California Voters Elect Brown, Other Democrats to Key Posts
On Tuesday, state Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) defeated former e-Bay CEO Meg Whitman (R) in the race to serve as California's next governor, the Los Angeles Times reports (Mehta/Mishak, Los Angeles Times, 11/3).
Brown's victory in California bucked a widespread trend as numerous Republican candidates gained political offices across the country.
Details of Brown's Election
Brown previously served as California's governor between 1975 and 1983. He will be the state's oldest governor (Chang, Sacramento Bee, 11/2).
In a speech Tuesday night, the governor-elect called for an end to the "polarization, hostility, division" that has defined state politics and said he plans to take as a challenge "a forging of a common purpose" (Marinucci et al., San Francisco Chronicle, 11/3). Â
Brown is expected to face numerous challenges when he takes office in January, including a growing budget deficit that could exceed the $19 billion gap California closed last month. Brown has said he does not plan to raise taxes without voter approval, meaning he might opt to cut spending on state services, Bloomberg reports.
Brown is required to unveil his first budget proposal seven days after his swearing in on Jan. 3 (Marois, Bloomberg, 11/3).
Congressional Races
Also on Tuesday, incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) claimed victory over Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, in the state's Senate race. Fiorina had called for repealing the federal health reform law, while Boxer said the overhaul would provide assistance for uninsured residents. Boxer's win puts her in office for a fourth term (Hotakainen, Sacramento Bee, 11/2).
Several other incumbent Congress members won elections in California. Out of the state's 53 races for U.S. House seats, 42 Republican and Democratic incumbents had secured another term as of late Tuesday night (Hindery, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/2).
Insurance Commissioner
Meanwhile, Assembly member Dave Jones (D- Sacramento) defeated Assembly member Mike Villines (R- Clovis) in the race for state insurance commissioner.
The insurance commissioner's office helps oversee rates that consumers pay for health insurance. The next commissioner also is expected to play a key role as California implements the federal health reform law (AP/Sacramento Bee, 11/3).
More Election Results
Additional results from Tuesday's election are provided below.
- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) defeated Lieutenant Gov. Abel Maldonado (R) for the position of lieutenant governor (Coté, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/3);
- Incumbent Bill Lockyer (D) won the race for state treasurer;
- Incumbent John Chiang (D) won the race for state controller;
- Proposition 19, which would have legalized recreational marijuana use, was defeated;
- Proposition 23, which would have suspended the state's pollution laws, was defeated; and
- Proposition 25, which allows the state Legislature to approve a budget with a simple majority vote, was approved (Los Angeles Times, 11/3).
Results in the attorney general race were too close to call. Early on Wednesday morning, Kamala Harris (D) had a slight lead over Steve Cooley (R) (Romney/Boxall, "PolitiCal," Los Angeles Times, 11/3).
Meanwhile, Democrats failed to come closer to achieving a two-thirds supermajority in the state Legislature, which would make it easier for the party to raise taxes. Democrats would need two more votes in the Senate and four in the Assembly for a supermajority (Thompson, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/2).
Additional Election Coverage
Headlines and links for additional coverage of California's election results are provided below.
- "Brown Defeats Whitman; Boxer Over Fiorina" (Howard, Capitol Weekly, 11/2).
- "California Rejects Marijuana Legalization" (Lacey, New York Times, 11/3).
- "Meg Whitman Failed To Seal the Deal, Analysts Say" (Marinucci/Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/3).
- "In California, Boxer Wins Senate Race, and Brown is Governor" (McKinley, New York Times, 11/3).
- "Brown Wins, Calls for 'Common Purpose' as Boxer Also Emerges Victorious" (Rogers et al., San Jose Mercury News, 11/2).
- "Calif. Voters Give Brown a Return Trip as Governor" (Williams, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/2).
- "Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer Claim Victories in California" (Willon, Los Angeles Times, 11/3).
- "With Democrats Ascendant, California Votes Contrarian" (Woo/Carlton, Wall Street Journal, 11/3).
- "Boxer Fends Off Fiorina in Hard-Fought Race" (Zapler, San Jose Mercury News, 11/2).