Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Democrat Derek Tran's lead over GOP Rep. Michelle Steel continues to grow in Saturday ballot release
Derek Tran, Democratic candidate for the 45th Congressional District, speaks with a Little Saigon resident at a local temple.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Democrat Derek Tran's lead over Republican Rep. Michelle Steel in the race for the 45th Congressional District inched up to 545 votes Saturday night as ballot tallies neared the finish line.
A little over 1% of the estimated vote total remains to be counted in one of three remaining House races that have yet to be called.
Tran has 157,427 votes to Steel's 156,882, according to the latest vote count released from Orange County, where the majority of the district is. L.A. County did not release a new vote tally.
His lead grew by 26 votes from the night before.
Support for LAist comes from
How we got here
The Democrat led by 36 votes last Friday. In a little over a week, his lead has increased to more than 500 votes.
The two other undecided races are Iowa's 1st Congressional District and California's 13th House district in the San Joaquin Valley. In both contests, the Republican incumbents are ahead by razor-thin margins.
Steel was beating Tran the day after the election, leading by more than 5 percentage points. But her lead steadily declined as more ballots were counted.
The shift has prompted some people to claim voter fraud. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed Democrats were “stealing a House seat right from under us.” Elon Musk reshared a tweet that said California was “corrupt as hell.”
Experts said shifts during the counting process are normal.
Support for LAist comes from
“This is a process that happens every election cycle,” said Paul Mitchell, whose firm, Political Data Inc., tracks vote trends. “We’ve had elections that haven’t been called for an entire month after the election because they were so close.”
According to Mitchell’s analysis, Democrats had a 5.1% advantage over Republicans with ballots cast before Election Day and Republicans had a 15% advantage with ballots cast in-person on Nov. 5.
With late arriving and other ballots counted after Election Day, Democrats had an 18.5% advantage, Mitchell said, explaining Tran's growing lead over Steel.
Republicans control the House with 219 seats. Democrats have 213.
Steel is a two-term incumbent. Tran, a lawyer, is the son of refugees who fled Communist Vietnam as part of a group that became known as the “boat people.”
Tran is hoping to become the first Vietnamese American to represent the district, which also includes Little Saigon.
Support for LAist comes from
The district straddles Los Angeles and Orange Counties and covers 17 cities, including Garden Grove, Buena Park, and Fountain Valley, and Cerritos as well as parts of Fullerton and Lakewood.
Could there be a recount?
How recounts work: Unlike other states, California doesn’t have an automatic recount threshold. State election law allows any voter to request a recount for any contest as long as they pay for it. For most races, this has to be done within five days after the election is officially certified (that’s by Dec. 5).
For statewide or cross-county elections, that request can only be done within five days after Dec. 6. California law also allows the governor to order a state-funded recount for any statewide office or ballot measure if the difference is less than 1,000 votes.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
USC says it’s reviewing the letter also sent to eight other prestigious schools nationwide. California's governor vowed that any California universities that sign will lose state funding. -
Scientists say La Niña is likely, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a dry winter in Southern California. -
According to a grand jury report the contractor took advantage of strained relations and political pressures to “force” the city to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle disputes. -
Administrators say the bargaining units should be dismissed, or that they have no standing. One campus is going after the federal agency in charge of union activity. -
The landslide is not connected to the greater Portuguese Bend landslide, city officials said. -
Nom. Nom. Nom. The event destroyed the internet when it was first announced — and sold out in minutes.
Best of LAist