Melinda Liu, William Go, James Mai and Councilmember Mike Carroll are leading their respective races for the four district seats up for grabs on the Irvine City Council, according to early returns posted Tuesday night shortly after the close of polls.

It has been a crowded field of candidates in Irvine with 15 hopefuls vying for four City Council seats.

See the latest election results.

For the first time in Irvine history, councilmembers are being elected to represent geographic City Council districts. Irvine is also expanding the size of the council from five to seven representatives.

To get the district elections on a staggered rotation, the District 1 winner will serve only two years. In the future that will also be a four-year seat like the rest of the council.

Districts 1-4 are being decided with this ballot, and in 2026, voters will choose in Districts 1, 5 and 6.

Councilmember Kathleen Treseder, elected in 2022, will retain her at-large seat through 2026. Councilmember Larry Agran, also elected in 2022, will retain his at-large seat through 2026, unless he wins his bid for mayor. He is leading in early returns.

The change from the traditional at-large elections, in which voters cast ballots for all open council seats, to the new by-district elections follows the passing of Measure D, a ballot measure that about 60% of Irvine voters approved in March. Irvine, with roughly 313,000 residents, was the largest city in Orange County still using an at-large voting model and was one of the largest cities in the state with just five councilmembers.

Here’s how the races are shaking out.

District 1

Liu is leading the five-person race to represent District 1, the city’s northeast portion including areas between Jamboree Road, Irvine Boulevard and Highway 133. John Park is in second place.

District 2

Go is leading the race to represent District 2, which includes the Great Park. Jeff Starke is in second palce.

District 3

Mai has a larger lead in the race for District 3, which straddles the 5 Freeway on the city’s north side and includes the area around Irvine High. Mai is a chairman and CEO of Bristol & Bates, a business strategy consulting firm with offices in Southern California and Arizona. He’s also a community services commissioner appointed by Councilmember Mike Carroll.

District 4

Carroll is beating Ayn Craciun in the race for District 4, which includes the communities of Turtle Rock, Turtle Ridge, Quail Hill, Los Olivos, the Spectrum, Shady Canyon and more. Geographically, it is the largest of Irvine’s five new districts and also the one with the most open space.

In five years at the dais, Carroll has been one of the council’s more conservative voices. Craciun, meanwhile, was endorsed by mayoral candidate and current councilmember Tammy Kim and a slate of progressive politicians.