Council Incumbents Hold All Three Seats in the Unofficial Count, as Term Limits and the School Bond Lead

Laguna Beach voters are, so far, keeping the City Council they have. In the unofficial results the Orange County Registrar of Voters generated on Wednesday at 4:48 p.m., the three incumbents seeking new terms held the three highest vote totals in the race for three council seats, a slate of three school board candidates led its race by a wide margin, and both local ballot measures were passing. Every figure in this article comes from that single Wednesday report, and none of the results is official yet.

Nine candidates ran for the three council seats, each carrying a four year term. Alex Rounaghi led the field with 5,313 votes, or 22.41 percent, followed by Sue Kempf with 4,335 votes, or 18.28 percent, and Mark Orgill with 3,492 votes, or 14.73 percent. The closest challenger, Nick Aronoff, held fourth place with 2,978 votes, or 12.56 percent, which left Orgill 514 votes ahead of the first candidate outside the seats. Ballots are still being counted, so the order below the top line could still move, but the three leaders have held the same three positions in every county report since election night.

Main Beach from the bluffs at Heisler Park. The Registrar of Voters keeps counting on weekday updates through the canvass, and the results remain unofficial until the election is certified.

dconvertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Source

Measure E, the citizen initiated measure that would write council term limits into the municipal code, led with 5,622 yes votes, or 62.02 percent, against 3,443 no votes, or 37.98 percent, well above the simple majority the measure needs. The ordinance would add a new section to the code capping council service at two full terms in a row, eight years in total, and a member who reaches the cap would have to leave the council for at least two years before serving again. By its own terms it applies only from this election forward, starting with the terms of the members elected on Tuesday, and it does not reach back to earlier service. The council voted on December 9, 2025 to place the initiative on the November 3, 2026 ballot, as the Elections Code requires once an initiative petition qualifies.

The school board race drew five candidates for three seats on the Laguna Beach Unified School District board. Joan Malczewski led with 6,551 votes, or 25.83 percent, followed by Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal with 6,181 votes, or 24.37 percent, and Kimberly Smith with 6,048 votes, or 23.85 percent. The remaining two candidates, Elizabeth Bates with 3,378 votes, or 13.32 percent, and Dee Namba Perry with 3,201 votes, or 12.62 percent, trailed the third seat by more than 2,600 votes. Malczewski and Perry are the incumbents in the race, and the three leaders campaigned together as a slate, asking voters to support all three of their candidacies.

A Laguna Beach marine safety lifeguard vehicle on the sand below the blufftop homes. The council elected on Tuesday will vote on the city budget that funds services including marine safety.

dconvertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Source

Measure A, the school district bond, led with 7,369 yes votes, or 67.13 percent, against 3,608 no votes, or 32.87 percent. That share sits comfortably above the 55 percent approval the measure needs under Proposition 39. The measure authorizes the district to issue up to $83 million in bonds to repair and upgrade aging classrooms, science labs and career technology facilities, and to fix deteriorating roofs, plumbing and electrical systems. The district would levy $8.85 per $100,000 of assessed value, about $5 million a year while the bonds are outstanding, and the measure carries the standard Proposition 39 safeguards of independent audits, citizen oversight and annual public spending disclosure. The district says the levy replaces its existing school bond tax as that tax expires, without increasing current tax rates, and that it has not passed a bond measure in 25 years.

What happens next is a count, not a contest. The Registrar updates the unofficial results on weekdays by 5 p.m. through the canvass period, and the next update is due Thursday. Mailed ballots that were postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if they arrive by November 10, and the results stay unofficial until the election is certified. The council and school board leaders named here hold their positions on the count as it stands on Thursday morning, and the Tribune will report the certified outcome when the canvass closes.