Heading into the weekend after Election Day, the results for one Irvine City Council race remain too close to call.
In District 1, John Park and Melinda Liu have pulled away from three other candidates in the race, but the two of them were separated by just 57 votes out of more than 14,900 votes tallied as of Friday night.
Irvine City Council positions are ostensibly nonpartisan offices, but Park and Liu approach the dais from starkly different political backgrounds.
Park was endorsed by leading Orange County conservatives, including U.S. Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel and former Assemblymember Scott Baugh, a candidate in the still close race for California’s 47th congressional district. Within the City Council, he was endorsed by Councilmember Mike Carroll, who is winning his race for reelection, and James Mai, who has a strong lead in the District 3 race.
Liu is endorsed by leading Orange County Democrats, including Congresswoman Katie Porter. Within the City Council, she’s endorsed by Councilmember Kathleen Treseder. Liu was also endorsed by outgoing Councilmember Tammy Kim, who is losing her bid for mayor against Councilmember Larry Agran. William Go, who has the lead in the District 2 race, was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County.
However the District 1 vote count unfolds from here, the winner will have a pivotal vote on the next Irvine council.
With Kim and Mayor Farrah Khan gone after terming out, the council loses two members who have tended to vote more liberal on many issues.
Agran, while a lifelong Democrat, has taken a more conservative stance than Khan and Kim on local planning issues. He was the only councilmember to reject Irvine’s master plan update that will align the city’s housing strategy with state housing mandates. Agran said he would favor a course of action that would enable Irvine to retain more local control over its planning decisions. Any such plan, unless it complied with state requirements for Irvine to zone for more than 23,000 additional housing units by 2045, could lead to litigation with the state, a potential outcome that Agran has acknowledged.
When the OC Register asked the Irvine council candidates how they would respond to the general plan update and housing mandates, Park said Irvine must fight to maintain its master-planned vision.
“I am deeply committed to upholding and adhering to our city’s master plan,” he said. “This plan is not just a document — it has served as a blueprint for our planned community, designed to promote vibrant, sustainable neighborhoods, accessible amenities and a high quality of life for all residents.”
He added that he would support redeveloping industrial areas for residential use and the construction of smaller ownership-based condos, townhomes and single-family homes.
Liu expressed support for the master plan update approved by the current council, which accounts for mandated new residential units in three corridors, the Irvine Business Complex and around the Spectrum and the Great Park.
“These areas are away from the center of the city where existing neighborhoods are to minimize impact to existing residents while meeting the demands for lower-price housing for young professionals and small families,” Liu said.
With Agran set to become mayor, he vacates his at-large council term that ends in 2026. To fill that seat, the council will need to choose whether to commence an appointment process or to hold a special election. A city spokesperson was unavailable Friday to comment on the timeline of that decision.
