Challenger Narrowly Beats Michelle Steel by 36 Votes in Congressional Race

November 17, 2024 TruthUSA

Democratic challenger Derek Tran has taken the lead over Republican Rep. Michelle Steel for the first time in the 45th Congressional District in California on Sunday.

SANTA ANA, Calif.—After trailing by as many as 11,363 votes, Democratic challenger Derek Tran now leads Republican Rep. Michelle Steel on Sunday in the 45th Congressional District race.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, Tran, a consumer rights attorney and co-owner of a pharmacy with his wife Michelle, is currently 36 votes ahead of the two-term incumbent, with a tally of 152,981-152,945. Both candidates are tied at 50 percent.

In the Orange County part of the district, Tran falls behind with a score of 138,320 to 134,168, at 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent. However, he leads in the Los Angeles County part—Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, and a portion of Lakewood—with a score of 18,813 to 14,625, at 56.3 percent to 43.7 percent.

Only ballots from Orange County that were previously unprocessed were counted on Saturday.

There is no ballot counting scheduled for either Orange County or Los Angeles County on Sunday, and counting is set to resume on Monday.

Tran was behind by 58 votes before the counting resumed on Saturday. Previously, he trailed by 11,363 votes on Nov. 6, 7,590 on Nov. 8, 6,901 on Nov. 9, 6,128 the previous Sunday when only ballots from the Los Angeles County part were counted, 3,908 on Monday, 2,227 on Tuesday, 349 on Wednesday, and 236 on Thursday.