SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes fell just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff, while technology entrepreneur Harley Rouda finished 125 votes ahead of fellow Democrat Hans Keirstead in the race to face Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, in November, according to final results of the June 5 primary released today.
On election night, Barnes appeared to have just enough votes to avoid a November runoff, but as votes trickled in since then he slipped under the 50 percent-plus-one threshold. Barnes ended up with 49.4 percent of the vote. Duke Nguyen, an investigator for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, was second with 31.1 percent of the vote.
Aliso Viejo Mayor Dave Harrington, a retired sheriff's sergeant, finished third with 19.5 percent.
Keirstead conceded on Saturday.
“We had a spirited primary, engaged voters, and made sure the nation knows that we can flip the 48th in 2018,” Keirstead said.
The two were in a hotly contested race for a spot on the general election ballot with some Democrats concerned they would cancel each other out and clear the way for former Orange County Republican Chairman Scott Baugh, who finished in fourth place.
La Habra City Councilman Tim Shaw will square off against Fullerton Mayor Doug Chaffee to succeed termed-out Fourth District Supervisor Shawn Nelson .
Shaw received 20.6 percent of the vote with Chaffee at 20.5 percent. Retried Orange County Fire Authority firefighter Joe Kerr finished third at 20.1 percent.
“I look forward to finding new ways to say involved and continue to advocate for policies that solve the problems facing Orange County,” Kerr said.
Another race that has drawn key interest in the county is the race for district attorney with incumbent Tony Rackauckas attempting to fend off Supervisor Todd Spitzer.
Rackauckas was grooming Spitzer to succeed him, but the two had an ugly, public fallout and Spitzer is trying to replace his former boss.
Rackauckas finished first with 38.5 percent of the vote with Spitzer second at 35.2 percent. Attorney Brett Murdock was third in the four-candidate race with 22.4 percent of the vote.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider certifying the election results Tuesday.
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