In Mission Viejo’s City Council general election, voters must decide whether to re-elect candidates who have been in office for years or to opt for new faces.
Early voting results show incumbents leading in nearly every race as of early morning Nov. 9.
In District 1—the only race without an incumbent running—Bob Ruesch leads with 53.4 percent of the vote. His two opponents Deborah Cunningham-Skurnik and Linda Shepard follow with 25.4 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively.
For District 2, incumbent Brian Goodell comes out ahead with 59.4 percent, while challenger Stacy Holmes has 40.6 percent of the vote.
Due to Mission Viejo’s new by-district voting system, two current councilors are vying for the District 3 seat—incumbent Greg Raths and mayor pro-tem Ed Sachs—along with newcomer Cynthia Vasquez. Raths has a narrow lead with 38.1 percent, while Vasquez is close behind at 37.3 percent and Sachs has 24.5 percent….