RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Incumbents Mayor Tony Beall and Councilwoman Carol Gamble, and Planning Commissioner Brad McGirr won the race for City Council, according to preliminary results from the Orange County Registrar of Voters.
The three candidates and several supporters were at Tijeras Creek Golf Club on Tuesday evening, at times huddled around a single laptop waiting for results to come in while others watched the presidential race unfold in the dining room decorated with campaign posters.
There were two races in Rancho this year. Beall and Councilman Jerry Holloway’s terms are ending, opening two full-term seats. Beall ran for re-election; Holloway did not. There also was a short-term seat to fill, with the winner finishing out the last two years of former Councilman Gary Thompson’s term.
Thompson was re-elected in 2010 but resigned in March 2011 for personal reasons. Gamble was appointed to temporarily fill Thompson’s position until the election. Rather than run for his remaining term, Gamble chose to run for Holloway’s seat.
In addition to Beall and Gamble, businessman Kenney Hrabik also was on the ballot for the full-term race. Beall received 10,095 votes, or 44.9 percent of the vote. Gamble received 7,654 votes, or 34 percent of the vote, and Kenney Hrabik garnered 4,752 votes, or 21.1 percent.
McGirr was one of three candidates for the short-term seat. Other candidates were Glenna Acosta and Lawrence McCook. McGirr received 5,456 votes, McCook received 4,216, and Acosta garnered 3,547.
