2020 Election Update; Democrats Could Have Historic Gains

The 2020 California legislative elections resulted in the Democrats in both the Assembly and Senate retaining their supermajority giving them the two-thirds voting threshold, which allows them to pass most legislation without Republicans. Democrats are currently awaiting final election results in two races that, if won, could mean historic gains in the state Senate which would increase their supermajority. Senate Democrats picked up two seats that had been held by Republicans. If they prevail in one additional race, the party will have 32 of the 40 seats in the upper house, which would be the most Democrats in the state Senate since 1883.

The first seat was won by former state Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), who is the projected winner over Senator Ling Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar) for Senate District 29, which encompasses parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties and was a high priority for the Senate Democrats. Newman won the seat in 2016 by narrowly defeating Diamond Bar Republican Ling Ling Chang. Newman was unseated in his freshman term in a 2018 recall campaign led by Republicans that upended Democrats’ supermajority based on his vote in favor of a gas tax in 2018. Senator Chang replaced Newman in a special election in 2018.

The second seat is in Orange County’s Senate District 37, where Irvine law professor Dave Min, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican state Senator John Moorlach. The district was solidly Republican when Moorlach won in 2015, but voter registrations have since leaned toward Democrats, with a large bloc of voters registered as having no party preference.

Senate Democrats also focused on ensuring their caucus did not lose the Central Valley seat in Senate District Five, where Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D–Stockton) has also termed out. In that race, Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) defeated former Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour, a Republican.

Republicans are leading Democrats in two other close Senate races. In Senate District 21, located in parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, incumbent state Senator Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) was holding a slight lead over Democrat Kipp Mueller. And in nearby Senate District 23, Yucaipa Republican Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh leads San Bernardino Democrat Abigail Medina. Sen. Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga) holds the seat but is being forced out by term limits.

In the Assembly, Democrats held 61 of the 80 seats going into the election. Democrats lost one seat previously held by Christy Smith of Santa Clarita, who is running to represent the 25th congressional district. Two Republicans finished in the top two spots during the primary, ensuring Democrats could not regain the district. Suzette Martinez Valladares defeated Lucie Lapointe Volotzky in that race.

Democrats are also closely watching Assembly District 74, where incumbent Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach) narrowly leads Newport Beach Republican Diane Dixon. Assemblyman Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage), who dropped his Republican Party affiliation last year, defeated Republican San Jacinto Mayor Andrew Kotyuk. Mayes becomes the first person elected to the Legislature without a party affiliation since Senator Quentin Kopp was reelected in 1994.

In San Jose, 25-year-old Alex Lee, a Democrat, will be the youngest state legislator to assume office in more than 80 years. Lee defeated Republican Bob Brunton for Assembly District 25, which encompasses San Jose, Santa Clara and Fremont. The seat was previously Democrat Kansen Chu who left to run for Santa Clara County supervisor.

The outstanding vote count released by the California Secretary of State’s office on November 18 showed roughly 350,000 ballots were still being counted. It typically takes weeks for counties to process and count all of the ballots. Elections officials have approximately one month to complete their extensive tallying, auditing, and certification work. The Secretary of State has until December 11, 2020, to certify the results of the election.

 Written by Trudi Hughes, CLFP  Government Affairs Director