California voting wraps up, uncertain and mixed results for Democrats

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While Republicans celebrated a red wave nationwide, California voters approved the state’s solidly blue politics by easily electing a Democrat to the U.S. Senate and maintaining a Democratic supermajority in the state legislature.

But voters have been less enthusiastic about progressive ballot initiatives, and it remains to be seen whether California’s contested Congressional seats will help keep the U.S. House under Democratic control.

aspect Donald Trump’s second presidency It loomed large in California, the state held an election Adam Schiff’s new US senator. Schiff, a Burbank Democrat, made a national name for himself in the U.S. House of Representatives by leading the investigation into Trump’s first impeachment and for his key role investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

But the result of the process Congress’ six most closely contested races Races in California were undecided Wednesday morning, with some races seeing changes in the leading candidate as returns came in. The California races were being watched closely as control of the U.S. House of Representatives was still undetermined, but full results could take days or longer to be available.

Voters in California were also hesitant to fully embrace a progressive agenda on ballot measures. They passed with sound initiative to increase criminal penaltiesIt’s a measure opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the progressive wing of the Legislature. Once again, they rejected a ballot initiative that would have allowed a vote. expansion of rent control.

And they fired a progressive prosecutor in Los Angeles County, the state’s largest.

“It’s just one of those situations where loyalty to Democratic candidates and support for Democratic candidates doesn’t always mean commitment to progressive causes,” said election analyst Paul Mitchell.

News outlets declared Democrat Kamala Harris the winner of the state’s electoral votes as the polls closed at 8 p.m., while also calling for a quick race to take the U.S. Senate seat long held by Democrat Dianne Feinstein until her death last year. Schiff cruised to victory over former LA Dodgers star Steve Garvey, who was seeking to become the first Republican elected statewide in 18 years. Schiff won a six-year term to replace Sen. Laphonza Butler, who decided not to seek re-election after Newsom appointed her to replace Feinstein, who died last year.

In the vote, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, which increased penalties for certain crimes, which progressives opposed, and partial vote totals show they rejected Proposition 6, which progressives supported, which would ban forced labor in prisons. Proposition 33, which would have expanded rent control, failed.

Proposition 32, which raise the minimum wageLike a few others he was too close to call statewide recommendations.

Democrats, meanwhile, maintained their supermajority in the state legislature, allowing them to raise taxes or introduce initiatives on the ballot without a single Republican vote.

Mike Gatto, a former Democratic state lawmaker from Los Angeles, warned members of his party not to view a supermajority as a license to adopt far-left policies in response to Trump’s return to office. Gatto said voters in California will support a more moderate platform through the state’s ballot initiatives. gave the signal. Considering the national election results, Gatto said California’s elected Democrats need to be careful not to appear too liberal.

“I think it would be wise for California Democrats to try to soften the agenda a little bit,” Gatto said.

In Los Angeles County, voters elected former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who is running for state attorney general as a Republican in 2022, to replace incumbent District Attorney George Gascón, a progressive.

Some experts say the votes show California has more nuanced political views than its national reputation as a liberal bastion.

Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, saw the mixed bag as pretty typical for California.

“The state still appears to be going Democratic overall and could flip the U.S. House of Representatives to the Democrats,” he said, “and he also supports policies that are sometimes a little bit more conservative and a little bit more liberal.”

A word of caution about California election results: It could be weeks before we know the final outcome for some of the closest races. Although this situation increased distrust among voters, The reasons are not bad.

California has been sending an absentee ballot to every registered voter since 2020; a convenience that requires additional verification by local election officials upon return, including verifying the signature and checking to see if the voter voted in another jurisdiction. Counting mail-in ballots requires significantly more manual labor than other voting; because workers must open envelopes, retrieve ballots, align them with counting machines, and duplicate unreadable, damaged ballots.

California accepts ballots that arrive seven days late as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, giving voters the opportunity to correct missing or mismatched signatures. These delays are intentional to minimize the number of legitimate voters disqualified for procedural reasons and to ensure a safe and accurate count.

CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff contributed to this story.