In the hotly contested race that could decide which party controls the county Board of Supervisors, Democratic incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer was leading her challenger, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Tuesday night in early election returns.

In the other supervisor races on the ballot, incumbents Nora Vargas and Joel Anderson were both leading by wide margins.

As of Tuesday evening, county election officials had tallied nearly 856,000 ballots — more than 787,000 of them received by mail by that day, and 68,000 cast in person ahead of Election Day.

But many thousands of ballots remained to be counted, and election officials anticipate eventual turnout of between 80% and 84% — in line with past presidential elections.

In 2020, Lawson-Remer defeated Republican incumbent Kristin Gaspar to win her seat — shifting the balance of power on the board, long dominated by Republicans, to the Democrats. Faulconer left city hall that year.

This year, the contentious race in District 3 was one of the highest-profile and most expensive races in San Diego County, as Lawson-Remer fought not only to keep her seat representing the county’s coastline from Carlsbad to Coronado but also to maintain the board’s Democratic majority.

Of the districts 428,833 registered voters as of the end of last month, Democrats hold a substantial advantage in voter registration with about 41%, while Republicans account for nearly 27% of registered voters — slightly more than voters with no party preference, who make up nearly 25%.

Although Lawson-Remer held a double-digit lead, partial results on election night put the Democratic incumbent still locked in a closely watched race with her Republican challenger.

Both candidates have spent a majority of their campaigns attacking one another.

Right now the race is too close to call, Lawson-Remer said. Tomorrow we’ll get back to work combating rising housing costs, protecting our beaches and coastlines, and tackling homelessness from Carlsbad to Coronado as we wait for the final results.

Faulconer did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.

In the District 1 race, Democratic incumbent Nora Vargas held a double-digit lead over her Republican challenger Alejandro Galicia and appeared on track to keep her solidly Democratic seat representing South County.

And in District 2, Republican incumbent Joel Anderson also held a double-digit lead over Democrat Gina Jacobs to represent his Republican-leaning East County district.

Vargas, who was at home with her family rather than at a watch party, told The San Diego Union-Tribune that she was excited by the early results.

I am grateful to the voters of District 1 for having faith in me, Vargas said. Im going to continue to fight for them and make sure that we build stronger and healthier communities together.

Vargas says shes looking forward to continuing to work with her colleagues to move the county forward, particularly around economic prosperity for small businesses, environmental and climate justice, especially in the Tijuana River Valley.

Were setting the county in the right direction, she added, noting that the county still has a lot of work to do on homelessness and behavioral health.