What We Know So Far About California Election Results

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/us/california-election-results-takeaways.html

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For many election-watchers, the most important contests in the Golden State on Tuesday were in congressional swing districts in Orange County and the Central Valley. A number of House races there were viewed as among the most competitive in the nation.

As of Wednesday morning, it remained unclear whether Republicans, whose predictions of a national “red wave” didn’t materialize, would ultimately gain control of the House. You can check the results of all of the House races here.

Far less attention-getting in recent weeks were California’s statewide races and seven ballot propositions. And perhaps rightly so, as they all played out largely as predicted.

Californians voted to keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office, and a slate of Democrats were poised to sweep the statewide seats yet again, based on election-night returns. The state races on the ballot were among the most drama-free in recent memory, said Raphael Sonenshein, the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.

There are a few reasons for that: Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 in California, so candidates from the dominant party are overwhelmingly favored for statewide offices. And many of the state officials up for election this year were incumbents, including Senator Alex Padilla and Attorney General Rob Bonta, giving them even more of a leg up on their Republican opponents.

Plus, this year’s ballot propositions were fewer in number and less controversial than in past elections. The ballot measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the State Constitution, which voters overwhelmingly approved, didn’t become the barnburner that similar proposals in other states became, Sonenshein said.

“On the state ballot, other than the controller’s race, which is mildly interesting, there’s not a single interesting race,” Sonenshein told me. He and others followed the state controller’s race to see if Lanhee Chen would become the first Republican to hold statewide office in California since 2006 — a potential sign of life for the state party — but Chen seems likely to lose.

Besides the abortion measure, an initiative to increase funding for arts education and a ballot question affirming a legislative ban on most flavored tobacco products were likely to pass.

But voters were rejecting other proposals. Despite more than a half-billion dollars in spending by the gambling industry and Native American tribes, two measures that would have authorized sports betting were heading to defeat. Proposition 30, which would tax the wealthiest Californians to create an electric vehicle subsidy, also failed to pass.

While California in the aggregate is deep blue, many districts across the state are far more purple. In coastal Orange County, Representative Katie Porter, a Democrat, fought on Tuesday to hold on to her seat in a district where 35.6 percent of the electorate is Democratic and 34 percent is Republican. The race was virtually a dead heat as of Wednesday morning.

At a polling place in Irvine on Tuesday, Kate Colesworthy, a real estate agent, said that top of mind for her was keeping Porter in office as part of an attempt to prevent the country from falling under Republican control. “It isn’t the world that I want to live in,” she said. “It’s a painful thing to even contemplate, really.”

Also voting there, Steve Bjorkman, 70, of Irvine, said he didn’t feel strongly about any of the candidates. But generally, Republicans better aligned with his values, and he said he had been concerned about what he considered to be “authoritarian” government overreach. He said he voted Republican down the ticket, including for Scott Baugh, Porter’s opponent.

And in Los Angeles, the nation’s second most populous city, many were focused on the high-profile mayor’s race, which was tight going into the election. As of Wednesday morning, the billionaire developer Rick Caruso had a slight lead over the longtime Representative Karen Bass, but the contest remained too close to call and the final result wasn’t expected for days, or even weeks.

Another contest, for Los Angeles County sheriff, appeared to be favoring the challenger, Robert Luna, over the incumbent, Alex Villanueva, whose first term was marked by his combative approach to the job.

“It’s not that it’s an irrelevant year,” Sonenshein told me. “It’s only the state elections that are boring. The House elections are incredibly important. The city elections are incredibly important.”

For more:

Check all the California election results.

Researchers say that the biggest surge of misinformation may arrive after Election Day.

It took two weeks to call every state in 2020. This is when to expect results this year.

Lottery winner: A winning ticket for the $2 billion Powerball lottery jackpot, the largest in American history, was sold at a gas station just north of Pasadena. The ticket holder would be California’s first lottery billionaire.

Storm: The powerful storm that pounded California on Tuesday left one person dead and two others missing, and a tornado touched down in Sacramento County, The Associated Press reports.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Officer arrested: A San Bernardino police officer was arrested for firing his gun into the air several times in a tavern’s parking lot, The Associated Press reports.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Pelosi attack: In her first televised interview since her husband, Paul Pelosi, was violently attacked, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the traumatic episode would affect her decision about her political future.

Elizabeth Holmes: The founder of the failed blood testing start-up was denied a new trial and will be sentenced next week for defrauding investors.

Teachers: San Francisco school officials declared a state of emergency to fix a payroll system that has left teachers and staff without health benefits and with less pay for the past 10 months, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Spiced pumpkin cheesecake.

Today’s tip comes from Ryan Mesheau, who recommends a few beautiful escapes north of Bodega Bay in Sonoma County:

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

Have you visited any of the travel destinations that we’ve recommended in the newsletter? Send us a few lines about your trip, and a photo!

We’d like to share them in upcoming editions of the newsletter. Email us at CAToday@nytimes.com. Please include your name and the city in which you live.

When Janine Renae Lee and Janeine LeCorday Spencer met at the Chevron Corporation in Concord, where each had worked, they quickly bonded over their commonality. Both were biracial Black women with a similar given name (though spelled differently, it was pronounced the same).

After more than a decade of friendship, the two began tentatively dating in 2017. Their relationship soon became serious. “With her, I found who I should have been in these past years,” Spencer told The Times. “Janine has helped me find my true self.”

Last month, the two were married at the Oakland Marriott City Center. “With Janeine, I can genuinely be myself and don’t have to be afraid of being judged,” Lee said. “I feel safe with her.”

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Soumya

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword.

Jill Cowan, Isabella Grullón Paz and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.