Democratic Club
by Mary Larson
LW contributor
The results for the 2022 General Election in Orange County were certified by the Registrar of Voters on Dec. 2.
These results show that the majority of Orange County residents prefer to vote by mail or drop-box. Of the 994,227 ballots cast and counted, 83.5% were cast using mail-in or drop-box ballots. Only 16.5% were in-person ballots cast at one of 181 Vote Centers throughout the county. Voter turnout in the county as a whole was a disappointingly low 54.7% of registered voters.
Results are not yet available as to how Leisure World voted as a whole. However, 4,301 ballots were sent to LW registered voters living west of St. Andrews Drive. These residents constitute the entire potential voting pool for SB City Council’s Fifth District.
In the November election, only 2,907 of these 4,301 eligible voters west of St. Andrews voted for four candidates they wanted to represent them on the Seal Beach City Council for the next four years. The remaining 1,394 eligible voters in this district did not vote in this race.
This city council race was officially non-partisan. However, it was soon clear that three of the four candidates were Democrats, and one was a Republican. The total vote for the three Democrats was greater than the number cast for the lone Republican (55.01% to 44.99%).
With no one candidate receiving 50%+1 of the total vote in this City Council District 5 election, the two top vote getters will now face each other in a Jan. 31 run-off election.
The SBLW Democratic Club has joined in endorsing Mariann Klinger in the upcoming run-off. She has served on the Seal Beach City Planning Commission for seven years and has also worked in Leisure World Security for many years.
Anyone who is interested in helping the LW Democratic Club’s effort to support Klinger’s election should contact sblwdemocraticclub@ gmail.com or call 562-596-0450.
There will also be a run-off in SB City Council District 3, which is located outside of Leisure World. In that race, Stephanie Wade has been endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County. ••• Democrats and supporters are reminded that there will be no club meeting in December. The next club meeting will be on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Klinger is scheduled to be the featured speaker.
Several of the LW Democratic Club meetings in 2023 will be devoted to dealing with issues of importance to Democrats. Club members are invited to let the program committee know what issues are important to them by calling 714-658-6111 or 562-296-8521.
For in-depth reporting on issues, Democrats and supporters can subscribe to the club’s free electronic newsletter. People can sign up by calling 562-296-8521 or emailing democraticclubsblw@gmail.com. People are asked to include their full name, address, phone number and party affiliation when signing up.
