Garden Grove Councilwoman Diedre Nguyen is leading GOP incumbent Assemblyman Tyler Diep by 208 votes in the race for the 72nd Assembly District following the latest ballot count announced Wednesday by the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

The county still needs to tally some 20,048 late mail-in and conditional ballots, a portion of which will no doubt include the AD-72 race.

But late votes tend to skew blue. If latest results hold, then Diep — who was targeted by significant late outside spending to oppose his campaign — won’t make the November ballot. Instead, Diedre Nguyen, a Democrat, will square off in the general election against former GOP state senator Janet Nguyen, who still has a wide lead over all AD-72 candidates with 34% of the vote share.

Civil rights attorney Bijan Mohseni, also a Democrat, remains solidly in fourth place.

The top two vote-getters on March 3, regardless of party, will advance to November.

The district — which covers northern coastal Orange County, from Garden Grove to Seal Beach — became one of the most closely watched primary races in California after Diep of Westminster lost the backing of the Republican Party of Orange County over votes he cast in Sacramento that were deemed by party officials to be too union-friendly. That included being the only Republican in the Assembly to vote for AB5, a controversial bill that limits the use of part-time workers in California.

Such votes prompted organized labor groups to spend $163,480 on mailers and online advertising supporting Diep. But they also spurred the California Chamber of Commerce and others to spend tens of thousands of dollars opposing him. And, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the ride sharing company Lyft, which is one of the biggest opponents of AB5, sent $2 million to a committee called Californians for Independent Work. Between Feb. 18 and Feb. 27, that committee spent $328,581 on mailers and other activities, all opposing Diep’s campaign.

Diep has said he stands behind his record representing his purple district.

But Janet Nguyen took a significant lead over Diep when first primary results were released March 3. And on Wednesday evening, Diedre Nguyen moved into the No. 2 spot.

Diedre Nguyen is a cancer scientist. She was elected to Garden Grove City Council in 2016 and reelected by a larger margin in 2018. She’s poised to head to the general election with fellow Vietnamese American Janet Nguyen of Fountain Valley.

Janet Nguyen, 43, started on the Garden Grove City Council in 2004, won an OC Supervisor seat in 2007 and became a State Senator in 2014. She was narrowly voted out of her SD-34 seat in 2018. She’s now serving as a board member on the Orange County Foundation.

The politics of the district have become slightly redder in the past month, with Republicans now holding a 1 percentage point advantage in voter registration over Democrats.

Outcomes haven’t changed in any other Orange County elections in the past week. But some contests are closer, such as the 39th District House race, where Republican Young Kim’s lead over Democratic incumbent Gil Cisneros has shrunk to just 3.8 percentage points. And some challengers in races that were too close to call a few days ago have now conceded, despite the remaining uncounted ballots.

In the 37th Senate District, in central Orange County, GOP incumbent John Moorlach has stayed solidly in first place. Democratic challenger Dave Min, who’s an attorney and UC Irvine law professor, was in a close early battle with Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley for the No. 2 spot. But Min’s lead has steadily grown as more ballots were tallied, and he now has a 3 percentage point lead over Foley.

On Tuesday afternoon, Min declared victory in securing his place in the November general election with Moorlach. “These results speak loudly,” he said. “Orange County families are looking to elect a State Senator who represents their values, and rejecting the politics of Donald Trump.”

And Tuesday night, Foley sent a statement that said, “It’s over and time to move forward.” She slammed mailers and videos that criticized her record in the days before the election, saying the “fictional character” they created “is not someone I would vote for either.” But Koley said, “I’m resilient. It’s in my Irish blood to take a hit and bounce back stronger than before.”

In the 74th Assembly District, in coastal central Orange County, Democratic Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris has maintained a wide lead. But the battle between two Republican challengers for the No. 2 spot appears over, with Orange County deputy district attorney Kelly Ernby conceding to Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon, who now has a 3 percentage point lead in the race.

Ernby issued a statement congratulating Dixon and promising to work with her going forward, including in the post she did win on March 3, as a member of the OCGOP’s Central Committee.

In the race for the Orange County Board of Supervisors First District — which includes Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Westminster, plus a portion of Fountain Valley — incumbent Andrew Do continues to lead with a comfortable margin, though he doesn’t hold the outright majority needed to avoid a November runoff.

Westminster Councilman Sergio Contreras now has a 2 percentage point lead over Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido in the fight for the No. 2 spot — a lead that’s grown as ballots are counted. But Pulido apparently hadn’t conceded the race as of Wednesday evening.