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SANTA ANA (CNS) – Operations were proceeding smoothly at vote centers throughout Orange County as thousands of people cast ballots in the critical midterm election Tuesday, according to the county’s top election official, who said voter turnout had surpassing 40% by mid-afternoon.

Registrar of Voters Bob Page said more than 58,000 voters had turned out at polls as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, pushing turnout over 40%, with five hours left for people cast ballots.

By the close of business Monday, about 662,560 votes had been cast in Orange County, representing about 35% of registered voters. Page said that pace was significantly below the presidential election in 2024, but much higher than 2022.

Page said there were no major issues reported at the vote centers on Tuesday.

UC Irvine political science professor Louis DeSipio said polling suggests Democrats will do well, as the party opposing the president usually does in midterm elections. But how well is still open to question, he said.

“An interesting test is in Huntington Beach,” DeSipio said. “We’ll sort of see if there’s a change in the City Council composition because in an area where Republicans have been dominant as the county is becoming more purple.”

Another litmus test may be the contest between former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, a Democrat, and former Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark, the Republican, for the 72nd Assembly District.

“I think it will be close,” Orange County GOP Chairman Will O’Neill said. “The Democrats dropped more than seven figures on Chris, but Huntington Beach has started voting heavily and that is by far the biggest city in that district. … Democrats wanted to go all-in on Gracey, but I don’t think it will succeed.”

Orange County Democratic Party Chair Florice Hoffman agreed the race should be close in that district. Hoffman also pointed to the race between Democrat Chris Duncan against state Sen. Tony Strickland in the 36th District and Democrat Sergio Farias against Assemblywoman Laurie Davies in the 74th District for close races.

“Being a Democrat I’m always nervous, but I really do think there will be a blue wave tomorrow,” Hoffman said.

The congressional races will likely see all of the Democrats in Orange County hold serve, Hoffman said.

O’Neill noted, “We’d need strong Republican turnout to flip seats.”

“Prop. 50 made it a lot harder to flip seats,” he added, referring to the congressional redistricting effort to increase the number of Democratic seats in response to Republican attempts to do the same in other states.

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, has the toughest district in terms of voter registration. He is squaring off against Republican Brian Burley, a Huntington Beach City School District board member, in his bid for re-election in the 42nd congressional district.

DeSipio speculated that Garcia took the toughest assignment because he is in line for a leadership role if Democrats flip the House majority.

“He’s positioning himself for moving up in House leadership, so more power to him if that’s what you have to do,” DeSipio said.

DeSipio said he will also be eying who wins in the 40th congressional district, which is a contest between incumbent Republicans Ken Calvert and Young Kim.

“You have sort of the new wave of Republicans versus the more traditional Republicans,” DeSipio said.

Kim “is representative of the more ethnically diverse part of Orange County,” DeSipio said.

Another race with intrigue is Orange County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Katrina Foley’s bid for another term versus Republican Assemblywoman Diane Dixon.

“That’s obviously competitive,” DeSipio said. “But Foley has done an interesting job building a coalition and some support from the center right, which will be to her advantage in the end. She’s a survivor.”

Dixon “has resources and is hitting back, but I don’t know that she can broaden her base enough to win.”

Hoffman said, “Republicans on the board of supervisors wanted to get rid of Katrina Foley so they put her in a Republican district and she’s won it twice. I’m certain she’ll win it again… It’s always a close election, but Katrina won in the primary and she’ll win when the Democrats vote in the general election.”

Turnout is higher in Foley’s district, which Hoffman said favors the Democrats.

O’Neill said he sees the race as tight and also feels bullish about Republican Tim Shaw’s race against Democrat Connor Traut to succeed Orange County Board Chairman Doug Chaffee.

“Democratic turnout in (the district) is stronger than I’d like to see,” O’Neill said. “And they start with a good registration advantage on us. But Tim is such a good candidate and has been in that district a long, long time. Just him being our candidate will keep us close.”