LAGUNA BEACH, CA — The polls are closed in Orange County, and voters will soon know who will represent them on the Laguna Beach City Council, if billionaires will get their own California tax, and whether a blue wave will flood Congress, possibly sinking the final two years of President Donald Trump's lame-duck presidency.
Millions of voters and election officials wait not only for the results but also for the president's reaction. Trump's Justice Department spent the final two weeks of the campaign season issuing subpoenas to California election officials and suing to block 20,000 Golden State ballots from being counted amid allegations of illegal voting. The Justice Department issued subpoenas for multiple California election officials to appear in court the day after the election.
RELATED: CA Governor Election Results 2026: Becerra Vs. Hilton [Live Updates]
Amid that contentious backdrop, Californians cast their ballots for a new governor, widely expected to be Democrat Xavier Becerra, who went into the election with a wide lead in the polls over Republican Steve Hilton.
The outcome of dozens of down-ballot primary races also hangs in the balance in Orange County. Voters are waiting to find out who came out ahead in the county Board of Supervisors and congressional districts.
In Laguna Beach, residents will decide whether or not to elect three new faces on the city's local council — instrumental roles in determining the city's future plans as well as the present.
Laguna Beach voters will also elect who they want to serve them on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, a vital role amid ongoing coastal erosion and threats of El Niño-prompted flooding.
Scroll down for real-time [PATCH County] election results.
Click here to track your ballot and make sure it is counted.
As of September, the California Secretary of State reported that 23,164,977 Californians were registered to vote, which accounts for more than 85 percent of the state's eligible voting population.
Not surprisingly, there are far more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state, with 45 percent for the former and 25 percent for the latter.
In Orange County, the rate of voter registration is high. As of September, 1,905,933 were registered to vote — with 36.46 percent of voters registered as Democrats, 33.59 percent as Republicans.
Can't see the widget? Click here for all County election results. Be sure to refresh this page for the latest.
Based on early voting, California is poised to see 60 percent of registered voters head to the polls, a record for a gubernatorial race, Paul Mitchell, of political data analysis firm Political Data told The San Francisco Chronicle.
While the governor's race was expected to be called early Tuesday, it's California's congressional races and ballot measures poised to offer the biggest upsets and surprises. Hanging in the balance is control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mitchell predicted that five key redrawn congressional districts appear poised to deliver Democratic victories driven, in part, by high turnout among Latino voters.
"I think the blue wave is on track," Mitchell told The Chronicle. "It seems to be on track that we're going to have a really strong turnout."
So far, voter turnout has been higher in competitive races such as the Central Valley's District 22 and the 48th Congressional District in San Diego — two districts Democrats hope to flip after their mid-decade gerrymander.
As of Oct. 29, Democratic voters represented 51 percent of ballots returned statewide compared to just 28 percent among Republican voters, according to the Political Data tracker.
Laguna Beach City Council
In Laguna Beach, nine candidates faced off for one of three seats up for election on the Laguna Beach City Council.
Incumbents running in the 2026 Laguna Beach City Council election include Mayor Mark Orgill, Sue Kempf and Alex Rounaghi.
New faces running in the 2026 Laguna Beach City Council election include Nick Aronoff, Edward Bayuk, Joy Berry, Ashley Cintas, Karen Martin and Laura Parisi.
As of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Orange County Registrar was showing all three incumbents leading the race to represent Laguna Beach on the city's dais.
Alex Rounaghi had the most votes, followed by Sue Kempf and Mark Orgill. Newcomer Nick Aronoff followed Orgill with 2,180 votes.
Laguna Beach residents have had the chance to hear from the candidates and their stances on important local issues like emergency room care, shuttered businesses and more at a slew of council candidate forums that have taken place over the past month.
Residents who missed out on candidate forums can view Village Laguna's 2026 candidate forum here and South Laguna Civic Association's forum here.
Laguna Beach School Board
Five candidates are running for three at-large seats on the city's Unified School District Board of Education this election season.
Incumbents Dee Perry and Joan Malczewski will face off against three challengers. Perry was first elected to the board in 2014, and Malczewski was first elected in 2022, according to SoLaguna.com.
The incumbents will race against businesswoman Elizabeth Bates, technology executive Kimberly Smith and attorney Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal.
Board of Supervisors
In the 5th District, Katrina Foley will run for re-election against Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach.
Whoever is elected to the District 5 seat on the Board of Supervisors will have a prominent role in overseeing the Dana Point Harbor revitalization project, as well as efforts to protect the crumbling south Orange County coast.
Dixon, a Republican, is a former city council member and former mayor of Newport Beach. She currently represents District 72 in the State Assembly, a seat she has held since 2022.
Foley, a Democrat, is a former school board member and has also served as mayor of Costa Mesa. She currently serves as the vice-chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
The 5th District represents Newport Beach, Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, parts of Irvine, Coto de Caza, Ladera Ranch and more.
Laguna Beach Measures
Laguna Beach voters will determine in November whether there should be term limits on the city council's dais.
If passed, Measure E would limit all city councilmembers to two consecutive four-year terms, with the ability to serve again after at least two terms have passed.
According to the city, if a person is appointed or elected to fill a vacant seat for less than two years of a four-year term, they would be able to serve two consecutive four-year terms following their first term.
The city currently has a five-member council with members elected to four-year terms.
Supporters of the measure said in their ballot argument that Laguna Beach is one of the few cities in Orange County without term limits and that has resulted in "entrenched politicians" who become less responsive to constituents' needs, according to The Orange County Register.
Opponents of the measure argued that the measure was "asking voters to surrender the right to re-elect leaders they trust," the newspaper reported.
Congressional Districts
Democratic incumbent Dave Min is going head-to-head with former gubernatorial candidate Jenny Rae Le Roux, battling to keep the seat representing California's 47th Congressional District.
The seat — which Min has held since 2025 — has historically been a Republican stronghold that, in recent years, became a swing district on the coast of Orange County.
The 47th Congressional District includes Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Tustin, and a portion of Newport Beach and Mission Viejo.
As of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Min held the lead with nearly 60 percent of votes, while Rae Le Roux trailed with 40 percent of the vote.
California voters headed to the polls Tuesday, facing high gas and grocery prices, the effects of climate change on wildfires and rising seas amid a shortage in insurance coverage and the ever-present housing affordability crisis.
The governor's race was somewhat anticlimactic following a chaotic primary with a crowded field of candidates roiled when the frontrunner was forced to step down amid sexual assault allegations. Since then, Becerra maintained a steady lead over Hilton in the polls.
In the final days of the election, a new SurveyUSA poll showed Becerra with a 22-point lead.
Click here for real-time results in the California Governor's races.
All 52 of California's Congressional seats were on the ballot.
Congressional races across California were under intense scrutiny following voter approval of Proposition 50, a partisan redistricting measure expected to reshape the state's political map. Thanks to the redistricting, only a handful of districts were truly competitive. Democrats hoped to flip as many as five Republican House seats in a bid to overturn the GOP's slim House majority.
Democrats think they can flip as many as five seats, with four seeming very much in reach, according to the polls. Both parties are spending like control of the House is on the line.
Click here for real-time results in California's Congressional races.
There were 14 statewide propositions on the ballot this week. Arguably, the most hot-button ballot initiatives involve taxation. Proposition 40 is the highly discussed billionaire tax, while Propositions 41 and 42 aim to counter the measure. Proposition 3 also addresses taxes on the state's highest earners.
Click here for real-time results for all of California's ballot measures.
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