California was buzzing on Tuesday and not just because Sofia Richie disappointed us all by staying with Scott Disick. The state’s primary elections were held and since there are so many seats in Cali, 53 to be exact, Dems wanted to sweep the election and increase their odds of taking over the world House of Reps.
WTF Does It Matter
Not only does California get a monopoly on celebrities, but the state also has a huge amount of influence in Congress because of its 53 House seats. Due to the laid back and often liberal reputation, the state is considered a big blue block on the map, and Hilz won the state back in 2016 to no one’s surprise. However, if you haven’t already picked up on it, 2018 is a big fucking deal and people are super invested in the outcome of midterms. Like probably the first time people have paid this much attention to primaries in a while, thank you Trump for being so horrible that people now care about elections! Currently Republicans have control of the House, Senate, and no control over Trump even though he claims to be one of them, so Dems want to end that ASAP.
Welcome To The Jungle
California just has to be unique, so they have a “jungle primary.” Yes… that is actually what it’s called and tbh its v. Darwinian with the strongest going to the general, so very Survivor of them. It works by advancing the top two vote-getters in each of the state’s 53 congressional districts, 10 of which are up for grabs. And here’s the kicker, party doesn’t matter. *GASP* This is a BFD because it means that, in some districts, the number of Democratic candidates could mean that two Republicans move on to the general. Cali really should just be it’s own little kingdom where Queen Bey and Jay rule, I bet the annual ball would be lit.
TF Does Primaries Mean
Primaries are like the first night on the Bachelor(ette). Pretty much anyone can get to this round, and sometimes it’s such a cluster fuck that there is no way you can remember everyone’s name. This is where we weed out the boring duds from the Chads and Ben Higgins of the world. Primaries take place in the spring/summer before the final rose general election. In the primary someone does get a first-impression rose and comes out as the fav for the election, but a lot can happen between then and November. In a majority of states the party plays a large role and you run against other people in your party to be the lead dem or republican to advance on to the next round. Again not in Cali, because they are different.
TF Happened?
In case you blacked out LN, or just didn’t watch the California primaries, here’s a recap. In the Senate primary Dianne Feinstein took the lead and looks like the 84 year old will keep the seat she’s had since 1992, which may be before some of you were even born. (Rude.) The Gov race is still between Newsom (D) and Cox (R). This is one to watch because Newsom took a slight lead, but not enough to safely say that a Republican governor is a no. The 53 House seat elections only had one upset in District 31 where incumbent Rep. Pete Aguilar (D) lost by .1% to his challenger Sean Flynn (R). The Dems avoided being locked out of any of the major House races (TG), and Republicans were locked out of the California Senate race (too bad, so sad), where we’ll be getting some Dem-on-Dem action as Dianne Feinstein takes on fellow Dem Kevin De Leon.
The twist? There was actually a major issue on the night of the election, when a casual 110,00 voters were left off the rosters and forced to vote via provisional ballot. This “printing error” affected a third of LA counties, and is why you should always make sure to restock the fucking ink, Karen!
If you want to see what the outcome of the 52 other districts are, The Washington Post has more time on their hands and outlined the whole thing.
Heads up, you need to keep up with the news. It’s not cute anymore. That’s why we’ve created a 5x weekly newsletter called The ‘Sup that will explain all the news of the week in a hilarious af way. Because if we weren’t laughing, we’d be crying. Sign up for The ‘Sup now!
