2 Calif. Democrats Deadlocked in Bid to Unseat GOP Incumbent
*By Christian Smith*
Democrats are in a holding pattern, waiting to see who will take on California Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher in one of the key districts their party needs to flip in November to retake control of the House of Representatives.
Initially, California Democrats wanted to box Rohrabacher out of the race by stacking the ballot with two of their own candidates, but they were unable to game California's "jungle primary" system, said Jon Miller, the White House correspondent for CRTV.
"We know that the Democrats, they sunk millions of dollars into the 48th District," Miller told Cheddar. "They wanted to load the ballot with two Democrats, but we know that they're not going to be able to do that because Dana Rohrabacher is a confirmed winner there."
In California, the top two vote getters, regardless of party affiliation, get spots on the November ballot.
Rohrabacher, a 30-year incumbent, received more than 30 percent of the vote Tuesday, and will face either the businessman Harley Rouda, or the biomedical researcher Hans Kierstead. Those two Democrats were separated by fewer than 100 votes as of the [New York Times' last count](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/05/us/elections/results-california-primary-elections.html).
Democrats are hoping to pick up seven Republican-held districts in California that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. California's 39th and 49th districts are at the top of the target list; two longtime Republican representatives are retiring.
Congressman Ed Royce announced in January that he would vacate his seat in the 39th district after 26 years in office, drawing 17 candidates from both major parties into the race. (Two of them bowed out before Tuesday's vote.) The Republican former assemblywoman Young Kim and a Democratic philanthropist, Gil Cisneros, appear to be the winners of the primary.
In California's 49th district, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa is stepping down from the seat he has held for 16 years. Republican State Board of Equalization member Diane Harkey has guaranteed herself a spot in the November midterms. And 29-year-old Sara Jacobs, the granddaughter of the billionaire co-founder of Qualcomm, Irwin Jacobs, is waiting to hear if she or the lawyer Mike Levin, another Democrat, will earn the right to run for Issa's seat. Levin led Jacobs by more than a thousand votes as of Wednesday afternoon.
Results won't be official for a few weeks as the state still has to count the larger-than-expected number of provisional ballots.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder said [in a statement](https://www.lavote.net/docs/rrcc/news-releases/06052018_E-Day-Release.pdf) that the names of 118,522 voters were omitted from poll workers' rosters of registered voters at almost a third of L.A.'s voting locations. Voters left off of the roster were given provisional ballots.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/too-early-to-call-winners-in-key-california-house-districts).
Democrats are hoping to pass the Build Back Better Infrastructure Bill this week, but fellow Democrat Senator Joe Manchin has proven to be a steady fast hold out, stating that he will not support a multi-trillion dollar bill without greater clarity. U.S. News and World Reports Political Reporter Lisa Hagen joined Cheddar to discuss the future of the bill.
Carlo and Baker discuss the election results across the country, including a Republican comeback in Virginia -- and possibly NJ -- plus the CDC gives the go-ahead for child vaccinations, Atlanta wins the World Series and more.
David Wagner, Portfolio Manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why we continue to see record closes from the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq, and breaks down figures from Lyft's Q3 earnings report.
Voters across the country are heading to the polls today for Election Day. The results of some key races could signal what we can expect in upcoming elections. In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe is facing off against Republican Glenn Youngkin for governor in a tight race. The race has both parties watching because it's a big indicator of how voters are leaning ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, joins Cheddar News to talk about what's in store for the state.
Laura Vozzella, local reporter for The Washington Post, joins Cheddar News to discuss the close gubernatorial race in Virginia and what voters are looking for in each candidate.
The U.S. Supreme Court takes a closer look at the Texas abortion law that was designed by its sponsors to evade constitutional review in federal court. Katie Barlow, journalist and social media editor at SCOTUSblog joins Cheddar News to breakdown what was discussed.
John Paul Mejia, the national spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, joined Cheddar to talk about what the youth activist group wants to see from President Joe Biden as he attends the COP26 climate summit. Mejia admonished the president for having little to deliver on his own climate agenda domestically while at the conference. "We need the president to follow through with his promises because, frankly, it's a matter of life or death not only for communities here in the United States but also those looking to us around the world," he said.
With COP26 kicking off, roughly 120 world leaders and delegates are in Glasgow, Scotland to hold climate talks this week. As experts continue to warn about the dangers of climate change, ESG investing is more important than ever.
Georges Archibald, Head of Apex Americas at Apex Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
President Biden expected to unveil details on a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for businesses in coming days.
This comes just days after The White House issued separate vaccine mandates for federal contractors across the country. Mark Kluger, Founding Partner, employment law firm Kluger Healey joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
