Associated Press - November 18, 2009 1:54 AM ET

Corrected Version

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - The contest to fill a vacant Southern California Assembly seat is headed for a runoff, after no candidate cleared 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright.

According to returns from 124 of 197 precincts reporting, Republican county supervisor Chris Norby leads the field with 36.5 percent of the vote.

Democrat John MacMurray is second with 27.5 percent, followed by Republican National Committee member Linda Ackerman with 20 percent.

Norby will face a runoff Jan. 12 against MacMurray and the Green Party's Jane Rands.

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