Orange County joined the rest of California in re-electing incumbents and bucking a wave of change that took place across the nation in Tuesday’s voting.
In what was probably the county’s most watched national race, Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez appears to have easily beat back a challenge by Republican Van Tran for a seat representing parts of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Anaheim.
Sanchez, who won 51% to Tran’s 42%, was targeted as an incumbent in a district with a slight Democratic lead among registered voters and that’s also home to Little Saigon.
The race pitted Latina Sanchez, the only Democrat in the county’s congressional delegation, against Vietnamese-American Tran.
The county’s other incumbent congressional members won easy re-election, as expected.
John Campbell, a Republican representing Irvine, parts of Newport Beach and South County, won handily with 60% of the vote against Democratic challenger Beth Krom, a former Irvine mayor.
Republican Ed Royce, who represents parts of North County, holds a 67% lead over his Democratic challenger.
Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican representing parts of West County, holds a 62% lead.
Republican Ken Calvert, who represents parts of South County, has a 58% margin.
Gary Miller, a Republican who represents northern, eastern and southern parts of the county, has a 63% lead.
In city races, businessman Tom Tait won the mayor’s seat in Anaheim, where he’ll replace outgoing Curt Pringle, who’s had a dramatic impact on the city since being elected in 2002.
In Irvine, Mayor Sukhee Kang was re-elected. He’ll sit on the council with ally Larry Agran, considered the city’s power broker, and newly elected Agran rival Jeffrey Lalloway.
In Santa Ana, Mayor Miguel Pulido won a 49.6% plurality to retain his seat.
In county races, former Fullerton councilman Shawn Nelson held on to the seat on the Board of Supervisors that he assumed in June after topping voting in the primary.
He beat a challenge by Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu and will serve for the next four years.
