The California primaries are over, and after months of encouraging news about the candidacies of Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco for Governor (both Republicans) and Spencer Pratt (R) for LA mayor, it looks like things are going back to normal. Unlike most other states, where the results are known on election night, California's will drag on for days or weeks because of little things like mail-in ballots, ballot harvesting, and the amazing ability of Democratic candidates to overtake the Republicans in the late stages of the election, which causes many, like myself, to suspect voter fraud. The top two vote-getters for governor and LA mayor will face off in November.
In the governor's race, there were over 60 candidates, including Eric Swalwell, who dropped out to spend more time with Fang Fang and his attorneys, Barack Obama Shaw, and some guy named For God and Country. For most of the primary campaign, it looked like Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco might finish 1 and 2, which would have put them in an all-Republican runoff in November. In LA, Spencer Pratt, who lost his home in the Pacific Palisades fire, looked like he might come in first against incumbent Karen Bass, who presided over the whole catastrophe (albeit from afar in Ghana), and ultra liberal city councilwoman Nithya Raman. At this point, Bass has secured the first-place position (go figure), and Pratt is battling it out with Raman for the 2nd place runoff position. Meanwhile, back in Sacramento, Javier Becerra (D), who has a 3-decade track record of filling many positions and doing nothing, garnered the most votes. Hilton is still fighting ultra-liberal billionaire Tom Steyer for the 2nd runoff spot. In short, the betting money is that Becerra will be the next Gavin Newsom in California, while Bass will be the next Karen Bass in LA. Both will benefit from inheriting the votes for the other Democrats who lost out in the primary.
So it seems nothing is going to change. California will remain a one-party state. The only good news to come out of this, as far as I can predict, will be that neither Eric Swalwell nor Katie Porter will be our governor.