California Election 2018: Live Updates

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Democrats have taken back the U.S House of Representatives and San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi promptly vowed to restore checks and balances on the Trump Administration. California's role in the blue wave was smaller than the polls and pundits expected. Ultimately, the Golden State flipped three districts, possibly unseating two longtime GOP Congressmen in the process, according to preliminary results.

As a new day dawned Wednesday, it appeared that a 15-term Orange County Congressman and Los Angeles' last Republican representative would be unseated by a pair of political newcomers.However, the races remain too close to call. In some of the state's most contested races, winners and losers were separated by just a few dozen or few hundred votes. According to preliminary counts, coastal Orange County's Rep. Dana Rohrabacher lost to Democratic challenger Harley Rouda by less than 2,000 votes. In Northern Los Angeles County, Congressman Steve Knight was unseated by Democrat Katie Hill, who defied the polls to squeak out a victory. The tallies have not been certified and neither incumbent has conceded the election. Mail-in ballots continue to be counted, and the race tallies could yet shift.

The statewide races, however, were over almost as soon as the polls closed. Sen. Dianne Feinstein sailed to reelection as expected, and Gavin Newsom handily beat Republican John Cox to become California's next governor. If his record holds true and if he sticks to his campaign promises, Newsom is likely to be the most liberal governor in California's modern era.

"Tonight, America's biggest state is making the biggest statement in America," he told supporters at an election night party in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times. "This in every way, shape and form is California's moment. The sun is rising in the West, and the arc of history is bending in our direction. This is not just a state of resistance. California is a state of results."

As polls closed in California, voter turnout was on pace to set records across much of the state. And without a single California vote counted, major news outlets already projected a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives. CNN, Fox News and NBC News all project a House takeover after East Coast Democrats flipped at least 13 of the 23 seats they will need to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Conversely, Republicans flipped two Democratic Senate seats, ensuring their continued control of the Senate.

"Tomorrow will be a new day in America," Rep. Nancy Pelosi told supporters in declaring victory Tuesday night. A Democratic Congress will restore checks and balances on the Trump administration while working to reduce the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs for average Americans, she pledged. She also vowed to reach across the aisle.

“We will have a responsibility to find our common ground where we can, and stand our ground where we can’t, but we must try,” added Pelosi.

The Democratic takeover of the House was aided by three congressional districts in California that appear to have flipped from red to blue. In the end, California helped deliver on the liberal fantasy of a full-throttled rebuke of the president by booting Republican incumbents out of office to help take control of the House of Representatives.

California voters by the millions headed to the polls Tuesday and passions ran deep in an election promising a level of voter participation not seen in decades. California seemed poised to play a big role with more competitive Congressional races than any other state on the morning of Election Day. But a nation on edge could be waiting days for final results to be certified in a handful of California races where razor-thin margins separate the victor.

Statewide 19.6 million Californians had registered as of the deadline, according to Secretary of State Alex Padilla's office. That's up by nearly 1.9 million voters compared with the numbers
for the 2014 gubernatorial election.

"It is nearly unprecedented for California to set a voter registration record in a midterm election,"

Padilla said.

The percentage of registered voters in the state is now 78 percent, the highest since 1950, according to Padilla.

With historically high turnout, voters and polling places across the state saw their share of problems Tuesday morning. At some urban polling locations, voters lined up outside the building and around the corner. About a dozen voters in Los Angeles County reported problems machine malfunctions and polling places that were understaffed.

In, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties elections officials said voter turnout was on pace to match or set midterm records.

"We are excited with the initial turnout," Joe Canciamilla, Contra Costa County clerk-recorder-registrar, said in a statement. "If we continue at this pace we should set a new record countywide."

In Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley predicted turnout might reach 68 percent, easily besting the 2010 midterm election that was a wave election for Republicans and saw a turnout of 55 percent.

In-person turnout at the polls Tuesday was "a bit flat" at 5 percent, Kelley said but absentee voters came out strong. The Registrar received about 50,000 ballots in the mail Tuesday, the largest for a mid-term on election day in the county's history.

As of Monday night, 390,000 mail-in ballots had been turned in, and early in-person turnout is "running about 130 percent ahead of the presidential election in 2016," Kelley said.

