Democratic challenger Derek Tran has expanded his lead for the fourth day straight over Republican incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel in Orange County’s dead heat congressional race – one of the tightest in the country.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Tran was 480 votes ahead of Steel, according to a tally of results posted by registrars of voters from Orange County and Los Angeles County.
The 45th Congressional District race has been in a dead heat for at least a week and was one of the only three U.S. House races in the country not yet called by the Associated Press as of Thursday evening.
On Wednesday, Tran was ahead of Steel by 397 votes – after pulling ahead of the Congresswoman in Saturday’s update.
[Read: Derek Tran’s Lead Keeps Growing Over Rep. Michelle Steel in OC’s Dead Heat Congressional Race]
The District stretches from Los Angeles County including Cerritos, Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and Lakewood and into Orange County including Brea, Fullerton, Yorba Linda and encompasses Little Saigon in Garden Grove and Westminster.
Although Steel leads Tran in Orange County ballots, she’s behind him in Los Angeles County.
And Thursday’s updated tally from the OC Registrar of Voters favored Tran, who netted 70 more votes than Steel did in the updated ballot count.
The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters is not expected to update their results again until Tuesday Nov. 26. The Orange County Registrar of Voters is expected to update their results Friday at 5 p.m.
Steel — a former Orange County supervisor — has held the seat since 2020.
Tran, a consumer rights attorney, is a political newcomer.
Democrats are poised to hang onto a majority of Orange County’s Congressional seats, which they’ve held since 2018 when the county’s entire congressional delegation was swept by Democrats until Republicans reclaimed two seats in 2020.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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