Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard holds 231-vote lead as count continues

Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard led City Councilwoman Letitia Clark by 231 votes in results released Wednesday at 5 p.m., with the mayoral race still undecided, according to Voice of OC.

The margin put the contest among Orange County’s closest races this year, Voice of OC reported. The candidates drew support from opposing local party organizations, with public safety unions backing Lumbard and labor unions endorsing Clark.

With 16,300 votes counted in the mayoral contest, Lumbard had about 51% and Clark about 49%, according to Voice of OC. Those shares reflected the partial count, not a final result.

Tustin has more than 44,700 registered voters. About 40% are registered Democrats, 27% are Republicans and 26% have no party preference, the publication reported.

Lumbard’s supporters include local public safety unions, the Republican Party of OC and prominent local Republican elected officials. Clark has endorsements from labor unions, the Democratic Party of OC and prominent local Democratic elected officials.

Outside spending supporting Lumbard included more than $70,000 from the OC Firefighters Association for mailers as of Oct. 28, according to Voice of OC. A political action committee affiliated with the Tustin police union had spent $7,500 supporting him as of the same date.

The Tustin Police Support union’s political action committee had spent $6,250 supporting Lumbard as of Oct. 26. Voice of OC reported no independent expenditures in support of Clark’s campaign.

The 231-vote gap remained a snapshot of Wednesday’s count. The reported results did not establish who would serve as Tustin’s next mayor.