UPDATED: Hahn, Bowen, Huey in Tight Race

(Updated 11:45 p.m.)

Republican candidate Craig Huey closed strong Tuesday night to reach a surprise second-place finish in the race for a vacant seat in the 36th Congressional District behind Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, according to preliminary results.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen trailed Huey by 206 votes with 261 of 261 precincts reporting at 11:27 p.m.

If the results hold, Hahn and Huey would face each other July 12 in a runoff election.

Huey had been in third place through most of the night as returns trickled in, but overtook Bowen when the last returns were announced.

Huey had raised the most money of any of the 16 candidates vying for the open seat in Congress with $515,905 raised from the beginning of his campaign through the latest federal election campaign filing period that ended in early May. Huey loaned his own campaign $500,000 and blanketed the region with campaign signs.

(Updated 11:25 p.m.)

Two Democrats and a Republican were locked in a tight race late Tuesday night with the top two vote-getters among a field of 16 set to square off July 12 in a runoff election for the vacant seat in the 36th Congressional District.

At 11:05 p.m. there were 102 of 261 precincts counted, or 39 percent, with Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn the top vote getter, followed by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen with 21.9 percent and Republican candidate Craig Huey close behind at 20.4 percent.

None of the other 13 candidates had gained 10 percent of the vote.

(Updated 10:55 p.m.)

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Secretary of State Debra Bowen, both Democrats, were the top two vote-getters in early returns Tuesday night with Republican candidate Craig Huey trailing in close third, according to preliminary results.

With 74 of 261 precincts reporting, or 28.3 percent, Hahn had 23.2 percent of the vote with Bowen right behind at 22.5 percent. Huey had 19.5 percent of the vote reported at 10:28 p.m.

Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin was in fourth place with 9.5 percent of the vote and teacher and anti-war activist Marcy Winograd was running in fifth with 8.6 percent of the vote.

The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will face each other in a July 12 runoff if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary.

(Updated 9:55 p.m.)

Supporters of Secretary of State Debra Bowen gathered Tuesday night at the 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro in Torrance to wait for election returns.

Bowen was mingling with the crowd, but planned to move to her campaign headquarters a few doors down to monitor election results.

Hermosa Beach School Board member Ray Waters was among those in attendance supporting Bowen.

(Updated 9:24 p.m.)

About 100 people are at the campaign headquarters of Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn at the Rolling Hills Plaza in Torrance, including City Councilman Bill Rosendahl.

Hahn has not yet made an appearance.

About 50 people were at an election night party in Venice to view returns with teacher and anti-war activist Marcy Winograd. The scene at Baja Cantina was subdued as supporters awaited returns.

(Updated at 8:16 p.m.)

Absentee ballots that were mailed in prior to Tuesday's election have been counted and the early leaders are Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn (6,269 votes, 24.4 percent), California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (5,448 votes, 21.2 percent) and Republican candidate Craig Huey (4,650 votes, 18.1 percent).

Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin followed with 2,707 absentee votes, 10.6 percent, and school teacher and anti-war activist Marcy Winograd had 2,046 mail-in votes, 8.0 percent.

The polls closed at 8 p.m. and the first returns from the field are expected about 9:30 p.m.

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(Updated at 7:30 p.m.)

Voters continued to trickle into polling booths late Tuesday afternoon as local polling places reported low voter turnout in the special election to fill a vacant seat in Congress.

In Playa del Rey, voters sporadically showed up at the garage of Raphe Pavlick, 68, at the far western end of Manchester Boulevard. Eighty-one voters had cast their ballots and another 10 dropped off their mail-in ballots by 5:45 p.m., Pavlick said. There are about 900 registered voters in the precinct.

Pavlick has been opening his garage to voters for the past eight years.

"People enjoy coming here," he said. "It's neutral. It's not a church or an Elks Lodge or a Masons Hall."

Pavlick had some carrot cake for voters, but hardly anyone had nibbled on it.

The roomie garage was manned by Pavlick and two poll workers and Pavlick said he made sure to scrub it clean of any political references before welcoming voters.

"I had a Dixie Chicks poster in here once and we actually had a complaint about it," he said, referencing the all-female country band who openly criticized President George W. Bush. Pavlick said he also had a complaint once after a voter heard liberal Air America Radio in his home and the voice of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who was formerly a fixture on the station.

At the Courtyard by Marriott Marina del Rey Hotel in Del Rey, only 52 voters had cast their ballots at 6:25 p.m. out of 750 registered voters in the precinct, poll workers said.

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(Updated at 4:52 p.m.):

Voters have been turning out in small numbers Tuesday to choose their candidate for the vacant seat in the 36th Congressional District, officials said.

As of 4 p.m., approximately 7.6 percent of the 345,232 registered voters in the district that stretches from Venice to San Pedro had voted, said Eileen Shea, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office.

There were no reports of weather-related problems or any voting irregularities, Shea said.

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Voters will head to the polls Tuesday to choose among a wide field of candidates competing in a special election to fill a Congressional seat that became open after longtime Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) resigned in February to join a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

Sixteen candidates will appear on the ballot, including five Democrats, six Republicans, a Libertarian, one Peace and Freedom candidate and three candidates who listed no party preference. There's also one write-in candidate.

The candidates are vying to become the representative of the 36th Congressional District, a largely coastal disrict that stretches from Venice to San Pedro and includes Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election among the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will take place July 12.

The district skews Democratic with 45 percent of its roughly 345,000 voters registered as Democrats, compared with 27 percent registered as Republican and 22 percent saying they decline to state their party preference, according to the California Secretary of State's office.

The top Democratic candidates include Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, Secretary of State Debra Bowen and teacher and anti-war activist Marcy Winograd. Hahn had about $238,000 to spend headed into the final weeks of the campaign, more than double Bowen's roughly $103,000, according to federal election campaign finance filings released in early May. Both had far more than Winograd's $26,000 cash on hand at the end of the filing period. Winograd is the only candidate among the three who has pledged not to accept corporate donations.

Republican candidate Craig Huey had the largest campaign warchest of any candidate with contributions and loans of $515,905 and $198,800 cash on hand at the end of the last filing period. Huey loaned his own campaign $500,000 and received the rest in contributions. Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin also has been campaigning as a Republican and so has Hermosa Beach City Councilman Kit Bobko.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

To verify that you live in the 36th Congressional District, visit the Voter Registriation Verification site maintained by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. You can also click here to find your polling place.