Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson fends off challenge from Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu

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Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson on Tuesday captured 62.9% of the vote to retain the one seat on the five-member board that was up for a vote, in a contentious race against Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu.

Nelson joined the board in June after he won a primary to fill the 4th District seat vacated by Supervisor Chris Norby, which includes Anaheim, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra and Placentia. Norby ended his term early to fill the Assembly seat vacated by Michael Duvall (R-Yorba Linda), who resigned after he was caught bragging on tape at a public meeting about extramarital conquests.

Nelson had campaigned in June against hefty government pensions, but drew criticism from Sidhu after it was revealed that as a supervisor, he had signed up for the most generous county pension plan.

Nelson’s spokesman said the supervisor investigated the claims and discovered he had inadvertently signed the pension paperwork. He was therefore able to opt out, and did.

‘The pension issue is still very big for him,’ said Nelson’s campaign manager, Scott Carpenter. ‘He wants to look into basically every aspect of county government and make sure everything is not being wasted.’

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske