los Alamitos District 1.

Doby, a small business owner elected to the council in 2020, said she’s concerned about economic development. Los Alamitos has one of the county’s highest local sales tax rates. At 9.25%, it’s 1.5% above the county minimum.

Grose, a city planning commissioner, said she would prioritize repairing city streets and implementing residential speed limits and e-bike safety policies.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Area 1

Leah Ersoylu: 5,431 (51.33%)

Robin Mensinger: 5,150 (48.67%)

Ersoylu was elected to the board in 2020. She said the top needs for the school district are to continue to work toward excellent learning outcomes and safe educational environments.

Mensinger, a small businesswoman, said she would support creating new policies to support students at risk of failing and give teachers enhanced training focusing on evidence-based teaching methods.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Area 3

Carol Crane: 6,606 (51.50%)

Philip Stemler: 6,222 (48.50%)

Crane, the incumbent, said the district needs to focus on funding for kindergarten expansion and upgrading school facilities.

Stemler, a public corruption prosecutor at the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office, said the district needs to improve student test scores and boost parent involvement.

Santa Ana City Council, Ward 3

Jessie Lopez: 8,363 votes (50.60%)

Jeffrey Katz: 8,165 votes (49.40%)

Incumbent Lopez has a slim lead over challenger Katz. The two have traded off leads in the last few days.

Lopez, first elected to the City Council in 2020, said her priorities remain the same: stabilize the city budget, address homelessness and housing crises and find opportunities for economic development.

Katz, an attorney, lost to Lopez in the 2020 race. In his campaign, Katz said he did not believe past Ward 3 representatives have done enough to represent the area’s needs.

Santa Ana Unified School District, Area 1

Brenda Lebsack: 5,804 (50.68%)

Rigo Rodriguez: 5,649 (49.32%)

Lebsack, a special education teacher, said the district must prioritize reading and math scores and improve communication with parents.

Rodriguez, the incumbent, was first elected to the board in 2016. He is an associate professor at Cal State Long Beach in the Department of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies.

Tustin City Council, District 1

Lee Fink: 3,817 votes (51.59%)

Tanner Douthit: 3,582 votes (48.41%)

Fink, an attorney, said he’s concerned about housing affordability in Tustin. He’d address that, he said, by advocating for developing housing in the Tustin Legacy neighborhood and on empty lots throughout the city.

Douthit, a planning commissioner, said he’d advocate for less red tape in the way of business development.

Sunset Beach Sanitary District

John H. Woods: 378 votes (25.30%)

Graham Hoad: 305 votes (20.41%)

David E. Evans: 301 votes (20.15%)

John Dentzer: 264 votes (17.67%)

Peter Amundson: 246 votes (16.47%)

The Sunset Beach Sanitary District serves Sunset Beach in unincorporated Orange County and the Surfside Colony of Seal Beach. Voters were tasked with selecting four sanitary district directors from five candidates.

Incumbents Woods, Hoad and Evans appear to have retained their seats.

Dentzer and Amundson are in a close race for the final seat, separated by just 18 votes.