Republican election wave touches even shores of blue California

Reuters

Published Nov 05, 2014 04:30PM ET

Updated Nov 05, 2014 04:40PM ET

Republican election wave touches even shores of blue California

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Republicans who rode a wave of voter anger to extend their political reach in Congress and in governors' mansions have made modest gains in a decidedly blue state where they had taken a drubbing in recent years - California.

While California Democrats again swept the board in statewide offices, including a decisive re-election victory by popular Governor Jerry Brown, the party failed to regain two-thirds super-majorities in both houses of the state legislature.

Democrats secured those super-majorities in 2012, which along with the governorship gave them the power to enact some laws, including tax hikes, without having to work with Republicans.

They lost that crucial edge when three Democratic state senators were charged in criminal cases.

"This time, the wave did not stop at the Arizona border, it came across to California," said Allen Hoffenblum, publisher of the respected Target Book which handicaps California political races.

"Where Republicans were strong in the past they were stronger last night, and where (they) have not been competitive in the past they were competitive," he said.

In the state Assembly, Democrats were expected to hold onto 52 of the 80 seats following the election, two short of the 54 they needed for a super-majority. In the state Senate, they were on track to retain 25 of the 40 seats, also two shy of a super-majority.

Adding to Democratic woes, Republicans were also leading in two races for California seats in the U.S. House of Representatives that Democrats regained two years ago, although the votes remained too close to call on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, in the California legislature, Democrats were left regrouping and looking toward 2016, their next shot at regaining a super-majority in the state legislature. To have done so on Tuesday, they needed to win only one of three seats considered contested but were unable to do so.

Two of the Republicans elected to the state Senate were considered moderates, staking out pro-choice and pro-gay marriage positions in districts where more conservative candidates would likely have been soundly defeated.Hoffenblum said turnout also told much of the story in California, with Republicans better able to motivate their base even as many disenchanted voters chose to stay home.