Newport Beach News Share this: I did my research on district elections a little over a year ago and since that time, the idea of district elections in Newport Beach seems more relevant than ever. In the latest City Council election, we saw very few challengers to council seats, (two to be exact) compared to surrounding cities which attracted significantly more. We saw the indisputable role that outside money played in the election, leading to the loss of one incumbent and one challenger who in many opinions, were more in tune with community values than the winners. One need only examine the “Campaign Disclosure Statements” available through the City Clerk and online County Records, Forms 460 and 497 to see the money from developers and PAQ’s taken in by the Team.