Tonight’s results in the 73rd Assembly District race will offer a sneak preview of what to expect in November in the only contest in Orange County that features two incumbents going head to head.
Three-term GOP incumbent Steven Choi and two-term Democratic incumbent Cottie Petrie-Norris are the only two candidates in the AD-73 primary, which means both are guaranteed to advance to the general election. But how the primary results shake down when all votes are tallied might signal which incumbent is favored to win the seat and represent nearly half a million people in Irvine, Costa Mesa and Tustin for the next two years.
We’ll offer live updates here for this race as votes are counted, starting shortly after 8 p.m. tonight and potentially continuing over the next few days if results are close.
Petrie-Norris, who recently moved from Laguna Beach to Irvine to run for the newly created seat, has a significant advantage in both voter registration and money.
Democrats have a 13-point lead in registered voters in AD-73, with fewer Republicans than independents in the district.
Petrie-Norris has raised $1.1 million this cycle, with $768,110 left in cash as of May 21.
During her current term in the Assembly, Petrie-Norris has focused on issues around the environment, taxes, drug abuse and support for businesses. Her campaign messaging has centered in recent weeks on reproductive rights, workers’ rights and climate change.
Choi, a Korean American immigrant who lives in Irvine, has raised $254,143. He had $223,147 in campaign cash left on hand.
Much of his work in the Assembly this term has centered on education, tax credits, crime, mental health and veterans issues. His recent campaign messaging has focused on inflation, gas prices and his work to make daylight saving time permanent in California.
The first round of results tonight will come from ballots mailed before Election Day. Those returns are expected to skew in favor of Democrats, since Trump and other GOP leaders sewed distrust of mail-in ballots. As in-person votes from today are added to the mix, vote counts may shift a bit more to the right.
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Elections officials will continue counting mail-in ballots that were postmarked by today into next week. So if results are close, it might be several days before it’s clear who made it out of the primary.
Check here for updates as new vote counts come in.
