The United States may have zigged right in Tuesday’s election but the People’s Republic of California zagged left. While most Americans determined that they’d had enough runaway spending, deficits and job-killing regulations, Californians concluded that they were quite comfortable in the smothering embrace of big government.
Let’s survey the damage. Sen. Barbara Boxer, one of the nation’s most liberal senators, defeated Carly Fiorina by more than nine percentage points, and Republican gains in the massive congressional delegation were held to one seat. More importantly for governance in the Golden State, Jerry Brown captured the Governor’s office, dispatching Meg Whitman by a 13% margin. Bucking the national tide at the statehouse level, Democrats bolstered their margin in the state assembly.
