California GOP flips second state legislative seat, 3 weeks after election

(The Center Square) - California Republicans flipped a second seat in the state legislature, nearly three weeks after the general election. Republicans noted the party had not flipped a State Senate seat during a presidential election since 1980.

President-elect Trump has won 38.2% of votes counted thus far in California, more than Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, in 2012, and former senator John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008, but less than former president George W. Bush in 2004, who won 44.4% of the votes in California.

Steven Choi, a former Republican member of the State Senate, narrowly pulled out a victory in the Orange County district nearly three weeks after the general election.

The incumbent Democrat, State Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, lost a recall in 2018 due to backlash against a gas tax increase he voted for, won office elsewhere after redistricting in 2020, and introduced a measure to limit future recalls.

But California Democrats blame Newman’s loss on one of the state’s most powerful unions funding Choi to send a message regarding Newman’s quashing of a bill to add rights for the workers at the University of California system into the state constitution.

KCRA reports the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299, which represents approximately 30,000 workers across the ten-campus University of California system, independently spent $3.5 million opposing Newman and helping Choi.

According to Follow the Money, a project of Open Secrets, Newman raised a reported $7 million thus far on his 2024 election compared to a reported $564,193 thus far for Choi.

“Instead of spending time, effort and energy helping Democrats win congressional races, [AFSCME] supported a supporter of Donald Trump,” said Sen. President Pro Tem Mike McGuire to CalMatters. “They supported a pro-Trump Republican who is anti worker.”

AFSCME 3299 is a chapter of one of the most powerful, generally Democratic-aligned,unions in the state. Public sector unions are seen as the most powerful force in California politics.

While private sector unions veered heavily towards president-elect Trump in the 2020 election, public sector unions — outside unions for first-responders such as firefighters or police — generally supported Harris.

A rift between Democrats and traditionally very Democratic-friendly public sector unions in California — the most populous state in the nation and a political bedrock for the Democratic party could create a significant challenge for the party as it regroups after the 2024 election.

Three weeks after the election, many races are uncalled, as about 183,000 ballots remain to be processed, only about 5,300 of which were mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day.

Nearly two weeks ago, when 1.7 million ballots remained to be processed, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber told attendees of a virtual press conference that she and the state’s elections officials “take pride in the fact we are not rushed.”