California Republicans Hope to Gain Several State Legislature Seats in Nail-Biter Races

California Republicans are hopeful they can gain four new seats in the state Legislature—one in the Senate and three in the Assembly—but the races are currently too close to call.

Riverside County

Republican Soo Yoo is leading incumbent Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva in Assembly District 67 in Riverside County by only two votes, according to preliminary Nov. 8 midterm election results.

The latest unofficial results show both Yoo and Quirk-Silva with 50.0 percent of the vote. Yoo has so far received 34,016 votes over Quirk-Silva’s 34,014, as of the afternoon of Nov. 10.

Quirk-Silva raised about $690,000 in campaign donations as of Oct. 22, while Yoo raised approximately $350,000.

Sacramento County

Republican Josh Hoover and incumbent Democrat Ken Cooley are also in a close race for California Assembly District 7 in Sacramento County.

Cooley is leading with 50.3 percent of the vote over Hoover with 49.7 percent. Cooley has so far received 25,968 votes over Hoover’s 25,625, with a difference of only 343 votes.

“In the two updates since the first drop we have gained about 3,000 votes, and so we fully expect to pass Ken Cooley sometime in the next week or so,” Hoover told The Epoch Times on Nov. 9. “I think our team ran a fantastic campaign. We stayed focused on the messages that we believe Californians and our community cares about, and I think we’re going to win because of that.”

As of Oct. 22, Cooley raised about $3.6 million in campaign contributions, while Hoover brought in approximately $920,000.

Hoover said considering Cooley’s campaign far outspent his own, the tight race and potential to unseat an incumbent Democrat like Cooley “sends a very strong message to the rest of the state.”

San Diego County

In Assembly District 76 in north San Diego County, Republican Kristie Bruce-Lane is leading her Democrat opponent Brian Maienschein with 50.4 percent of the vote over his 49.6 percent. Currently Bruce-Lane has 42,418 votes over Maienschein’s 41,803.

Bruce-Lane raised about $600,000 in campaign funds compared to Maienschein’s $1.4 million.

Meanwhile, Matt Gunderson, a Republican, is locked in a close race with Democrat Catherine Blakespear for a seat in the state Senate for District 38 in San Diego County.

Blakespear is leading with 50.3 percent of the vote over Gunderson with 49.7 percent. Blakespear has received 108,548 votes over Gunderson’s 107,358.

Gunderson raised approximately $2.2 million in campaign contributions as of Oct. 22, while Blakespear brought in about $3.7 million.

Super-Minority Remains

However, even if Republicans make these gains in the state Legislature, it may not be enough to overcome their super-minority status at the state level.

Before the election, there were nine Republicans out of 40 seats in the state Senate, along with 19 out of 80 in the Assembly. Republicans would need at least one-third of each chamber to be able to veto certain measures requiring a two-thirds majority, such as new taxes.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has until Dec. 16 to certify official election results.

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Brad Jones is an award-winning journalist based in Southern California.

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