Democratic challenger Derek Tran expanded his lead in the race against Republican Rep. Michelle Steel in the race for California’s 45th Congressional District on Tuesday, growing his lead to 314 votes.
Right now, both candidates are in a dead heat at roughly 50% of the vote each with nearly 310,000 votes counted according to data from the Orange County and LA County registrars of voters.
It’s also one of only five congressional races in the country not yet called by the Associated Press.
Tran’s lead has continued expanding since he passed Steel on Saturday.
[Read: Derek Tran Pulls Ahead of Rep. Michelle Steel in OC’s Tightest Congressional Race]
The majority of the 45th Congressional District sits in Orange County, encompassing Garden Grove and Westminster – representing Little Saigon. The district also encompasses Fullerton, Yorba Linda and Brea, while dipping through Cypress and Buena Park
The district includes parts of Los Angeles County like Cerritos, Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and Lakewood.
Steel — a former Orange County supervisor — has held the seat since 2020, and Tran is a political newcomer.
Tran’s lead comes after Democrat state Senator Dave Min won the hotly contested race for the neighboring 47th Congressional District against Republican Scott Baugh.
[Read: Dave Min Wins OC’s Coastal Congressional Seat]
With Min and Tran leading as of Tuesday night, Democrats are poised to hang onto a majority of the county’s congressional seats, which they’ve held since 2018 when the county’s entire congressional delegation was swept by Democrats.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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