Editorial: California’s election results require patience. That’s a good thing.
Last Tuesday, Californians voted to determine which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives.
This state once had more than enough votes to give all three major parties full control of the House and Senate. But last November’s election was not about which candidate had the best chances of winning, it was about which candidate had the best chances of winning in the first district.
A dozen districts are so competitive that, barring major upsets, no party will be able to win all 12 by the end of 2023.
If this remains the situation for the foreseeable future, there is one party that can realistically win all the districts that will be contested every 20 years. It is the party of California.
Last Tuesday, the three major parties agreed to agree to disagree. With the vote, voters elected the Democrats to take control of California’s state government in the House of Representatives.
The Democrats have been able to do this because turnout in California is higher than in many other states. The California State Public Interest Environmental Law Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy group, is the only organization that has consistently been able to show the relationship between vote turnout and a voter’s party affiliation. The center reported that in 2016, in districts where all three major-party candidates were vying to represent the district’s voters, Democratic turnout was 70 percent higher than Republican turnout.
The Democratic Party can win California’s 17th Congressional District, the 36th Congressional District, the 43rd Congressional District, the 48th Congressional District, the 53rd Congressional District, the 53rd Congressional District, the 56th Congressional District, the 57th Congressional District, the 60th Congressional District, the 69th Congressional District, the 71st Congressional District, the 72nd Congressional District, the 74th Congressional District, the 75th Congressional District and the 79th Congressional District.
The Democrats can also win California’s 21st Congressional District, the 35th Congressional District and the 49th Congressional District.
The same cannot be said for the Republicans.
According to a recent analysis by the Public Interest Environmental Law Center, the Republican vote share in California’s 17th Congressional District was just 34 percent in 2016
