Democrat Derek Tran widens margin with 397 votes in House race

Two weeks after the election took place on November 5, the 45th Congressional District race is still too close to call.

Democratic challenger Derek Tran has a 397-vote lead over Republican Rep. Michelle Steel Thursday after adding 83 votes to his lead in the latest count of previously unprocessed ballots.

Tran leads 155,862 to155,465 votes (50.06% to 49.93%), according to the Secretary of State's Office.

The consumer rights attorney and co-owner of a pharmacy with his wife Michelle trails in the Orange County portion of the district, 140,696 to 136,892( 50.69%-49.31%), but leads in the Los Angeles County portion -- Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens and a portion of Lakewood -- 18,970 to 14,769( 56.23%- 43.77%).

Tran led by 314 votes entering Wednesday's resumption of counting and 102 entering Tuesday's. He took his first lead over the two-term incumbent on Saturday, moving ahead by 36 votes after trailing by 11,363 on November 6, day after the election.

Only previously unprocessed ballots in Orange County were counted Saturday. No ballots were counted Sunday.

Tran trailed by 7,590 votes on November 8; 6,901 on November 9; 6,128 on November 10 when only ballots from the Los Angeles County portion of the district were counted; 3,908 on November 11; 2,227 on November 12; 349 on November. 12,236 last Thursday; and 58 on Friday.

It is not known how many ballots remain to be counted.

Tran posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that it takes longer to count votes in California because the state lets voters register on election day and their registration needs to be verified before being counted. California also accepts mail-in ballots up to a week after the election as long as they are postmarked by election day. The county must also allow voters to verify their signatures. 

Additional reporting by City News Service.