California voters played a key role in the Blue Tsunami that swept the Democrats into a widening majority to control the U.S. House of Representatives.
Early returns showed that Democrats would flip five seats currently held by California Republicans after voters approved Proposition 50 last year, which redrew the five districts to favor Democrats to counter pro-Republican gerrymandering in Texas.
A handful of races featured progressive challengers seeking to oust longtime incumbents who could push the party to the left if they are successful.
In the 22nd District, leaders of both parties had anticipated that it would be the state's most hotly contested race featuring 12-year Republican incumbent Rep. David Valadao of Hanford, a dairy farmer and perpetual target for national Democrats, and political newcomer Randy Villegas, a political science professor.
Villegas, who was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defied conventional political wisdom, heading to a nearly 2-to-1 victory in the historically conservative, agriculture-heavy Central Valley. Villegas supports Medicare for All and universal child care, and he also called to suspend federal taxes on gasoline and diesel.
Valadao, the lone remaining Republican who voted to impeach President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 riots, was seeking his seventh term.
Further south in San Diego and Riverside counties, two local elected officials — Marni von Wilpert, a Democratic San Diego City Council, and Republican San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond — vied to fill the 48th District seat of Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who chose to retire rather than seek reelection in a redrawn district.
Von Wilpert and Desmond ran traditionally centrist campaigns that harkened to pre-Trump politics. Von Wilpert eschewed the insurgent progressive left and instead campaigned with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Desmond worked overtime to distance himself from Trump and the president’s MAGA rhetoric, despite receiving Trump’s endorsement.
Early returns showed von Wilpert with an insurmountable lead over Desmond, while internal and external polls had predicted a much closer race.
Several California races feature two Democrats because of the state’s top-two primary election system.
Among the most-watched was the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed Connie Chan, a San Francisco supervisor. Chan, a Chinese immigrant from Taiwan, is known for opposing urban development that could displace tenants or disrupt a neighborhood’s character. Her opponent, Sen. Scott Wiener, has been a prolific legislator who has authored several laws to expedite housing production and secure competitive wages on state-subsidized projects.
In the Sacramento area, an intergenerational “battle of the ages” matched Rep. Doris Matsui, 82, against Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, 41. Matsui had a massive financial advantage and loaned her campaign $4 million since the primary. Vang showed political momentum as a young, insurgent progressive who is media savvy and able to directly engage with supporters via TikTok and Instagram.
And in Los Angeles, incumbent Rep. Jimmy Gomez lost to Democratic Socialist Angela Gonzales-Torres. Gomez won the June primary by double digits but bled support amid a House ethics investigation into allegations of sexual assault, which he denied. The last poll before Election Day showed Gonzales-Torres leading 51% to Gomez’s 45%, but Gonzales-Torres won pulling away, leading by nearly 57% to 43% in early returns.
Three incumbent Republican or former Republican lawmakers lost their jobs in the wake of Prop. 50.
Gerrymandering drastically reshaped Rep. Ken Calvert’s 41st District, but rather than retire, he chose to challenge his Republican colleague Kim. Both scrambled to “out-Trump” the other in the primary election but Kim later returned to a more centrist, fiscally conservative approach.
Rep. James Gallagher, who succeeded the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa in representing the rural north state in the 1st Congressional District, was defeated by former Senate President ProTem Mike McGuire, a Democrat. The district was redrawn to remove several conservative and rural areas near the Oregon-California border.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the Republican Party earlier this year, sought reelection in the 6th Congressional District rather than his former 3rd District, which was significantly reshaped to favor Democrats. He was defeated by Dr. Richard Pan, a physician and former Democratic state senator running as an anti-Make America Healthy Again candidate. Kiley had hoped to pull votes from Republicans, independents and moderate Democrats.
Maya C. Miller is a reporter with CalMatters. San Jose Inside contributed to this report.
