# California’s blue wave election wash-out leaves a pleasant surprise for Republicans

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/californias-blue-wave-election-wash-out-leaves-a-pleasant-surprise-for-republicans/
- Published: 2026-11-04T06:22:34+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-06T05:36:52+00:00
- Original publisher: New York Post (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://nypost.com/2026/11/04/opinion/a-blue-wave-election-but-its-not-all-bad-news-for-gop/
- Topics: Elections, Politics, World

## Key points

- Becerra won the governor’s race by a wide margin.
- Several ballot measures had clear early leads or deficits.
- Later-counted ballots could reshape close contests.

## Summary

California Republicans suffered heavy losses in statewide and legislative races as Democrats made early gains, while Xavier Becerra defeated Steve Hilton for governor by a wide margin. The opinion article argues that the result is not the whole story: close contests may shift as more ballots are counted, and the author sees California’s extended counting process as a problem for public confidence.

Early returns showed Proposition 40, a proposed billionaire tax, losing by double digits, while Proposition 3, extending higher income tax rates, was passing; voter ID measure Proposition 39 and tax measure Proposition 43 were trailing. The article says Republicans often lead in early results because they tend to return mail ballots sooner, and cites 2018 congressional races and a Los Angeles mayoral primary as examples of leads later overturned. California accepts ballots postmarked by Election Day for up to seven days, alongside signature checks and provisional ballots.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.