Country Rejects Pelosi, But California’s Political System Makes No Change

The Republicans’ midterm wave, which swept across the country, splashed into the Colorado River and ran out of momentum.  The record 63 congressional seat victory failed to include a single seat in California.  And, although western Democrats did better than the rest of the country holding off Senate challenges – for example, in Washington, Nevada and Colorado –they gave up eight congressional seats in six states.

The Democratic and liberal tilt of California’s political system and culture was a subject of the recent PAPOR conference (see blog post of December 7).

Large states in the east, midwest and south with Democratic and Republican majorities, including several battleground states, all made some accommodation to the shift in the national mood, for example: 5 seats in Ohio, 4 in Pennsylvania, 6 in New York, 4 in Illinois, 4 in Florida, 3 in Tennessee, 3 in Virginia and 3 in Texas shifted Republican, and as noted, 0 in California.

So, as the rest of the nation rejected Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership and removed the California Democratic delegation from its position of power, California voters re-elected them and made no partisan change.

And, of course, the remaining Democratic House caucus elected Pelosi minority leader ostensibly to ensure liberal interests were protected in the new political environment and with a president prone to compromise.