The local election season has officially begun. The Seal Beach City Council Monday voted to call the Nov. 6 election. Three individuals have told the Sun they will be running. A proposal to place a 1 percent sales tax on the ballot is scheduled to be on the July 23 City Council agenda. The deadline to place such a measure on the ballot is Aug. 10.
As for the City Council: According to a staff report, the November election is expected to cost the city $35,000. Three seats will be in play: District One (Old Town and Surfside), District Three (the Hill, the Coves, Bridgeport and Heron Pointe) and District Five (Leisure World). Incumbents Mayor Michael Varipapa (District Three) and Councilwoman Sandra Massa-Lavitt (District Five), have told the Sun they will run for re-election. Past District One candidate Joe Kalmick confirmed this week that he will run. District One Councilwoman Ellery Deaton has termed out. Information about the election was scheduled to be availabe on the city clerk’s page of the city’s website this week.
Meanwhile, the Orange County Registrar of Voters issued the final results for the June 5 Primary election on Monday. The results show 42.9 percent of the county’s nearly 1.5 million registered voters cast ballots in the primary election. The certified election results finalize which candidates will be in the November general election. That includes a final verdict on which candidates voters will choose from in the race for the 48th Congressional District, which covers Seal Beach. Incumbent Republican Dana Rohrabacher got 30 percent of the vote in the primary to advance to the November general election. After weeks of counting, and changing leads, Democrat Harley Rouda was determined the second-place finisher with 17.3 percent of the vote. He came out only 125 votes ahead of fellow Democrat Hans Keirstead.
To see all the final results: https://www.ocvote.com/fileadmin/live/pri2018/results.htm#c-1653
