Vasquez Pulls Narrow Lead In District 3: 2022 City Council Election

MISSION VIEJO, CA — Election Day is over in Mission Viejo, and residents are closer than ever to finding out who will represent them on the Mission Viejo City Council, according to preliminary results reported by the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

As of 10 a.m. Wendesday morning, the Orange County Registrar of Voters reported a 33.6 percent voter turnout, with over 611,060 ballots counted so far. Of those ballots, 452,856 were vote-by-mail ballots and 158,203 were vote center ballots.

The Registrar of Voters said that it would continue to update its website with election results throughout the day.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, Mission Viejo District 1 City Council candidate Robert "Bob" Ruesch was leading the race with 53.42 percent of the vote. District 1 City Council candidates Deborah Cunningham-Skurnik and Linda Shepard tailed Ruesch at 25.42 percent and 21.16 percent, respectively.

Mission Viejo District 2 City Council candidate and incumbent Brian Goodell led the election with 59.42 percent of votes as of 10 a.m., with his opponent, candidate Stacy Holmes, following behind at 40.58 percent.

The District 3 City Council race was too close to call Wednesday, as candidate Cynthia Vasquez held a tight lead with 37.98 percent of the vote, and candidate incumbent Greg Raths following closely at 37.61 percent. Candidate incumbent Ed Sachs trailed behind at 24.41 percent.

In District 4, Mission Viejo City Council candidate and incumbent Patricia "Trish" Kelley led the race with 65.31 percent of the vote. Her opponent, candidate Terri Aprati, followed with 34.69 percent of the vote as of 10 a.m.

Lastly, Mission Viejo District 5 City Council candidate and incumbent Wendy Bucknum led the race with 64.29 percent of the vote. District 5 candidate Jon Miller followed with 35.71 percent of the vote.

For real-time election results, visit the Orange County Registrar's website.