For a state that’s home to Hollywood, there isn’t much star power in California’s gubernatorial race. It’s a somewhat different story in Los Angeles, where a reality television personality is running for mayor as the city prepares to host the Olympics.
More primaries are being held on Tuesday as well. Democrats are banking on a rare chance to regain ground in Iowa, a rural state that has repeatedly eluded them in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, are grappling with a New Jersey congressman whose unexplained absence could put their already slim majority at risk.
— California: Voters weighed in on who should lead the nation’s most populous state, where there is no clear leader among candidates vying to advance in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Plus, U.S. House races are on the ballot, along with the Los Angeles mayor’s race.
— New Mexico: Contests in the state include primaries for congressional seats, a U.S. Senate seat and a long list of statewide offices, but the governor’s race is the main attraction. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, putting her on a historic path for Native American leaders.
— New Jersey: One of this year’s most closely watched House midterms will take place in the battleground district represented by Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has drawn public scrutiny and concern after missing more than 100 House votes due to an undisclosed medical issue. Democratic voters selected Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, to take him on this fall.
— Read more about races in Iowa, Montana and South Dakota.
AP has not called any candidate to advance in California governor’s race or second candidate for LA mayor
Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra were the leading candidates in the race for governor, with Democrat Tom Steyer running slightly further back.
In the mayor’s race, incumbent Karen Bass has advanced to a runoff election, but AP has not yet called a second candidate to advance.
California has a history of substantial vote updates after election day that can sometimes shift the outcome of elections as late-arriving mail and drop-off votes are counted.
Both parties have led California
California has been considered a Democratic stronghold in recent years, but this wasn’t always the case. The state has had more Republican governors than Democratic ones in the last 60 years, the most recent being actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who held the office from 2003 to 2011.
‘I hope she’s ready,’ Spencer Pratt says of LA Mayor Karen Bass
“We can do debates every Friday if she would like,” Pratt told a group of reporters under the flash of cameras in his first remarks after results started rolling in.
“I got in this because I felt like my city failed myself, my neighbors,” he continued, painting a dark image of the current state of Los Angeles and sharing what he wants to fix, including to “help those homeless people.”
Pratt argued that he has Democratic as well as Republican supporters, boiling his campaign down to a single line: “I’m an Angeleno who said enough is enough, and I had to step up.”
“I’m going to show everybody that I’m their mayor,” he said, clearly enthused, before wrapping his remarks.
LA Mayor Karen Bass advances to a runoff in her bid for reelection
After a shaky first term marked by the most destructive wildfire in city history, the Democrat qualified for the November runoff.
Bass has acknowledged that her time in office has been bumpy but pointed to reductions in homelessness and a historically low homicide rate in the nation’s second-most populous city.
She is a former member of Congress and the first Black woman to serve as mayor.
Nithya Raman says her vision for LA ‘threatens some very powerful forces’
Addressing supporters, Raman thanked backers for sustaining her positive outlook on how the city should be run. She decried “the City Hall insiders, the corporations who have spent years making sure City Hall worked for them and not for the people.”
A former ally of Mayor Karen Bass, the progressive Raman was elected to City Council with support from the Democratic Socialists of America. A Democrat, she’s campaigned on promises to reduce inequality, revive the slumping entertainment industry and build more housing.
LA Mayor Karen Bass thanks supporters, predicts winning a second term
Bass thanked supporters for having faith in her after a tough first term and predicted she will win in November.
“I love you. I appreciate you. I appreciate you for believing in me,” she said.
Bass, a Democrat, is facing challengers from both ends of the political spectrum.
Bass told supporters she’d devoted her life to serving the city and “I’m going to continue to do that all the way to victory in November.”
