Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Candidates Make Final Appeals to California's Lopsided Electorate
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
November 6, 2018

Share

LOS ANGELES — Thousands of volunteers knocked on doors and dialed phones Monday while candidates across California made their final arguments to voters in an election where Democrats look to keep their stranglehold on state offices and add to their advantage in the 53-seat congressional delegation.

Polls will be open statewide from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, and early voters must have their ballots postmarked by Tuesday to have them counted. The secretary of state’s office says 19.7 million people are registered to vote.

Democrats have chased Republicans from many California offices and are poised to hold that ground and perhaps gain more.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is the strong favorite over Republican businessman John Cox to succeed Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. For the second consecutive general election, there isn’t even a Republican on the ballot for U.S. Senate. This time, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has coasted against Democratic state Sen. Kevin de Leon.

State Senate Supermajority on Horizon?

In the Legislature, the question isn’t whether Democrats will control the Assembly and Senate again — no one doubts that. It’s whether Democrats get a veto-proof supermajority in the state Senate to add to their supermajority in the Assembly.

The status would allow them to raise taxes, suspend legislative rules and override vetoes without needing GOP votes.

Republicans hold just 14 congressional seats statewide, but seven of those districts were carried by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and are battlegrounds this time around. Democrats don’t appear in danger in any of the 39 districts they hold.

Era of One Party State

The trajectory of the election appears headed toward “the era of being a one-party state and the interesting internal conflicts that come with that,” University of California, San Diego political scientist Thad Kousser said Monday.

He pointed out that the drama in the governor’s race this year was during the primary between Newsom and fellow Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, with Cox seen as a longshot from the start.

“What happens when you have one-party states? What you see is these fights within parties,” Kousser said.

In San Francisco, Feinstein dropped off her ballot at City Hall, where the 85-year-old Democrat urged residents to vote.

“Of course, I hope more Democrats vote than Republicans, but in any event, everyone should vote,” she said.

California’s Generational Shift

Democrats hold a 3.7 million edge in voter registrations, and Republicans are also outnumbered by independents, who in California tend to vote like Democrats.

Of 1.4 million new registrations this year, only 187,000 signed up as Republicans, or roughly 14 percent, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan research firm Political Data Inc. The largest group of new voters signed up as independents.

Just a generation ago, California was a reliably Republican state in presidential contests. But a surge in immigrants transformed the state and its voting patterns. The number of Hispanics, blacks and Asians combined has outnumbered whites in the state since 1998. New voters, largely Latinos and Asians, lean Democratic.

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

DON'T MISS

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

DON'T MISS

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

DON'T MISS

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

DON'T MISS

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

DON'T MISS

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

DON'T MISS

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

DON'T MISS

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

UP NEXT

Musk’s Straight-Arm Gesture Embraced by Right-Wing Extremists

UP NEXT

As Trump Declares Border Emergency, CA’s Targeted Immigrants Lie Low

UP NEXT

Dangerous Winds Return to Southern California as New Wildfires Break Out

UP NEXT

Trump’s Executive Orders: Reversing Biden’s Policies

UP NEXT

Gusty Winds, Extreme Fire Weather Return to Southern California

UP NEXT

Trump Wants to Deport Immigrants Accused of Crimes. CA Sheriffs Could Make It Easy

UP NEXT

Trump Returns to Power After Unprecedented Comeback, Emboldened to Reshape US

UP NEXT

Trump to Release Records on the Assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King

UP NEXT

Governor Newsom Negotiates Mortgage Relief for LA Firestorm Victims

UP NEXT

Homes Were Burning and Roads Already Jammed When Pacific Palisades Evacuation Order Came, AP Finds

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

6 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

6 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

6 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

6 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

6 hours ago

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

7 hours ago

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

7 hours ago

Much of the Damage from the LA Fires Could Have Been Averted

9 hours ago

CA Sued the Tar Out of Trump the First Time Around. How Did It Do?

9 hours ago

Israel’s Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures, Adding to Pressure on Netanyahu

10 hours ago

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on pai...

3 hours ago

President Donald Trump signs an executive order as he attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)
3 hours ago

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

Ichiro Suzuki in Yankee Pinstripes
5 hours ago

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

People walk past the 1900 Storm memorial sculpture on Seawall Blvd. during an icy winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
5 hours ago

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

The five turbines of Block Island Wind Farm operate, Dec. 7, 2023, off the coast of Block Island, R.I., during a tour organized by Orsted. (AP File)
6 hours ago

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

Photo of Mexican Oxy, fentanyl laced blue pills
6 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

President Donald Trump talks about the Endurance all-electric pickup truck, made in Lordstown, Ohio, at the White House, Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP File)
6 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

A Border Patrol truck rides along the border wall in Sunland Park, N.M., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP/Andres Leighton)
6 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

Police are investigating after a man was found shot near a Visalia shopping center and transported to Kaweah Health.
6 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend