Early results showed Stephanie Klopfenstein, Roger Flanders, Cindy Ngoc Tran and Hieu Nguyen leading in Garden Grove’s races for mayor and City Council.
Garden Grove voters were asked to choose a mayor and three councilmembers to represent Districts 1, 3 and 4 from a candidate pool of 12.
Voters saw familiar names in incumbent Klopfenstein and challenger Thu-Ha Nguyen, a clinical scientist and former councilmember, who are facing off in a bid for a two-year term as Garden Grove’s top elected official. The two ran for mayor in the 2024 general election.
Garden Grove’s mayor may serve up to four consecutive two-year terms while councilmembers serve up to two, consecutive four-year terms.
District 1 voters are guaranteed a new representative with sitting Councilmember George Brietigam termed out.
Looking to be the new face on the dais are Planning Commissioner Flanders; urgent care doctor Long Tran Nguyen; William Zylla, a retired senior emergency trauma technician.
District 1 encompasses the westernmost part of the city, representing the commercial stretch of Valley View Boulevard and the city’s industrial core that includes GKN Aerospace, which, since the chemical incident in May, has been the subject of ongoing safety concerns among community members.
In District 3, the city’s central-most area that contains parts of Little Saigon and a two-mile stretch along Garden Grove Boulevard home to Orange County Koreatown, Amanda Nguyen, a senior paralegal at Orange County Alternate Public Defender; media businessman Thomas Quoc Thai Nguyen; incumbent and engineer Tran. were all in the race.
LIVE ELECTION RESULTS: See a chart of the latest vote counts
In the bid to represent the city’s District 4, were incumbent Joe DoVinh; Patrick Phat Bui, a business owner and nonprofit chairman and previous councilmember; Amanda Mohr, a student and astrophysicist; and principal consultant Hieu Nguyen.
Geographically, the district represents the central-south portion of the city that includes parts of Little Saigon and the city’s Historical Main Street.