Orange County election results showed Connor Traut ahead of Tim Shaw in the Fourth District supervisor race as of 8:05 p.m. Traut held 52% of the vote, while Shaw had around 48% in the race for a vacant seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
Nearly 84,000 votes had been counted, and the margin between the two candidates was 4,400 votes. The tally pointed to a new supervisor for Orange County, but it did not settle the final count.
Fourth District cities
Traut, the Buena Park Mayor, ran as a Democrat against Shaw, an OC Board of Education Trustee and Republican. The Fourth District stretches across the northern edge of Orange County and includes Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, La Habra, Fullerton, Placentia and Stanton.
The district’s registration split also shaped the race. More than 40% of registered voters in the district are Democrats, just under 30% are Republicans, and another 24% are no party preference voters.
Traut and Shaw
Traut also benefited from heavier fundraising over the course of the campaign, and the Association of OC Deputy Sheriffs and other county unions spent heavily on advertising to support him. That spending, together with the district’s voter makeup, gave Traut a clear early edge as ballots were counted.
Whether Traut ultimately won the vacant seat was not answered in the count reported at 8:05 p.m. Voters in the Fourth District were left with an early lead, a wide pool of counted ballots, and a race that still depended on the remaining vote.
