Assemblyman Morrissey Hangs On Over Correa

Ending more than two weeks of suspense, final vote tallies on Friday gave Assemblyman Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana) a 93-vote edge over Democratic challenger Lou Correa.

The news dashed Democrats’ hopes that newcomer Correa would succeed in an election upset like that of Loretta Sanchez, who defeated veteran Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) by 984 votes in the 46th Congressional District.

But for Morrissey, the final results were sweet after the drawn-out uncertainty over whether he would continue to represent the 69th District, which includes most of Santa Ana, about half of Garden Grove and parts of Anaheim, Orange and Fountain Valley.

In the end, Morrissey got 24,545 votes (47.9%) to Correa’s 24,452 (47.7%.) A third candidate, Larry G. Engwall, got 2,010 votes (3.9%.)

Morrissey had led earlier by more than 1,400 votes, before absentee ballots were counted.

“I was confident all the way, but this got to be a real cliffhanger at the end,” Morrissey said.

Mark Thompson, a Newport Beach Republican political consultant who ran Morrissey’s campaign, credited the win to the assemblyman’s efforts to reach out to the Latino community.

Friday afternoon, Correa’s supporters were not ready to admit defeat, and campaign manager Kevin McCarty said they might request a recount.

“That’s an option, when you lose by 100 votes, that you toss around,” said McCarty, who credited an aggressive absentee-ballot campaign for giving Correa the chance to nearly close the gap.

“I came out of nowhere against an incumbent who was well-funded and gave him a run for the money,” added Correa, a financial consultant who said his campaign was fueled by grass-roots work.