Editorial: Orange County election results show few surprises
Given California's ludicrous mail-in voting timetables, Tuesday's results might not be known for weeks. This year, Democrats have tended to vote later than Republicans because of a gubernatorial free-for-all with an uncertain frontrunner, which means late counting should favor Democrats. Some key Orange County results are a toss-up, but others are clear.
For the Board of Supervisors, Assembly member Diane Dixon, the Republican who is challenging incumbent Democrat Katrina Foley for the 5th District seat, holds a slight lead. She currently has nearly 49% of the vote in a race where a simple majority will avoid a runoff. We're surprised given Foley's solid governing record, but this one is far from over and probably will spark a November rematch.
Republican Tim Shaw's lead in the 4th District supervisorial race is a pleasant surprise given the conservative Lincoln Club inexplicably backed a fairly liberal independent candidate, Fred Jung - and the county GOP gave Shaw short shrift. Even if Democrat Connor Traut overtakes Shaw, there's little doubt we're looking at a Shaw v. Traut faceoff. Democrat Vicente Sarmiento won an overwhelming victory in the 2nd District, leaving partisan control of this "nonpartisan" board up for grabs.
Despite having had her investment authority stripped by the board because of some controversies, Treasurer Shari Freidenrich has 73% of the vote against fellow Republican and treasurer employee, Dana Schultz. The county had tapped Schultz to make investments after they removed Freidenrich - so we're likely to see this unusual status quo continue. Schultz couldn't overcome Freidenrich's name identification, and few county voters are up on the in-house controversy.
Oh well, as Winston Churchill quipped - democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.
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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 11:17 AM.