California Legislative Upsets Deny Dems Super Majority

We’re less than a week from the swearing-in for California’s next class of lawmakers, and we can finally be certain that two new names will be on the list. After a final update yesterday from Los Angeles County’s elections office, a pair of outstanding Assembly races were called for the underdogs.

In the 39th District, challenger Patty Lopez unseated fellow Democrat, Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra of Los Angeles, by 467 votes. In the 66th District, Republican David Hadley beat Assemblyman Al Muratuschi, D-Torrance, by 706 votes. (Hadley is celebrating with a “Super Taco Truck Tuesday Victory Celebration” for supporters, 4 p.m. at his campaign headquarters in Torrance.)

That caps a disappointing legislative election for California Democrats, who lost their two-thirds supermajorities in both houses. When a series of special elections finishes next year, Democrats will likely be one vote short of a supermajority in the state Senate and two shy in the Assembly.

Lopez’s victory is among the most surprising of the election. Politicos are still scratching their heads over how the unknown “educational community represenative” defeated Bocanegra, a powerful fundraiser rumored to be in the hunt for the Assembly speakership. Did ballot order have something to do with the result?

SUSTAINABILITY SEMINAR: The California Research Bureau and UC Davis Extension Land Use and Natural Resources host their latest “Sustainable California” seminar, featuring a project from UCLA researchers on community energy-use patterns, noon at the California Research Bureau on N Street.

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