Will Health Issues Influence California Races And National Balance Of Power?
As voters head to the polls, news outlets examine the ways heath care played out in state election campaigns, and how California races may influence the big U.S. picture.
CBS San Francisco:
Where Candidates For Governor Stand On Taxes, Trump, Housing, Health Care
[Lt. Gov. Gavin] Newsom backed a California Nurses Association proposal this session to eliminate insurance companies and give everyone state-funded health coverage. It was blocked in the Assembly but it’s become a rallying cry and litmus test for many voters on the left. Newsom said he’s studying international models and promises to aggressively pursue something that would work in California to achieve “universal health care, regardless of pre-existing condition, ability to pay and immigration status.” [Republican businessman John] Cox is adamantly opposed to a government-run health care system, which he says would lead to long wait times, massive tax increases and a system controlled by health care lobbyists. He’s been less specific about what he’d change with California’s health care system but makes clear he opposes more government intervention and providing coverage to immigrants living in the country illegally. (11/4)
CNN:
The California Districts That Could Determine Control Of The House
In this tumultuous midterm cycle, California has billed itself as ground zero of the resistance -- the place where activists hoped their protests against President Donald Trump's agenda and nativist rhetoric would ripple into a blue wave that would flip the House. With congressional races tightening around the country, that premise will be tested on Tuesday, when Golden State voters cast the final ballots in seven congressional districts held by Republicans that Hillary Clinton won in 2016, which are key to Democrats' path to retaking the House. (Reston, 11/5)
NBC News:
Latinos Head To Polls In A Midterm Election That Has A Lot To Do With Them
Democrats from the start have made health care a central theme of campaigns, hammering Republicans on GOP votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. It’s an issue that hits many Latino households, who are the most uninsured racial and ethnic group in the country and who saw marked declines in the number of uninsured families under the Affordable Care Act. (Gamboa, 11/6)