Ackerman Wins; GOP Regains Assembly Control
State Republicans won back control of the Assembly with the election Tuesday of former Fullerton Mayor Richard Ackerman over Democrat Shirley Hafner for north Orange County’s 72nd District seat.
Ackerman’s victory gives the GOP a 41-39 edge in the Assembly and the upper hand it lost in December with the defection of Paul V. Horcher, the maverick Diamond Bar Republican-turned-Independent who was recalled in the spring.
With 132 of 154 precincts counted, Ackerman was leading Tuesday night by 77% to Hafner’s 23%.
Ackerman, 52, will fill the unexpired term of Ross Johnson, now a state senator from Irvine.
Long before the polls closed, Ackerman had his plane ticket and his bags packed.
“I’m leaving for Sacramento at 7 a.m.,” said Ackerman. “Assuming this election gets certified as quickly as everybody thinks it’s going to, I’ll be sworn in shortly after that and then get to work.”
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