"For a midterm I've never seen it like this," he added. "We'd have to go back a long way to be close to that."

At a Garden Grove community center, a polling place volunteer gestured to a line of voters headed out the door. "It's been like this all day," she said. "It's so exciting to see."

About 165,000 Republicans turned in mail-in ballots and 128,000 Democrats turned in absentee ballots, Kelley said. About 92,000 no-party- preference voters have turned in ballots.

In Los Angeles, long lines were the norm at some polling places, and officials field complaints at multiple locations where voters reported minor glitches. In Santa Monica, some voters had to had to cast provisional ballots because poll workers did not have the official copy of the voter roll. In Pasadena, voters reported faulty machines at one precinct.

CHECK BACK HERE THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOR UPDATES FROM THE POLLS AND UP-TO-THE MINUTE ELECTION RESULTS.

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Regardless, it appeared to be a historic day for politics in California.

California voters sent more women to Washington than ever before. Orange County, the “cradle of California Conservatism,” turned purple. And Los Angeles County lost its lone Republican Congressman.

While voter turnout is high in California, it doesn’t appear to be the governor’s race nor the senate race that drove voters to the polls. Democrat Gavin Newsom had a 12-15 point lead in the polls over Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox. In the race for Senate, incumbent Dianne Feinstein held a 10-14 point lead over her fellow Democrat Kevin de Leon going into Election Day.

» Scroll down for links to all covered elections

Six of the most competitive Congressional races were in Southern California with four of them in Orange County where Democrats sought to take seats that either have never gone blue or have been held by Republicans for decades.

But on the day of the midterm election, polls for the generic ballot gave Democrats an edge by as much a 13 points, according to a poll released by CNN/SSRS.

“While it’s not a mystery that Democrats have an advantage, it matters a lot what that number looks like,” explained UC Berkeley Professor of Political Science Laura Stoker. “The generic ballot is a harbinger of things to come.”

Beyond the outcome, political experts are looking for signs of demographic shifts that may be reshaping the electorate. Some of the state’s most competitive districts are a microcosm of the nation’s shifting electorate.

“I wonder if there really is a permanent shift toward the Democratic Party in the electorate,” said Stoker. “There is reason to believe that is happening… The base of the Republican Party is actually shrinking.”

According to Stoker, youth voters began shifting left under George W. Bush and the gender gap has accelerated under Trump. These shifts may be defining factors in six House districts rated toss-ups or likely flips from Republican to Democrat in the state.

Four of those seats are in Orange County, and they include districts that have never gone Democratic before. Many had never even been competitive before this year. However, all of them voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016.

Chapman University Political Science Professor Fred Smoller said the new state of competition reflects a demographic and electorate shift that is speeding up under the polarizing president.

“Republican moderates are leaving the party because it’s now being taken over by the conservative right,” he said.

The president had taken the high-risk strategy of making the Congressional midterms about himself. The loss of the House could significantly weaken his agenda, opening him up to investigations launched by a Democratic-majority in the House of Representatives. In the final days of the campaign, he had gone all out with numerous rallies and campaign ads centered on a promise to end birthright citizenship enshrined in the Constitution and a focus on a caravan of immigrants headed to the United States from South America. Notably, he made no visits to California to rally with candidates he endorsed.

“The president is exciting his base, but it’s a smaller base,” said Smoller. "The president has really stepped on his own message. I think people are seeing through the argument that the caravan 950 miles away is a threat. People see the birthright citizenship issue as a political ploy.”

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Photo: LANCASTER, CA - NOVEMBER 04: Voters fill out their ballots at a polling place to participate in early voting in California's 25th Congressional district on November 4, 2018 in Lancaster, California. Republican incumbent Rep. Steve Knight (CA-25) is competing against Democratic congressional candidate Katie Hill for his seat in the district. Democrats are targeting at least six congressional seats in California, currently held by Republicans, where Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. These districts have become the centerpiece of their strategy to flip the House and represent nearly one-third of the 23 seats needed for the Democrats to take control of the chamber in the November 6 mid term elections. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images). City News Service and Bay City News contributed to this report.