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While Orange County voters just wrapped up a presidential election a month and a half ago, some of the county’s biggest cities are already facing a new set of special elections coming in just a few months – including a vacant state senator seat.
Voters in both Huntington Beach and Irvine are guaranteed special elections in the next four months, with two spots opening up after incumbents representing those areas won election to different offices.
The biggest upcoming race in the county is for the two years left on the 36th District State Senate seat, which Janet Nguyen vacated after she won her race for the county board of supervisors.
The senate district covers the county’s coast, wrapping up cities including Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, San Clemente, Seal Beach and Cypress, along with a small piece of LA County in Cerritos and Artesia.
Overall, the district’s voter registration leans Republican, with 37% of registered voters identifying as Republican while nearly 34% identify as Democrat and around 22% no party preference voters.
Huntington Beach City Councilman Tony Strickland prepared his run for the seat before it was even open, announcing last April that he’d be seeking to return to the State Senate after leaving in 2012 and picking up the endorsement of the county Republican Party.
So far, the county Democratic Party has not endorsed anyone for the seat.
Nomination papers can be pulled from Dec. 19th to Jan. 2 according to the California Secretary of State.
If Strickland wins, his fellow council members will have to decide to either appoint someone to the remaining two years on his city council seat or host another special election to fill the vacancy.
An open primary election is currently scheduled for February 25, with a potential general election scheduled for April 29 if no one gets more than 50% of the votes in the primary.
In Irvine, voters are also facing a special election this April to fill a two-year term on the city council that was left behind after Larry Agran won the race for mayor.
Whoever wins the seat will be representing the newly created District 5, which covers neighborhoods like Woodbridge and University Park around the 405 freeway.
Under the schedule approved by city council members in December, interested candidates have until Jan. 17 to pull nomination papers, and the final election will be held Apr. 15.
Huntington Beach might also be facing another special election after the county registrar of voters found organizers gathered enough signatures to force a vote of the people on the city’s controversial book review committee, which council members approved but never created.
[Read: Huntington Beach Creates Panel To Decide What Books Go Into City Library]
In a Dec. 12 email, county registrar Bob Page said his office does not certify the signatures, but that he’d sent them to newly elected Huntington Beach City Clerk Lisa Lane Barnes and marked them as approved.
“The City Clerk makes that determination and presents it to her City Council,” Page wrote. “We sent the City Clerk the results of our review of the signatures on the first petition on Tuesday.”
He also noted they were reviewing a second potential initiative in Huntington Beach, but that results would not be finalized until Jan. 9.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
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