Final CA Midterm Election Results
CA election results in close races often come in late. This is because voting by mail is common and the ballots must by postmarked (as opposed to received) by Election Day. So we just got the results of one of the midterm elections, CA-21, on the 28th.
This district was not generally considered to be in play as a likely Democratic flip, as the Republican incumbent, David Valadao, was running for his fourth term and had won handily in his previous three elections. I hadn't been following it closely and was unsurprised when AP and several other media outlets called it for Valadao. However, that turned out to be a "Dewey Defeats Truman" moment, as it was extremely close when they called it and many ballots had not yet been counted. The Democratic challenger, TJ Cox, won.
That makes 7 seats flipped in CA, and brings the Democratic House gain to 40 seats. It's looking like the Republican Party is more or less dead in CA. There are still some strongholds, but they're outnumbered. Also, one of the Republicans who won, Duncan Hunter, is currently under indictment for flagrant misuse of campaign funds. (The indictment is pretty hilarious reading as it lists every single item he and his wife illicitly bought with campaign funds, with items like "one brown beanie and a tube of plastic animals, from Target" and "Twenty-three shots of whiskey and one steak.") I have a feeling that district will flip next election.
Despite some annoying moments, I generally had a very good experience volunteering with Swing Left. And the results have been beyond satisfying.
Crossposted to https://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/2230375.html. Comment here or there.
This district was not generally considered to be in play as a likely Democratic flip, as the Republican incumbent, David Valadao, was running for his fourth term and had won handily in his previous three elections. I hadn't been following it closely and was unsurprised when AP and several other media outlets called it for Valadao. However, that turned out to be a "Dewey Defeats Truman" moment, as it was extremely close when they called it and many ballots had not yet been counted. The Democratic challenger, TJ Cox, won.
That makes 7 seats flipped in CA, and brings the Democratic House gain to 40 seats. It's looking like the Republican Party is more or less dead in CA. There are still some strongholds, but they're outnumbered. Also, one of the Republicans who won, Duncan Hunter, is currently under indictment for flagrant misuse of campaign funds. (The indictment is pretty hilarious reading as it lists every single item he and his wife illicitly bought with campaign funds, with items like "one brown beanie and a tube of plastic animals, from Target" and "Twenty-three shots of whiskey and one steak.") I have a feeling that district will flip next election.
Despite some annoying moments, I generally had a very good experience volunteering with Swing Left. And the results have been beyond satisfying.
Crossposted to https://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/2230375.html. Comment here or there.