California Republicans turned in a strong and largely overlooked performance on Super Tuesday, improving their position to take back many of the House seats they lost in 2018.
Millions of late-arriving ballots have still not been counted from Tuesday’s election, but Republicans so far have combined for a majority in six of the seven districts they lost in an embarrassing 2018 midterm that ultimately cost them control of the House of Representatives. Republicans have strong leads in two of those districts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“California is a blue state, but parts of it are purple,” a Sonoma State University political science professor said. “It will be a difficult road for the Democrats to run the table again this year.”
He added that a good night for Democrats in the fall would be holding on to four of those seats.
“On Tuesday night, the waters of the blue wave began to recede … and Republicans showed that we will take back Orange County,” Fred Whitaker, chairman of the county GOP, said in response to the results trickling in. “The pathway to restoring the House of Representatives is through Orange County.”
There was only one statewide measure for California voters to weigh in on Tuesday, which means that the main draw was the Democratic presidential primary that Republicans weren’t allowed to vote in. Rather than stay home, Republican voters turned out and put their candidates ahead or within striking distances in nine key House races.
“It’s official,” NOQ Report’s J.D. Rucker wrote this week. “The House is up for grabs. There are nine seats held by Democrats in trouble in radical progressive California while all of the Republican seats are safe. Nancy Pelosi’s days with the gavel appear to be limited. Again.”
Former GOP Rep. David Valadao was one of the many Republicans who had a strong night, winning the majority of votes in California’s 21st District against his incumbent opponent.
Another Republican, businesswoman Young Kim, also performed well in her Orange County, California, race.
“Early returns showed some GOP successes in Orange County, where Republican Young Kim was the top vote-getter, setting up a rematch with Democratic U.S. Rep. Gil Cisneros,” the Associated Press reported.
Republicans do still have some roadblocks to overcome in their quest to flip back the House seats they lost in the last midterm cycle, according to Breitbart News’ Joel Pollak.
California is notorious for taking a long time to finalize election counts, partially because ballots are permitted to be sent in by mail as late as Election Day.
On top of that, Democratic turnout methods are much stronger during general elections. Republicans were optimistic heading into the 2018 midterms only to have those hopes dashed for several different reasons, one of those being the controversial voting method of “ballot harvesting.”
Several Republicans who had good nights took to social media to thank their supporters and express optimism about victory in November.
“To everyone who knocked, called, volunteered, supported, or cheered us on along the way — we couldn’t have done any of this without your help,” Republican Michelle Steel tweeted about her race in California’s 48th District. “You are the reason we won, and you are the reason we’ll win again in November. #CA48 #StandWithSteel”
To everyone who knocked, called, volunteered, supported, or cheered us on along the way — we couldn’t have done any of this without your help. You are the reason we won, and you are the reason we’ll win again in November. #CA48 #StandWithSteel pic.twitter.com/TBBebSEDu7
— Michelle Steel (@MichelleSteelCA) March 4, 2020
“Hey Dr. Bera, @RepBera, based on tonight’s results, when would you like to debate the issues? I’m right here,” Republican Buzz Patterson, running to represent California’s 7th District, said to his Democrat opponent, Rep. Ami Bera.
Hey Dr. Bera, @RepBera, based on tonight’s results, when would you like to debate the issues? I’m right here.
— Buzz Patterson for Congress (CA-7) (@BuzzPatterson) March 4, 2020
Republican Darrell Issa, who is running to regain the seat he gave up in Congress, appears to be on track to continue his comeback bid in the fall against the Democrat who holds his old seat.
California’s “jungle primary” system dictates that the top two finishers in the primary, regardless of party, move on to face each other in the next round of voting.
