SANTA ANA (CNS) - Harley Rouda regained second place from fellow Democrat Hans Keirstead in the 48th Congressional District while the Orange County sheriff's race appeared headed for a November runoff, according to updated primary election results released today.
Rouda holds a 40-vote lead over Keirstead, 29,575-29,535, according to figures from the Orange County Registrar of Voters. The two are seeking the second spot on the November general election ballot with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach.
Keirstead, a neuroscientist, had been leading Rouda, a technology entrepreneur, for most of the counting following the June 5 election.
There are about 1,000 ballots left in the district to be counted, Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said.
Undersheriff Don Barnes leads the field in the sheriff's race was 49.8 percent of the vote, according to Monday's count. Duke Nguyen, an investigator for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, was second with 30.9 percent.
Aliso Viejo Mayor Dave Harrington, a retired sheriff's sergeant, was third with 19.3 percent.
Friday marked the first time Barnes fell just shy of the 50 percent- plus one threshold needed to avoid a November runoff.
There are about 34,000 ballots countywide to count, Kelley said.