Last Tuesday, California held its primary election to determine the candidates that will appear on the November 2022 General Election.
 
The surprise of the night came in Senate District 4 currently represented by long-term legislator Senator Jim Nielsen. Despite being a safe district for republicans, the vote was split between eight candidates – including six with the GOP – allowing the two remaining democrats to advance to the general election.  As a reminder, in California the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.
 
This will add at least one additional seat the Democrat’s super majority in the Senate for a total of 32.
 
Moreover, there are five competitive races in the November Ballot; three slightly favor republican candidates, while the other two favor democrats. There will also be two democrat on democrat races Senate that pit business and labor against each other and impact the moderate / progressive make-up of the Senate Democratic caucus.
 
While the Assembly Democrats currently hold the 61-member super-majority, there are seven to nine competitive republicans versus democrat races that can further increase the size of the caucus.
 
The CTA government affairs team has created an overview of these contests in this 2022 Primary Results Summary.
 
A complete breakdown of the June 7th Primary is available on the California Secretary of State’s website.