California’s Primary Election Day came and went, now what?

Good morning, and welcome to the post-Election Day edition of A.M. Alert!

ELECTION DAY CAME AND WENT, NOW WHAT?

That’s another California primary election in the books. Sort of. Ballots will still be trickling in and getting counted over the coming days and weeks. However, after Tuesday night we have a pretty good idea of who is going to be moving on to the November general election.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to coast to November’s election, with 56.6% of the vote as of early Wednesday morning. After squashing a recall in the fall of 2021, Newsom looks set to win a second term this fall, though he still has to beat Republican Sen. Brian Dahle, who has 16.7% of the vote thus far.

Let’s leave aside Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Treasurer Fiona Ma and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, all of whom sailed through the primary without a serious challenge.

Instead, let’s look at the race for attorney general, where Democrat Rob Bonta is fighting for a full term in office with 54.7% of the vote. As of early Wednesday morning, his most likely opponent will be Nathan Hochman, who has 18.4% of the vote, or Eric Early who has 16.7% of the vote. No Party Preference candidate and Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert fizzled, with just 7.5% of the vote.

The free-for-all race for state controller looks to be narrowing down to a contest between Republican Lanhee Chen (36.8%) and Democrat Malia Cohen (21.3%) this fall.

Meanwhile, incumbent Democratic Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is a lock for the November general with 37.1% of the vote so far, while Republican challenger Robert Howell has 17.6%. Interestingly, Democratic Assemblyman Marc Levine looks to be shut out of the November general, with 16.9% of the vote so far.

Finally, Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla handily won the two races he is in, one to finish Vice President Kamala Harris’ last term and one to win a full term for himself. Padilla had 54.6% of the vote for the partial term and 53.7% for the full term. Republican Mark Meuser came a distant second in both races, with 21.4% and 14.2%, respectively.

Now let’s look at some of the high-profile Congressional and legislative races we’ve been watching:

• In Congressional District 3, Democrat Kermit Jones leads with 39.4% of the vote. He is set to face off against Donald Trump-endorsed Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who beat out Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones with 36.5% of the vote.
• In Congressional District 9, endangered Democratic incumbent Josh Harder is sitting at 36.5% of the vote. His Republican challenger, Tom Patti, has 28.9%.
  
  
• In Congressional District 22, Democratic Assemblyman Rudy Salas ran away with the vote, claiming 48.3% thus far. It looks like Republican incumbent David Valadao, who earned 25.6%, is in for a fight this November.
  
  
• In Congressional District 42, we won’t be seeing a Garcia vs. Garcia matchup after all. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, who earned 44.7% of the vote, looks set to face Republican John Briscoe, who has 28.6% of the vote. Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia is currently sitting at 12.7%.
• In Senate District 8, the hotly contested race between Democrats Dave Jones and Angelique Ashby looks set to continue to the November general, after Jones claimed 45.8% of the vote and Ashby got 42.1%.
• In Senate District 20, Daniel Hertzberg, the son of outgoing Sen. Bob Hertzberg, looks to be going to the November general, winning 31.8% of the vote thus far. He looks likely to be facing off with Republican Ely De La Cruz Ayao, who earned 29.5% of the vote.
• In Assembly District 7, Democratic Assemblyman Ken Cooley, sitting at 54.6% of the vote, looks set to face Kevin Kiley staffer Josh Hoover, who picked up 29.4% of the vote.
  
  
• In Assembly District 10, it’s officially a tight race, as Democrat Stephanie Nguyen has 33.4% of the vote, while Democrat Eric Guerra has 26.8% and Republican Eric Rigard has 26.7%.
• In Assembly District 34, Republican Assemblymen Tom Lackey and Thurston “Smitty” Smith are likely to advance to the November general, with Lackey claiming 30.1% of the vote and Smith claiming 29.3%. However, Democratic challenger Rita Ramirez Dean is hot on their heels with 28.1%.
• In Assembly District 73, Democratic Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, 54.3%, is poised to square off against Republican Assemblyman Steven Choi, 45.7%, this November.
• In Assembly District 75, Republican Assemblywoman Marie Waldron has claimed 62.6% of the vote thus far, while Republican Assemblyman Randy Voepel has 37.4%.

Now it’s on to the November general, where the top-two vote-getters will face off.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This guy just gave me a bill idea: Offering Drag Queen 101 as part of the K-12 curriculum. Attending Drag Queen Story Time will satisfy the requirement.”

— Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in response to a Texas lawmaker who announced plans to file legislation criminalizing bringing children to drag shows, via Twitter.