Elections 2022: Meet the candidates in the open 72nd Assembly District race

Two Republicans and one Democrat are competing in the open primary for the coastal 72nd Assembly District, which is one of just a few districts touching Orange County that still lean solidly to the right.

The two candidates who get the most votes in the June 7 primary will advance to the November general election. That will decide who’ll represent the district’s nearly 500,000 residents who live from Seal Beach south to Laguna Beach, or within a narrow carve-out east to Lake Forest, for the next two years.

The area was left with no incumbent after redistricting shuffled political boundaries and Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, who’s current district includes much of the new AD-72, opted to move to Costa Mesa and run in a more favorable district.