The November 2022 midterm election is over. Not all the results are final, so some results might change.
The mainstream media, as well as conservative activists, predicted a “red wave,” with Republicans taking over Congress by a big majority. That will not be the case. Democrats lost the House, but the Senate might be under blue control. Locally, there were a few surprises.
Statewide Results
California is Democratic, more than ever. The Central Valley is still a Republican stronghold.
- U.S. Senate: Alex Padilla (DEM) 58.7% vs. Mark Meuser (REP) 41.3%
- Governor: Gavin Newsom (DEM) 57% vs. Brian Dahle (REP) 43%
- Lt. Governor: Eleni Kounalakis (DEM) 57.5% vs. Angela Jacobs (REP) 42.5%
- Attorney General: Rob Bonta (DEM) 57% vs. Nathan Hochman (REP) 43%. Bonta was appointed to the position in 2021.
- Secretary of State: Shirley N. Weber (DEM) 58.1% vs. Rob Bernosky (REP) 41.9%. Weber was appointed to the position in 2020.
- Controller: Malia Cohen (DEM) 53.4% vs. Lanhee Chen (REP) 46.6%
- Treasurer: Fiona Ma (DEM) 56.8% vs. Jack Guerrero (REP) 43.2%
- Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara (DEM) 57.6% vs. Robert Howell (REP) 42.4%
- Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond (DEM) 62.51% vs. Lance Christensen (REP) 37.49%
- State Supreme Court: Voters elected Patricia Guerrero as the first Latina chief justice. She got 69.1% of “yes” votes. Associate Justices Joshua Groban, Martin Jenkins and Goodwin Liu were reelected.
The Propositions
- Prop 1 (reproductive freedom amendment): Yes 64.7%
- Prop 26 (legalize sports betting on American Indian lands): No 69.7%
- Prop 27 (legalize sports betting and revenue for homelessness prevention fund): No 83.3%
- Prop 28 (more money for arts and music education): Yes 61.4%
- Prop 29 (dialysis clinic requirements): No 69.6%
- Prop 30 (taxing millionaires for electric vehicles): No 59.2%
- Prop 31 (flavored tobacco products ban referendum): Yes 62.1%
Local Measures
- Fresno County Measure C (use half-cent sale tax to help pay for road and transportation improvements): Yes 58.1%. However, the threshold to pass the measure is two-thirds so the measure failed.
- City of Fresno Measure M (proposed 0.125% sales tax to provide money for veterans programs and facilities): Yes 59.1%. This measure also fails by falling short of the two-thirds threshold.
- Fresno County Measure E (sales tax to support Fresno State upgrades and sports): No 53.2%
Fresno Unified School District
- Trustee Area 1 (Edison): Incumbent Keshia Thomas (DEM) 76% vs. Wayne Horton (REP) 23.5%
- Trustee Area 3 (Sunnyside): Incumbent Valerie Davis (REP) 47.2% vs. Karl C. Diaz (NPP) 23.2%, Tammy McMahon-Gorans (REP) 20.5% and Michael Osmer (REP) 8.8%
- Trustee Area 4 (McLane): Incumbent Veva Islas (DEM) 43.3% vs. Karen Steed (REP) 40.1% and Michelle Scire (NPP) 15%. Islas is the only liberal progressive on the FSUD board.
- Trustee Area 7 (Bullard): Susan Wittrup (REP) 57.6% vs. incumbent Terry Slatic (AI) 26.1%, Jim Barr (DEM) 11.8% and Michael Haynes (NPP) 4.1%
U.S. Congress
- District 5: Tom McClintock (REP) 61.3% vs. Michael J. “Mike” Barkley (DEM) 38.7%
- District 13: Adam Gray (DEM) 50.3% vs. John Duarte (REP) 49.7%
- District 20: Kevin McCarthy (REP) 67.4% vs. Marisa Wood (DEM) 32.6%
- District 21: Jim Costa 54.8% (DEM) vs. Michael Maher (REP) 45.2%
- District 22: David G. Valadao (REP) 52.4% vs. Rudy Salas (DEM) 47.6%
State Senate
- District 12 (Fresno, Clovis, Tulare and Kern counties): Shannon Grove (REP) 68.1% vs. Susanna Gundy (DEM) 31.9%
- District 14 (Fresno, Merced, Coalinga): Anna Caballero (DEM) 55.2% vs. Amnon Shor (REP) 44.8%
- District 16 (Bakersfield, Hanford, Dinuba): David Shepard (REP) 52.6% vs. Melissa Hurtado (DEM) 47.4%
State Assembly
- District 27 (Merced, Mendota, Coalinga): Esmeralda Soria (DEM) 51.2% vs. Mark Pazin (REP) 48.8%.
- District 31 (Fresno, Selma, Sanger): Dr. Joaquin Arambula (DEM) 59.1% vs. Dolce Calandra (REP) 40.9%
- District 32 (Visalia, Bakersfield): Vince Fong (REP) ran unopposed.
- District 33 (Hanford, Tulare, Porterville): Devon J. Mathis (REP) 63.1% vs. Jose Sigala (DEM) 36.0%
Mayoral Races
- Huron: Rey Leon (DEM) 60.5% of the vote vs. Hilda Plasencia (DEM) 36.5%
- Kerman: Maria Pacheco (NPP) 33.8% vs. Juan M. Villarreal (NPP) 32.8% and Kevin W. Nehring (NPP) 32.2%
- Orange Cove: Diana Guerra (DEM) 57.1% vs. Victor P. Lopez (DEM). Lopez had been mayor off and on for more than three decades.
- Parlier: Alma Beltran (REP) 33.1% vs. several opponents
- Sanger: Frank Gonzalez (REP) 65.4% vs. Eli Ontiveros (REP) 33.3%
- Selma: Scott Robertson (DEM) 48.1% vs. Louis Quintana (REP) 37.1% and Theresa Guzman Salas (REP) 15.1%
Various local politicians attended an Election Night Watch Party at the Howlin Wolf bar in the Tower District. There was no TV or radio, but as Fresno City Council Member Elect Annalisa Perea put it, “We’re millennials, we look at our phones.” In this image, Lourin Hubbard, second from left, was a Democratic candidate for Congress in June. All Photos by Peter Maiden
