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 will 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) 62.5% vs. Lance Christensen (REP) 37.5%
- 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%. 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 53.5%
Fresno Unified School District
- Trustee Area 1 (Edison): Incumbent Keshia Thomas (DEM) 74% vs. Wayne Horton (REP) 25%
- Trustee Area 3 (Sunnyside): Incumbent Valerie Davis (REP) 47% vs. Karl C. Diaz (NPP) 23%, Tammy McMahon-Gorans (REP) 20% and Michael Osmer (REP) 9%
- Trustee Area 4 (McLane): Incumbent Veva Islas (DEM) 43.4% vs. Karen Steed (REP) 40.4% and Michelle Scire (NPP) 15.3%. Islas is the only liberal progressive on the FSUD board.
- Trustee Area 7 (Bullard): Susan Wittrup (REP) 57.7% 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) 60.8% vs. Michael J. “Mike” Barkley (DEM) 39.2%
- District 13: John Duarte (REP) 50.4% vs. Adam Gray (DEM) 49.6%
- District 20: Kevin McCarthy (REP) 67.6% vs. Marisa Wood (DEM) 32.4%
- District 21: Jim Costa 53.4% (DEM) vs. Michael Maher (REP) 46.6%
- District 22: David G. Valadao (REP) 54% vs. Rudy Salas (DEM) 46%
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) 61.4% vs. Victor P. Lopez (DEM) 37.6%. 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%
