Orange County Legislative Races Remain Undecided After One Week
Ballot counting continues in five closely contested legislative races in Orange County, California, one week after the 2026 Election.
Chris Duncan, the former mayor of San Clemente, currently holds a lead of 6,535 votes over Republican incumbent Tony Strickland in the race for Senate District 36. Preliminary results from the California secretary of state's office indicate that this and four Assembly races remain undecided as counting continues one week after the election.
In the Assembly contests, Democrat Jessie Lopez leads David Penaloza in District 68, and Democrat Paula Swift holds a slim lead over Republican incumbent Tri Ta in District 70. Conversely, Republican Gracey Van Der Mark leads Democrat Chris Kluwe in District 72, while Republican incumbent Laurie Davies maintains a lead over Democrat Sergio Farias in District 74.
Margins across all five contests are narrow, with some leads as small as 1,225 votes. Officials continue to process ballots to determine the final winners of these legislative seats.
