Tuesday’s elections saw results that left pundits and party leaders everywhere scratching their heads, as the national mood delivered unimpressive results in both directions despite much hype by political prognosticators. With Democrats overperforming in the Midwest and rural areas and Republicans exceeding expectations in ancestrally conservative suburban areas in places like the Northeast, many are surprised by the fallout of Tuesday night. But what does that mean locally, for us in the Lost Sierra? All results are preliminary at the moment in California, with it being potentially over a week until we know in some major races, but the The Mountain Messenger will issue any corrections needed in the next edition.

Statewide

Gavin Newsom (D-San Francisco), unsurprisingly, won re-election, though his opponent, State Senator Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) is on track to put up the best performance for a losing Republican since Bill Simon’s loss to Gray Davis in 2002. Meanwhile, Alex Padilla (D-Los Angeles) won both the partial and unexpired U.S. Senate terms to succeed Vice-President Kamala Harris against attorney Mark Meuser (R-Pasadena) in a rematch of the 2018 Secretary of State race.

Further down ballot, Eleni Kounalakis (D-Sacramento) defeated Deputy Mayor Angela Underwood Jacobs (R-Lancaster) for a second term as Lieutenant Governor, underperforming expectations with her margin. Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D-La Mesa) won a full term against CFO Rob Bernowsky (R-Hollister), and appointed Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) won a full term over former Assistant Attorney General Nate Hochman (R-Los Angeles). All of them underperformed expectations, as did Treasurer Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) against City Councilman Jack Guerrero (R-Cudahy).

In the actually interesting matchups, Tony Thurmond (NPP-Richmond) surprised onlookers with the largest margin of victory for a statewide incumbent, winning another term as Superintendent of Public Instruction against education policy executive Lance Christensen (NPP-Wheatland). Board of Equalization member Malia Cohen (D-San Francisco) squeaked out a stunningly narrow win for the open State Controller seat over Hoover Institute fellow Lanhee Chen (R-Palo Alto) – notable for being the only Republican in recent memory to be endorsed by every major newspaper in the state. Finally, Ricardo Lara (D-Santa Monica) survived corruption allegations to win a second term as Insurance Commissioner over cybersecurity specialist Robert Howell (R-San Jose), who admitted to knowing little to nothing about the job in question.

District-wide

In the marquee race locally, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) is locked in almost a dead heat with physician Kermit Jones (D-Roseville) for the open CA-03 congressional seat. Kiley was projected to win by a nearly safe Republican margin, but discontent with his personal conduct towards other GOP electeds and his ineffective legislative record may well tank his congressional ambitions. In contrast, Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado Hills) easily defeated business manager Jose Altamirano (D-West Sacramento) for another four years on the Board of Equalization, and Assemblywoman Megan Dahle (R-Bieber) won re-election handily over progressive opponent Belle Starr Sandwith (D-Loyalton) by almost 20 percentage points.

Local

Plumas County’s hotly-contested race for Plumas Unified School District’s Area 5 Trustee seat saw incumbent Leslie Edlund of Quincy defeat challenger Coby Hakalir of Blairsden. Meanwhile, Bill Powers retained a seat on the Portola City Council, while challenger Leah Turner unseated multi-term incumbent Phil Oels.

In Sierra County, two seats on the Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School District’s Board of Trustees were up for election; rancher Annie Tipton of Sierraville defeated teacher Adrienne Anila of Sierra City for the Area 2 Trustee seat, while accountant Kelly Champion of Loyalton defeated Jesse Whitley, also of Loyalton.

In Nevada City, Measure V, an initiative calling for a half-cent sales tax increase to keep the town vital via wildfire prevention, emergency Services and disaster readiness measures, appears to have been narrowly defeated. Measure W, a initiative designed to protect the character of the city's historic neighorhoods also failed, with almost two-thirds of votes being against the proposal.