The race between Republican Rep. Young Kim and Democrat Joe Kerr to represent an inland Orange County district in Congress remained too close to call on Tuesday night as votes continue to be counted.
Though President Biden won California’s 40th Congressional District by a narrow margin in 2020, Republicans maintain a voter registration advantage of roughly 5 percentage points.
In past years, congressional Democrats’ campaign arm included the district on their list of seats that could be flipped from red to blue. But this year, the 40th Congressional District did not appear on Democrats’ roster and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report deemed it “likely Republican.”
The district covers some of the most conservative cities in Orange County, including Yorba Linda and Villa Park. It also encompasses portions of Corona in Riverside County and Chino Hills in San Bernardino County.
Kim, who was born in South Korea and lives in Anaheim Hills, served in the state Assembly and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2018 before winning two years later.
Kim has focused her campaign on lowering taxes and the burden of rising costs on middle class families, a message that largely resonates with voters in her suburban district.
Kerr spent 34 years as a fire captain with the Orange County Fire Authority and served 17 years as president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Assn., a labor union that represents 800 firefighters. He ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 2022 and for the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2018.
Much of Kerr’s message has centered on his time as a firefighter. In a recent advertisement, Kerr promised to help push for federal legislation that would provide firefighters with healthcare.
