For both parties, the bare-knuckle battle for control of the House winds through California.
Recent primaries in the Golden State provided an early look at how major themes shaping the midterm elections are playing out: ideological debates roiling the Democratic Party, a redrawn map that threw together two GOP incumbents and pressure on aging Democratic incumbents to step aside for a new generation of leaders.
Under California’s primary system, all candidates run on the same ballot, with the top two finishers, regardless of party, advancing to November. General election matchups were set in four additional districts Tuesday.
Races in two other key contests remained uncalled as counting continued. In the redrawn 4th District centered on the Napa Valley, Democrat Mike Thompson was, as of publication time, still waiting to learn who his general election opponent will be. According to the AP, Republican businessman Ray Riehle was in second place with about 23 percent Tuesday, while former venture capitalist Eric Jones, a progressive Democrat, had 21 percent.
In the 14th District, which opened after California Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned in the face of sexual assault allegations, Democratic state Sen. Aisha Wahab has secured one of the spots on the November ballot but the AP has yet to determine the second-place finisher.
