Democratic incumbents seemed to have an edge in the primary elections on Tuesday. The voting trend was seen in almost all major seats up for grabs, including the Senate and governor’s office.
Mid-day patterns were initially worrisome for Democratic candidates as the voter turnout in California was low. Nearly an hour into counting, the state had reported roughly three million votes. California is the most populous state in the US, with a population of nearly 40 million.
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The incumbent show
California governor Gavin Newsom won the Democratic primary for the upcoming general elections. He secured more than 60% of the votes on Tuesday, which translates to 1,710,625.
Newsom will now face Brain Dhale, a state lawmaker and a Republican, in the midterm polls. Dhale, who has majorly relied on his social media presence for votes, managed to secure 435,740 ballots in his favour.
Rob Bonta is another incumbent who comfortably won the Democratic primary in California for the Attorney General’s office. Nearly 16,21,880, or 58.3% votes, were cast in favour of Rob Bonta. His Republican opponent for general elections remains unclear.
Shirley Weber, a Democratic incumbent, got 63% of the votes just hours into the counting on Tuesday. She easily managed to fend off Rachel Hamm, who is part of an unusual pro-Trump coalition of candidates running for election posts across the country.
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In the US Senate race, Democratic incumbent Alex Padilla had an equally easy time advancing to a November runoff. He was appointed to the seat by Newsom last year after Kamala Harris resigned to become vice president.
Issues like high gas prices, homelessness and increasing crime rate were projected to be the biggest deciders of the primary elections. Despite the light voter turnout, Democrats are expected to maintain their stranglehold on state offices and in the US Congress.