But nothing is guaranteed for Becerra or Hilton yet. The early results could shift in part because of unusual voting patterns in this primary election: Ballot tracking data heading into Tuesday evening showed that Republicans were more likely to vote early by mail, while Democratic voters in this deep blue state hung onto their mail-in ballots or chose to vote in person. That’s the reverse of recent elections, which saw more Democrats voting by mail and Republicans tending to vote in person on Election Day.
Steyer urged his supporters to be patient Tuesday evening. Speaking at his watch party at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, he railed against the big companies, including PG&E and Chevron, that opposed his candidacy. “Together, we’ve scared the hell out of the corporate interests used to getting their way,” Steyer said. “It might take some time to figure out where this is going. We’re going to wait until every ballot is counted. We’re going to give democracy time to work. And we know we finished really strong.”
All eyes are on California’s competitive House races as voters choose which candidates will face off later this fall.
The outcome of the state’s open primary, which narrows each race to the top two vote-getters regardless of party, sets the stage for a fierce contest in November as Democrats across the country push to retake control of Congress. Victories in California are even more important after a series of court rulings gave Republicans the edge in the national redistricting arms race.
Still, Democrats have been bullish about their chances in California after voters last year approved new congressional maps that significantly decreased the number of competitive races in the state. With the House majority, Democrats could block President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, grill his cabinet officials and launch investigations into his administration.
The state’s marquee race is in the Bakersfield-based 22nd District. Two Democrats are fighting for the chance to take on Rep. David Valadao, the vulnerable Republican incumbent whose only election loss came in 2018 during Trump’s first term. The Associated Press said Tuesday that Valadao will advance to November.
Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, a physician who has spent most of her career in hospitals and clinics that rely on Medi-Cal, has positioned herself as a moderate Democrat willing to buck her party. She has faced stiff competition from Randy Villegas, a college professor and school board trustee running as a progressive Democrat with support from the Working Families Party, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Sen. Bernie Sanders. With about half the vote tallied Tuesday night, Villegas was leading Bains by about 1,300 votes.
In San Diego County, Republican Jim Desmond, a County supervisor backed by the retiring incumbent, Rep. Darrell Issa, will face current San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, a Democrat in November. The Associated Press called the race late Tuesday with about 55% of the vote tallied.
Von Wilpert decisively quelled a fierce intraparty challenge from fellow Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, a former labor department aide to President Barack Obama who had lost to Issa twice before. She called him anti-LGBTQ for questioning whether she could win votes outside gay-friendly Palm Springs; Campa-Najjar accused von Wilpert of racism for questioning his name changes and residence.
These will be just two of the races that will be closely watched come November.