Despite the Justice Department’s last-minute effort to invalidate the mail ballots of approximately 20,000 individuals it claims are noncitizens, the U S Supreme Court has declined a last-minute request from the Department of Justice to intervene in its unprecedented dispute with California regarding the state’s voter rolls.
This midterm election held especially high stakes as Prop. 50, approved by voters last November, recently redrew a number of districts in California, and Democrats set their sights on districts like the 22nd and 48th, where flipping Republican seats could help them retake the US House.
Check back here throughout the night for up-to-date results.
Who won California’s governor race?
Democrat Xavier Becerra defeated Republican Steve Hilton, according to the Associated Press at 8:12pm PST. Becerra will replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who reached his term limit.
Hilton led early returns in June’s top-two primary, but Becerra finished first once all ballots were counted. Becerra led Hilton 61% to 37% in the Public Policy Institute of California’s final pre-election poll.
California’s only Latino governor, Romualdo Pacheco, moved up from lieutenant governor in 1875 and was never elected. Democrats have held the governor’s office since Jerry Brown’s election in 2010.
Did the billionaire tax pass?
Editors note: A previous version of this story included an erroneous projection for Proposition 40, which remains uncalled. We regret the error.
The measure would tax more than 200 billionaires Forbes estimates live in California to fund health care and education. It was the most expensive fight on the ballot. Opponents, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, had raised more than $205 million against it as of mid-October, according to CalMatters. Support slipped from 52% in September to 46% in PPIC’s final poll.
Props. 41 and 42 were written so that if either passes with more yes votes than Prop. 40, the billionaire tax cannot take effect.
Did California pass voter ID?
Voters rejected Proposition 39, a Republican-backed constitutional amendment that would require government-issued ID to vote in person, by roughly 59% to 41%, according to The Associated Press.
The constitutional amendment, backed by Reform California, aimed to deter voter fraud and strengthen confidence in elections by requiring government-issued ID for in-person voting, the last four digits of an ID number for mail-in ballots, and state verification of voters’ citizenship. Opponents argued it would burden voters less likely to have a qualifying ID, including low-income, elderly, and Black and Latino voters.
Did Prop. 50 flip California’s House seats?
Two of the state’s most closely watched House races, the open 48th District in San Diego and Riverside counties and the Central Valley’s 22nd District, were called for Democratic candidates
Randy Villegas knocked off Republican Rep. David Valadao with 65% of the vote in the Central Valley’s 22nd District, and San Diego City Council member Marni von Wilpert beat Republican Jim Desmond in the open 48th District, with 59.35% of the vote to his 40.65%
Both were among the five Republican-held seats Democrats targeted with Proposition 50, the redistricting measure Newsom championed to counter Texas Republicans’ new map.
California’s mid-decade redraw did ultimately deliver the gains Democrats were counting on in a nationally close fight for the majority.
California’s 22nd District: Randy Villegas (D) wins
Villegas unseated Valadao in the Central Valley’s 22nd District, ending the tenure of the Republican incumbent who had survived years of Democratic challenges.
The district sits in California’s agricultural heartland and relies heavily on safety-net programs that assist low-income residents across the region. Before Prop. 50 redrew its lines, nearly two-thirds of residents, about 527,000 people, were enrolled in Medi-Cal in the Central Valley district. Villegas secured 65%of the vote, and Valadao trailed behind with 35.16%
California’s 48th District: Marni von Wilpert (D) wins
Democrat Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member, defeated Republican Jim Desmond in the open 48th District, flipping a seat previously held by Republican incumbent Darrell Issa. Von Wilpert secured 59.35% of the vote, and Desmond came in with 40.65%
The CA-48 race has drawn national money, with over $6 million in outside spending, more than virtually every other House race in California and nearly all of it for von Wilpert. It’s also a bellwether for how the Iran war plays with voters, as California Democrats turn high gas prices against Republicans in pivotal House battlegrounds and Desmond defends the war as necessary to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Author’s note: California counts ballots for days after Election Day, and close races can shift as later mail ballots are tallied.
