It was a long night for California Republicans, who failed to win any statewide offices. However, the GOP did well in the drought-stricken Central Valley, with Doug Ose defeating freshman incumbent Rep. Ami Bera in the 7th congressional district; Johnny Tacherra upsetting incumbent Democrat Jim Costa in the 16th, and State Sen. Andy Vidak defending the seat he won earlier this year in a special election in a Democratic district.
The Central Valley, one of the nation’s most important agricultural regions, already leans Republican. In recent years, however, as water fights have intensified and as Democrats have weighed in on the side of environmental interests against farmers, Republicans have picked up support. The GOP’s control of the U.S. Senate means that Republicans may be able to overcome political opposition from Democrats, including California’s two Senators.
Republicans were still awaiting final results in the 26th congressional district, where Assemblyman Jeff Gorell trails freshman Democrat Rep. Julia Brownley by over 500 votes with 100% of percents reporting; and in the 52nd district, where Republican challenger Carl DeMaio leads incumbent freshman Democrat Scott Peters by a similar margin. Republican Paul Chabot lost narrowly to Democrat Pete Aguilar for the open 31st district seat.
Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the new ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.
Follow Joel on Twitter: @joelpollak
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