Newsom Defeats Challengers, Advances To November Election: AP

CALIFORNIA — Gov. Gavin Newsom sailed to an easy victory in winning the governorship after last year's recall election that threatened to unseat him. The Democratic governor will advance to the November general election, where he will be an overwhelming favorite to defeat a little-known Republican state senator.

Early returns Tuesday showed Newsom with more than 60 percent of the vote. The state Republican Party’s endorsed candidate, little-known state Sen. Brian Dahle, was far behind at 18 percent of the votes. If he maintains second place, Dahle could face Newsom in November.

In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Alex Padilla had an equally easy time advancing to a November runoff. He was appointed to the seat by Newsom last year after Kamala Harris resigned to become vice president.

As of 10 p.m., in the main state races, Democrat Malia M. Cohen for controller was pulling ahead with 22.7 percent of the votes, Lieutenant Governor Incumbent Eleni Kounalakis had earned 56.1 percent of the votes, Attorney General Incumbent Rob Bonta was ahead with 58.3 percent of the votes and Insurance Commissioner Incumbent Ricardo Lara was ahead with 39.9 percent of the votes.

See live results below.

Turnout in the nation's most populous state was light despite significant frustration by voters over record-high gas prices, rising crime and a homelessness crisis in cities large and small. But despite those problems Democrats are expected to maintain their stranglehold on state offices and in the Legislature.

Scroll to the bottom of this story for real-time California election results.

Though Newsom sought reelection after a nail-biter of a recall election just last year, he didn't face a big-name challenger in the race for reelection. None of his recall opponents are in the race, and his primary Republican challenger looks to be Brian Dahle, a Northern California state senator.

Last year's recall election more than solidified Newsom's post going into 2022, with the race confirming that the Golden State is as blue as ever. Republican talk show host Larry Elder was Newsom's top contender in the recall election, but he did not challenge the governor in the primary election.

The fact that Larry Elder became the top Republican [in the recall race], it backfired," said Christian Grose, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. "Because Newsom won so overwhelmingly in the recall...it really set him up to scare off any real serious Republican challenger and even a serious Democratic challenger."

But Newsom's confidence going into the primary election doesn't necessarily mirror voters' satisfaction with the Golden State, Grose said.

"In some ways it's really surprising because the voters are not that optimistic or positive about the state of California and the state of the country with inflation and economic issues," he said.

Newsom has spent less time fending off potential challengers ahead the primary election and instead put himself at the forefront of bolstering reproductive rights and limiting gun violence.

Looking ahead at a new term, Newsom would face a new set of challenges that will ultimately spell out his political trajectory.

"I think he probably wants to run for president," Grose said. "I do think that he's relatively popular in California. It's not obvious to me that he would make a strong candidate and I also think it depends on what Joe Biden is doing."

California's swollen budget looks to be an advantage for the governor if he goes into a new term.

"The budget surplus can be used on things that could help voters and make them feel better," Grose said. "So I do think that's, that's a real positive for incumbents, and for Democrats in the legislature and Newsom."

READ MORE: Newsom Targets 6 Issues To Fund With Record $97.5B Budget Surplus

Newsom's main challenger, Sen. Brian Dahle, represents 11 rural California counties. He's an unwavering conservative and appealed to a wide swath of Republicans, but he faced a huge challenge to win over Democrats and independents.

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There hasn't been a lot of excitement in these midterm primaries, and it shows in the early voting turnout. Just 13 percent of registered voters had turned in their ballots as of Saturday ahead of Tuesday's Primary Election, according to Political Data Inc. Voter turnout is not expected to be as high this primary season, especially without highly competitive statewide races.

As of April, the California Secretary of State reported that 26,948,297 Californians were registered to vote, which accounts for almost 82 percent of the state's eligible voting population.

Not surprisingly, there are far more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state, with 46.75 percent for the former and 23.92 percent for the latter. GOP registration in the state has been dropping steadily, a trend that shows no sign of slowing down even as Republican registration climbed at the national level over the last year.

Gubernatorial Candidates Include:

• Gavin Newsom - Democrat (Incumbent)
• Brian Dahle - Republican
• Jenny Rae La Roux - Republican
• Michael Shellenberger - No Party
• Ronald A. Anderson - Republican
• Heather Collins - Green Party
• Shawn Collins - Republican
• Anthony “Tony” Fanara - No Party

Real-time results are below — use the scroll on the right to view all candidates if they are not visible. Results may take time to start populating, based on when the Secretary of State's Office releases their first and subsequent batches of vote tallies.

Can't see the widget below? Click here for all California election results.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR'S RACE, UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS