Rafu Staff Report
Following are updated results for Asian American candidates in Orange County municipal races held on Nov. 8.
Anaheim City Council, District 6: City commissioner Natalie Meeks was far ahead of consumer advocate lawyer Hari Shankar Lal, 14,062 (70.83%) to 5,792 (29.17%). The seat is currently held by Mayor Pro Tem Trevor O’Neil, who ran for mayor.
Buena Park City Council, District 1: Healthcare advisor Joyce Ahn led with 1,750 (50.20%), followed by police officer, teacher and city commissioner John Siebert with 969 (27.80%) and tax accountant Kevin Rhee with 767 (22.00%). Ahn helps eligible seniors obtain access to a Medi-Cal covered healthcare program. The seat is currently held by Mayor Sunny Park, who ran for the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
Buena Park City Council, District 2: Council policy advisor Jose Trinidad Castaneda led with 900 (46.32%), followed by advertiser Carlos Franco with 587 (30.21%) and Myoung Soon “Michael” Han, president of the Korean American Global Chamber of Commerce, with 456 (23.47%). The seat is currently held by Elizabeth Swift.
Cypress City Council: In a seven-way race for three seats, the top finishers were attorney and nonprofit director David Burke with 6,968 (17.95%), incumbent and law enforcement official Scott Minikus with 6,437 (16.59%) and retired aerospace executive Bonnie Peat, wife of Councilmember John Peat, with 6,140 (15.82%). Community volunteer Helen Le was fifth with 5,011 (12.91%) and businesswoman Carrie Hayashida was sixth with 4,535 (11.69%).
Fountain Valley City Council: In a 13-way race for three seats, the top finishers were Fountain Valley School District board member Jim Cunneen with 7,278 (15.40%), incumbent Kim Constantine with 6,979 (14.77%) and incumbent Patrick Harper with 6,901 (14.60%). Housing & Community Development Advisory Board member Cindy Cao was in fifth place with 4,880 (10.33%) and M2 Consulting and Advising President Michael Mau was in seventh place with 2,883 (6.10%).
Garden Grove City Council, District 3: Small business owner and veteran Cindy Tran led with 2,070 (37.22%), followed by business owner and former Planning Commissioner Asia Nguyen Cunningham with 1,231 (22.14%), EMT James “Jimmy” Webb with 1,127 (20.27%), business analyst-manager Laurie Merrick with 790 (14.21%) and business owner Gia Nguyen with 343 (6.17%). The district is currently represented by Mayor Pro Tem Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen, who ran for State Assembly.
Garden Grove City Council, District 4: Construction development consultant Joe DoVinh led with 2,194 (40.12%), followed by commercial banker and state military reservist Duy Nguyen with 1,864 (34.08%) and businessman and community leader Trung Ta with 1,411 (25.80%). The district is currently represented by Patrick Phat Bui, who is termed out.
Huntington Beach City Council: In an 18-way race for four seats, the top finishers were retired police officer Pat Burns with 36,724 (13.60%), former State Sen. Tony Strickland with 36,286 (13.44%), business owner Gracey Van Der Mark with 33,367 (12.35%) and business owner Casey McKeon with 33,009 (12.22%). Kenneth Inouye, a member of the Orange County Human Relations Commission and a retired CPA, was in seventh place with 19,735 (7.31%).
Irvine Mayor: Incumbent Farrah Khan led with 28,984 (37.71%), followed by litigation paralegal Branda Lin with 21,181 (27.56%), military officer and pastor Simon Moon with 14,597 (18.99%), journalist and author Katherie Daigle with 7,051 (9.17%) and technology account executive Tom Chomyn with 5,048 (6.57%). Khan was first elected mayor in 2020, becoming the first woman of color to hold the position and the first Muslim woman to lead a large U.S. city.
Irvine City Council: In a six-way race for two seats, the top finishers were incumbent Larry Agran with 30,530 (23.90%) and educator and climate scientist Kathleen Treseder with 28,827 (22.57%). Also running were Vice Mayor Anthony Kuo with 26,834 (21.01%), Irvine Finance Commission Chair John Park with 24,537 (19.21%), city commissioner and business owner Scott Hansen with 12,299 (9.63%) and code coach and college student Navid Sadigh with 4,720 (3.69%).
Laguna Woods City Council: In a three-way race for two seats, the top finishers were Mayor Carol Moore with 5,981 (42.45%) and retired nurse practitioner Annie McCary with 4,696 (33.36%). Appointed incumbent Edward Tao was in third place with 3,398 (24.14%).
Lake Forest City Council, District 2: Businessman and Traffic Commissioner Benjamin Yu led with 2,721 (55.87%), followed by city commissioner and analyst Suzy Betz with 1,285 (26.39%) and retired senior planner Bob Stuart with 864 (17.74%). The district is currently represented by Neeki Moatazedi, who did not seek re-election.
La Palma City Council: In a three-way race for two seats, the top finishers were incumbent Nitesh Patel with 3,238 (45.85%) and business owner Janet Keo Conklin with 2,238 (31.69%). Driving instructor Jonathan Dinwiddie was in third place with 1,586 (22.46%). Patel was first elected in 2018 and also serves as an alternate director of the Orange County Sanitation District.
San Clemente City Council: In a 12-way race for three seats, the top finishers were attorney and businessman Victor Cabral with 10,099 (14.28%), high school history teacher Mark Enmeier with 9,650 (13.65%) and incumbent Steven Knoblock with 9,140 (12.93%). Architect and certified planner Zhen Wu was in fifth place with 8,761 (12.39%).
Villa Park City Council: In a five-way race for three seats, the top finishers were incumbent Crystal Miles with 1,779 (25.71%), nonprofit board member Nicol Jones with 1,439 (20.79%) and community volunteer Jordan Wu with 1,336 (19.31%). Wu was a board member of the Villa Park Community Services Foundation.
Westminster Mayor: Councilmember Chi Charlie Nguyen led with 7,442 (32.78%), followed by Councilmember Kimberly Ho with 5,839 (25.72%), retired LAPD detective Moses Castillo with 4,957 (21.83%), Councilmember Tai Do with 4,251 (18.72%) and activist/advocate Terry Rains with 217 (0.96%). The current mayor is Tri Ta, who ran for State Assembly.
Westminster City Council, District 1: Business owner Amy Phan West was slightly ahead of business owner John Gentile, 3,106 (50.02%) to 3,103 (49.98%). West ran as a Republican candidate in last June’s primary for the 47th Congressional District.
Westminster City Council, District 4: Engineer and business owner NamQuan Nguyen led with 2,355 (43.69%), followed by attorney James Pham with 1,765 (32.75%) and Planning Commissioner Teri Vu Nguyen with 1,270 (23.56%).
Yorba Linda City Council: In a three-way race for two seats, the top finishers were Mayor Carlos Rodriguez with 16,210 (39.05%) and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Janice Lim with 13,113 (31.59%). City commisioner Ryan Bent was in third place with 12,191 (29.37%).
Midway City Sanitary District Director: In a five-way race for three seats, the top finishers were incumbent Andrew Nguyen with 14,814 (30.46%), incumbent Sergio Contreras with 14,486 (29.78%) and incumbent Mark Nguyen with 12,390 (25.47%).
Irvine Ranch Water District Director, Division 3: Incumbent Doug Reinhart led with 14,256 (61.63%), followed by Community Services Commissioner Soha Vazirnia with 6,558 (28.35%) and businessman Andrew Han with 2,318 (10.02%).
Orange County Water District Director, Division 1: Incumbent Dina Nguyen was well ahead of water quality professional Ray Hiemstra, 27,260 (68.07%) to 12,789 (31.93%).
Orange County Water District Director, Division 5: Incumbent Stephen Sheldon led with 36,657 (58.99%), followed by water research chemist Lee Yoo with 21,667 (34.87%) and businesswoman Tyna Nguyen with 3,817 (6.14%).
Yorba Linda Water District Director: In a six-way race for three seats, the top finishers were incumbent Phillip Hawkins with15,502 (21.59%), incumbent Thomas Lindsey with 13,688 (19.06%) and businessman Brett Barbre with 13,656 (19.02%). Environmental engineer Kim Anh Le was fifth with 9,630 (13.41%) and engineer Sean Phayakapong was sixth with 7,794 (10.85%).
Municipal Water District of Orange County Director, Division 5: Water management professor Randall Crane was ahead of incumbent Satoru “Sat” Tamaribuchi, 51,694 (52.39%) to 46,984 (47.61%). Tamaribuchi has served since 2014.