Assemblyman Tyler Diep holding second ballot spot for fall run against Janet Nguyen in 72nd District
Former state Sen. Janet Nguyen is on her way to the November election for the 72nd District seat in the California Assembly, while the post’s current holder, Tyler Diep, was holding on Wednesday to the second spot on the ballot, leading Garden Grove Councilwoman Diedre Nguyen.
In the most recent count from Tuesday’s primary election posted by the Orange County registrar of voters office at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Janet Nguyen (R-Fountain Valley) led with 35% of the vote. Diep (R-Westminster) had 26.4%, while Diedre Nguyen, a Democrat, stood at 23.8%.
The fourth candidate in the race, civil-rights advocate Bijan Mohseni, a Democrat, picked up 14.8% of the vote.
The top two finishers will head to the general election Nov. 3.
The registrar of voters website said vote-by-mail and vote center ballots were not yet fully reported.
“The preliminary outcome of this election is not ideal but certainly not unexpected due to the huge amount of money that was spent against us by corporations like Lyft and Uber,” Diep, who is running for his second two-year term in the Assembly, said Wednesday.
Diedre Nguyen, who had edged closer to Diep throughout the count Tuesday night but didn’t make much headway in the latest count, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that “we are grateful for the enthusiastic support we’ve received for our campaign to give a voice to the needs of hard-working Californians.”
Janet Nguyen’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Diep previously served on the Westminster City Council and as a director of the Midway City Sanitation District.
Janet Nguyen previously was a state senator representing the 34th District, a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and a Garden Grove City Council member.
The 72nd Assembly District includes Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Westminster, portions of Huntington Beach, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, and the unincorporated areas Midway City and Rossmoor.
Updates
6:06 p.m. March 4, 2020: This article was originally published at 3:30 p.m. and has been updated with new information.
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