The Legislature
Leading into the general election, the California State Senate had 31 Democrats and 9 Republicans. The State Assembly had 60 Democrats, 19 Republicans, and 1 Independent. After the election, the Democratic supermajorities will remain. However, with at least thirty-three new members (not including flipped seats), a lot of institutional knowledge will be leaving with many outgoing legislators.
As of today, there are several state legislative races that are too close to call. For example, in Orange County, incumbent Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva is only a little over 800 votes ahead of her republican challenger Soo Yoo. As of this moment, it appears there will be 32 Democrats and 8 Republicans in the State Senate, and the Assembly may end up with 62 Democrats and 18 Republicans.
It is worth noting that in some legislative races where two Democrats faced off, the more moderate candidate appears to be winning. For months, media outlets predicted that a red wave would sweep across the country; in California it appears there was somewhat of a legislative moderate wave for in many races. This looks to be true especially in the middle of the State, stretching from Sacramento to Bakersfield.
As reported previously, there has been an ongoing battle for the Assembly Speakership, with Assemblyman Robert Rivas challenging Speaker Anthony Rendon. Yesterday, when the Assembly Democratic Caucus met, this battle took many twists and turns. In the end, the caucus agreed that Speaker Rendon will remain leader until the middle of next summer when Assemblyman Rivas takes over. Read more here.
Statewide Ballot Measures
It looks like the pollsters were right, no surprises here. Propositions 26 and 27 – the online gaming initiatives – were victims of mutual destruction and failed by large margins. Similarly, Proposition 29, the dialysis-related initiative, failed again. Proposition 30 – the Lyft sponsored tax on individuals with net income of two million – also failed. The last failure of the night was the referendum regarding reversing the ban on flavored tobacco products, Proposition 31. In contrast to the heavy failures, Proposition 1 – constitutionalizing reproductive rights and Proposition 28, which devotes funding of the arts in schools, passed.
Proposition 1, reproductive rights into the state constitution: 65.2% yes and 34.8% no.
Proposition 26, to legalize sports betting at tribal casinos: 29.9% yes and 70.1% no.
Proposition 27, to legalize online sports betting: 16.6% yes and 83.4% no.
Proposition 28, to give more money to arts and music K-12 education: 61.6% yes and 38.4% no.
Proposition 29, to regulate the dialysis industry: 30.1% yes and 69.9% no.
Proposition 30, new income tax for EVs and firefighting: 41.1% yes and 58.9% no.
Proposition 31, a referendum on banning the sale of flavored tobacco products: 62.4% yes and 37.6% no.
You can view full statewide results here: https://electionresults.sos.
Another Physician Joins the Legislature
Dr. Jasmeet Bains won her race for an Assembly seat in the Bakersfield area defeating Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez. Dr. Jasmeet Bains is a family doctor providing primary healthcare to families throughout the Central Valley and calls herself a champion for children, fighting to improve health outcomes for vulnerable communities while increasing opportunities for all who call the Cental Valley home. Dr. Bains ran for the Assembly to make an even bigger difference and address the challenges facing Central Valley families, from improving access to healthcare to building strong communities, expanding quality education and more. Congratulations Dr. Bains! Especially for CCPS members, you might want to connect with Dr. Bains through Linked In here.