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Republican candidate Young Kim won a Congressional seat in Orange County, marking the second race in the county in which the GOP recaptured a district it lost to Democrats in the 2018 “blue wave”.
Kim has defeated incumbent Democrat Gil Cisneros in the 39th Congressional District, which stretches from Anaheim Hills to Buena Park and includes parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
Kim, who won the last un-called Orange County congressional seat, will be among the first Korean American women to sit in Congress, along with newly elected Michelle Steel, a Republican from Orange County. , and Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat from Washington. . Steel defeated Representative Harley Rouda (D-Laguna Beach), who conceded on Tuesday, to retake a seat Democrats toppled in 2018.
The loss of the 39th district to the Republican Party in 2018 came as a surprise, as Kim had dominated Cisneros on election night. Days later, the race was on for Cisneros by 3.2 percentage points after the mail-in ballots were counted.
“Over the past two years, I have worked tirelessly to fight for the people of the 39th district,” addressing issues such as health care and gun safety, Cisneros said in a statement Friday night. after the Associated Press called the race. “I am sorry that I cannot continue this work in Congress in January. I called to congratulate Young Kim on his victory.
Kim, 58, has served in the state assembly and maintained ties to the California Republican Party. The La Habra resident has kept his promises to change immigration and health policies and simplify trade regulations.
Kim began her career running a womenswear business and went on to organize community outreach projects for Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), who represented the 39th District for more than two decades before Cisneros, with stints casual as a host on Korean radio. .
Seen as an outsider by Cisneros, a lottery winner turned philanthropist and politician, Kim was at a disadvantage in voter registration as 37% of registered voters in the district were affiliated with the Democratic Party in October. Republicans represented 32.5% of registered voters and independents 28.7%.
Last week, the Associated Press called the other five Orange County congressional races for outgoing Democratic representatives: Linda T. Sanchez, Katie Porter, Lou Correa, Alan Lowenthal and Mike Levin.
Porter – more specifically her whiteboard – has become a popular first-year representative for her pointed questions at House Oversight Committee hearings. Porter raised nearly $ 15 million for his campaign, eclipsing $ 1.2 million from his Republican opponent Greg Raths.
“We have been campaigning for two consecutive years. I thought we could pull it off, but it’s hard to run against an incumbent, and especially an incumbent who has 15-1 on me in terms of funding, ”Raths said in an interview. “It’s almost impossible.”
Republicans will now hold two of the seven congressional seats in Orange County.
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