Aitken leads preliminary vote count in Anaheim mayoral race

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken led her reelection race with 57% of the vote in preliminary results early Wednesday, according to Voice of OC. Alfredo Rodriguez followed with about 32% and Imran Sharief with 11%.

The initial tally was not a final result: more than 246,500 ballots still awaited processing across Orange County, not just Anaheim. The race unfolded amid allegations against Aitken and spending by political committees both supporting and opposing her.

According to Voice of OC, the results as of 1:36 a.m. Wednesday included more than 57,600 votes in the mayoral contest. The outstanding ballot-processing figure covered all of Orange County.

The election followed a claim filed against the city by Berenice Ballinas, Aitken’s chief of staff. Ballinas alleged racist remarks, questioning of her sexuality and heavy drinking at government functions. Aitken acknowledged struggling with alcoholism but denied allegations of homophobia and using racist slurs, Voice of OC reported. City officials hired outside investigators to examine the allegations.

The Anaheim Police Association’s political action committee suspended its support for Aitken at the end of September and later spent money against her reelection. As of Oct. 23, its spending on polling and mailers opposing her exceeded $93,000, according to Voice of OC.

The Lincoln Club of Orange County also spent money opposing Aitken. As of Oct. 20, it had spent around $40,000 on media buys against her and about $1,500 on digital advertising supporting Rodriguez, the publication reported.

Aitken received support from Neighbors for a Strong Anaheim supporting Aitken for Mayor 2026. Committees funded by Disney and hoteliers transferred leftover funds from the 2024 election into that committee, which had spent more than $60,000 on pro-Aitken mailers as of Oct. 2, according to Voice of OC.

The early results put Aitken ahead, but ballot processing remained underway. The countywide backlog did not establish how many votes remained in Anaheim’s mayoral race.