Election 2020: Laurie Davies ready to serve 73rd Assembly District

By ANDRE MOUCHARD | amouchard@scng.com, BROOKE STAGGS | bstaggs@scng.com and DAN ALBANO | dalbano@scng.com | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: November 3, 2020 at 8:55 p.m. | UPDATED: November 4, 2020 at 2:17 p.m.

Laguna Niguel Mayor Laurie Davies, a Republican, declared victory on Tuesday, Nov. 3 over Democrat Scott Rhinehart, a business services director from Mission Viejo, in the race to represent the 73rd Assembly District.

“I would like to thank the residents of the 73rd Assembly District for entrusting me with their vote and confidence,” Davies said in a statement.

“I will serve as a common sense legislator focused on keeping our communities safe, supporting our law enforcement, lowering taxes, reducing crippling regulations and supporting our local economies and small businesses through safe reopening.”

Voters in the county’s most GOP-centric district have sent a Republican to Sacramento for decades, and in 2016 they were one of the few Orange County districts to chose Donald Trump for president. That’s why incumbent GOP Assemblyman Bill Brough was once considered a lock to win a fourth term.

But in 2019, Brough faced accusations of sexually assaulting at least four women and misusing of up to $200,000 in campaign funds. Though Brough denied wrongdoing in both cases, he lost the primary GOP vote to Davies. Then he fell behind Rhinehart, who he had defeated in the 2018 general election by 25,620 votes.

Neither political party spent much on AD-73 leading up to the election, suggesting it was still considered a safe GOP seat. And, overall, it was the lowest-dollar Assembly race in Orange County, with Davies raising $285,698 while Rhinehart has banked $160,780.