It is fortunate that I was not emotionally invested in the outcome of the election in California.Perhaps the race that most interested me was the Los Angeles mayor’s race. Ahead of the election, I reported that Republican businessman Rick Caruso and Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass, are in a dead heat in the race.Initially, Caruso was ahead in the votes. But as the votes are still being counted, days after the election has ended, Bass is miraculously leading slightly.
Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass took the lead in a close race against billionaire real-estate developer Rick Caruso to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, according to partial results still trickling out from local election officials.Bass had 50.4% support compared to 49.6% for Caruso as of Friday afternoon, with an estimated 62% of the votes tallied, according data from the county registrar’s office and the Associated Press. Caruso had led in early counting.Even though the election was Nov. 8, a winner may not be declared for several more days, or longer, as officials tally the mail-in ballots.
Several of the congressional races are still “too close to call” and the tallies continue.
Congressional campaigns on both sides of the aisle expressed cautious optimism as election officials continue tallying votes, a process that could take weeks.With the prospect of the House majority on the line, the entire nation may be kept in suspense because of California’s notoriously plodding count — a scenario few expected in the lead-up to election day….In the 41st Congressional District, Democrat Will Rollins was trailing Rep. Ken Calvert — the longest-serving GOP member of California’s congressional delegation — by more than 1,250 votes as of Thursday evening.Calvert’s past opposition to gay rights may have hurt him among the Coachella Valley’s large LGBTQ community, said Mitchell, which could be one reason the early results had trended toward Rollins, who is gay.</blockquoteRepublican Scott Baugh is challenging Democratic Rep. Katie Porter to represent the 47th Congressional District in Orange County, remained confident. Those votes counts are still trickling in.
“Early returns in California as you know always favor the Democrats. How many of you voted on election day?” he asked the crowd as hands shot up. “You’re going to reverse what the results are right now and you’re going to put us in the lead by midnight.”At midnight, Baugh was trailing Porter by fewer than 1,000 votes. By Thursday, Porter’s lead had grown to just under 3,000.The mood in Porter’s camp was one of cautious optimism Wednesday. In 2018, it took 11 days for the race between Porter and Republican Mimi Walters to be called.“There are still tens of thousands of ballots left to be counted, and our campaign respects Orange County voters and will wait patiently for the results,” said campaign spokesperson Lindsay Reilly.
California’s 45th district is also looking promising.
Republican Michelle Steel captured over 67,000 votes in the race for California’s 45th Congressional District, leading against Democratic Jay Chen with 56% of the votes shortly past midnight on Wednesday after nearly 120,000 ballots counted.Rep. Steel said she supports affordable healthcare, lowering taxes, supporting law enforcement and fighting inflation. She previously represented California’s 48th District, which included Huntington Beach, Aliso Viejo and Newport Beach before redistricting in 2020.
Not surprisingly, Gov. Gavin Newsom was the victor, garnering 58% of the vote to Republican challenger’s Brian Dahle’s 42% tally.
I hope when the final ballot is counted that the Republicans will control the House of Representatives at least. However, for the time being, California remains a Midnight Blue Hellscape.
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