Michelle Steel holds her G.O.P. House seat in California.

Consultant Michelle Metal, Republican of California, has received election to a second time period in Orange County, in response to The Related Press.

Ms. Metal held off Jay Chen, a Democrat and Taiwanese American Navy reservist, even after deciding to run in a brand new district that tilted barely towards Democrats.

The race turn into one thing of a take a look at for a way Asian American voters would solid their ballots in a race that pitted two of their very own — with sharply contrasting political opinions — in opposition to one another in an space the place they signify a lopsided majority of the voters.

Ms. Metal, a former member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and a neighborhood enterprise proprietor, grew to become certainly one of first Korean American ladies in Congress when she was elected in 2020, narrowly unseating Consultant Harley Rouda, a Democrat. Ms. Metal led Mr. Chen by 5 share factors within the state’s open major election, which is open to candidates of any occasion.

Whereas in Congress, Ms. Metal has voted largely alongside occasion strains. She campaigned on reducing taxes, enhancing the economic system and securing the border. She additionally painted Mr. Chen as sympathetic to China’s authoritarian authorities, working to attraction to the county’s many Vietnamese refugees who nonetheless have bitter reminiscences of fleeing a communist regime, a portrayal that drew criticism that she was “red-baiting.”

Mr. Chen, for his half, was criticized for mocking Ms. Metal’s accent.