It Was A Blue Wave After All In California

LOS ANGELES, CA — With California beset by catastrophe and tragedy, the week-old midterm election seems like a distant memory. But ballots are still being tallied, and the landscape continues to shift — against Republicans.

By Thursday, two more GOP incumbents lost their seats, and another is on the ropes. So far, Democratic challengers have unseated three Republican congressmen in California. Also this week, the Democrats took the lead for the first time in Orange County’s 45th District held by Republican Mimi Walters. That race remained too close to call as of Wednesday. The 45th is one of two Orange County districts possibly facing a party upset. In the end, Democrats may end up flipping anywhere from four to six seats statewide.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press called the Modesto area’s 10th District race for Democratic challenger Josh Harder. Late mail-in and provisional ballots turned the race for Harder. On election night, he trailed Republican Congressman Jeff Denham by roughly 1,300 votes.

In coastal Orange County’s 48th District, the final race results won’t be certified until December, but Democrat Harley Rouda declared victory Saturday in his bid to unseat 15-term incumbent Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. Most major media outlets followed suit, but Rohrabacher refuses to concede until the final vote is tallied.

"There are still more than 300,000 ballots remaining to count. Our volunteer observers are at the Registrar of voters observing that process. We will have additional comment once the count is complete," Dale Neugebauer, spokesman for the Rohrabacher re-election campaign said over the weekend.

He has good reason to dig in his heels. Considered the most "pro-Russia representative" in Congress, Rohrabacher was warned by the FBI that Russian intelligence officers were working to cultivate him as an asset in 2014. He’s tied to players involved in the infamous Trump Tower meeting and to Wikileaks. With Democrats taking the helm in the House of Representatives, Rohrabacher can expect to be tangled up in House investigations into Russian election interference.

Rouda’s already celebrating his victory, however.

"Since Nov. 6th, my lead over Dana Rohrabacher has increased with every passing day," Rouda said in a statement issued Saturday morning. "As of this morning, my campaign is ahead by 7,328 votes. After careful consideration of the data provided by the fantastic team at the Orange County Registrar of Voters, my staff and I are now confident that we have won the Congressional race in California's 48th District. This victory has been powered by voters across the political spectrum, hailing from all corners, and all communities, of the 48th District.”

It’s been a bad week for Orange County’s Walters, as well. She started the week in the lead, but by Wednesday, the Republican incumbent was 3,797 votes behind Democratic challenger Katie Porter. Porter is ahead 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent for Walters.

Yet another seat in Orange County that seemed to be a Republican victory on election night is now in danger of flipping as more votes are tallied.

In retiring Rep. Ed Royce’s 39th Congressional District, Democratic congressional candidate Gil Cisneros is cutting into the lead of Republican Young Kim.

By Wednesday, Cisneros trailed Kim by 122 votes. He was down by nearly 4,000 votes on election night.

Kim was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for orientation for newly elected House members and posed in a group photo. Cisneros remained in the district to monitor vote counting.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo: Shutterstock