Dave Min has successfully secured a comfortable re-election in California’s 47th congressional district. As of 11 PM on November 3rd, with 58% of the votes counted, Min garnered 98,516 votes, holding a lead of approximately 30,000 votes over Republican challenger Jenny Rae Le Roux. Min released an early statement expressing gratitude to the voters in his district.
Meanwhile, in California’s 40th congressional district, Representative Young Kim, running for a historic fourth term as the first Korean American woman in Congress, is facing a tough battle. As of 11 PM, with 37% of the votes counted, Kim received 45.9%, trailing veteran Republican Representative Ken Calvert (54.1%) by about 8 percentage points. However, with the count still in its early stages, the possibility of a comeback remains.
In the race for California Insurance Commissioner, Jane Kimβseeking to become the first Korean American elected to statewide office in Californiaβis locked in a tight race with state Senator Ben Allen. As of 11 PM with 45% of the precincts reporting, Kim held 51% of the vote, leading Allen by a 2 percentage point margin.
Paul Seo, running for the 66th California Assembly district, is expected to smoothly secure his seat in Sacramento. Despite expectations of a close race against fellow Democrat Sarah Dean, Seo led with 63% of the vote, ahead of Dean by 26 percentage points as of 11 PM.
In the closely watched Irvine City Council District 1 race featuring candidates Sukhee Kang and John Park, both are currently trailing incumbent Councilwoman Melinda Liu. Liu maintained the lead with 39.99% of the vote, while Park and Kang secured 37.6% and 22.41% respectively.
In Buena Park City Council District 2, candidate Yongduk Choi suffered a defeat, obtaining 45.02% of the vote and losing to incumbent Carlos Franco by a margin of 9.96 percentage points. Daniel Kim also lost his bid for Fullerton City Council District 3, finishing 14.9 percentage points behind incumbent Shana Charles with 42.55% of the vote.
Steve Lee is engaged in an ultra-close race for Arcadia City Council District 5, leading Michael Chao by just a single vote as of 11:24 PM. In La Palma, a Korean American councilmember is expected to emerge as Andrew Kim took 53.12% of the vote in District 2, leading La Palma Mayor Nitesh Patel by 6.24 percentage points. In Cypress City Council District 2, Helen Le (Korean name Helen Kim) held a slim lead with 51.07% over Bonnie Peat.
Jeff Kim’s re-election to the Irvine Unified School Board District 4 is also looking likely, leading Jane Wood by over 1,300 votes. In the Fullerton Joint Union High School District 3, Amy Choi-Won is leading Jordan Abushawish by 1,497 votes. Veteran local politician Kim Choong-sik is currently leading the race for Calexico City Council with 21% of the vote, putting him on track to secure one of the top two spots for victory.
