After last week’s midterm elections, Republicans control just 38 miles of the 2,046-mile Pacific shoreline of the continental United States — a far cry from the halcyon days of former President Ronald Reagan when the GOP was a force to be reckoned with on the West Coast.
After two districts went Democratic blue in Southern California, only one strip of coast remains Republican red — an approximately 38-mile stretch of Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, where incumbent Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler defeated Democrat Carolyn Long.
Orange County, a longstanding Republican beachhead, went Democrat for the first time in 80 years when surfing congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a 30-year incumbent and staunch ally of President Trump, was declared the loser in his 48th District House race against Democrat Harley Rouda.
The GOP also lost the 49th District after Rep. Darrell Issa decided not to seek re-election and the Republican who sought to replace him, Diane Harkey, lost to Mike Levin — another historically Republican stronghold swept away by the so-called “blue wave” in a brutal rebuke to Trump.
It may not be long before Republicans lose the entire West Coast as Herrera Beutler’s grip on power slips. As Ballotopedia notes, Beutler was first elected in 2010, and in the three following biennial elections won at least 60 percent of the vote. In 2018, she dropped to 52.9 percent to Long’s 47.1 percent.
Democrats win their 229th seat in CA-10. Seven remain to be decided https://t.co/fEyb8gFXPt pic.twitter.com/sGP9apg7zS
— 270toWin (@270toWin) November 14, 2018
Other, interior parts of West Coast states went to the Democrats — most recently on Tuesday. Four-term Republican Rep. Jeff Denham was defeated by first-time candidate Josh Harder in California’s farm belt, the Associated Press declared.
The East Coast remains more checkered, with blue and red districts lining the coast, though the north remains solidly blue. One state in particular — New Jersey — is bleeding a deeper blue that usual.
The shift was solidified Wednesday when two-term Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur lost to political neophyte Andy Kim. Only one Republican congressman — Rep. Chris Smith — will represent New Jersey in the 116th Congress.
Of the 435 congressional districts, Democrats will have at least 230 in their control to the GOP’s 198. The margin could grow, as a handful of contests remain uncalled.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the length of the U.S. continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
