Mayor, Councilman Ousted in Aliso Viejo

Mayor Donald Garcia and City Councilman Greg Ficke were given the heave-ho Tuesday night by Aliso Viejo voters.

The two incumbents will be replaced by former Aliso Viejo Community Association president Ross Chun and mortgage broker Mike Munzing. A third incumbent, William "Bill" Phillips, hung onto his council seat.

When final results were tallied, 632 votes were all that separated one of the losers from third-place winner Munzing, who was busy putting up more campaign signs Tuesday morning.

“I’ve put this into God’s hands,” Munzing told Patch as balloting began. “I am confident everything will work out.”

Democrat Chun, the founder and CEO of Eco-Stride, said he hoped to see "improved cooperation and collaboration between our city and the Aliso Viejo Community Association."

The other candidates declined to comment Tuesday night.

It was a close race. With all precincts reporting, Phillips led the field with 21.5 percent (5,602 votes), followed by Chun with 21.4 percent (5,590 votes), Munzing at 21 percent (5,486), Ficke with 18.6 percent (4,854) and Garcia with 17.4 percent (4,546).

In other local races...

Capistrano Unified School District: Incumbent Gary Pritchard defeated Bill Perkins for the school board seat representing Aliso Viejo. Click here for story.

73rd Assembly: Veteran state legislator Diane Harkey cruised to victory over James Corbett.

For more tallies, see our Live Aliso Viejo Election Results story.