The news from California's 39th District Saturday night was a nightmare come true for Orange County Republicans: with the victory of Democrat Gil Cisneros over Republican Young Kim, the county once considered a bastion of conservatism will officially send Democrats to fill all three of its U.S. House districts.
U.S. Navy veteran Cisneros had trailed former State Assemblywoman Kim since Election Night. As absentee and military ballots continued to be tabulated, however, Cisneros suddenly took the lead on Wednesday night and continued to hold it. The Associated Press finally called him the winner on Saturday.
With fellow Democrats Katie Porter and Harley Rouda (who defeated Republican Reps. Mimi Walters and Dana Rohrabacher respectively), Cisneros becomes the third Democrat to represent the county once dubbed "Reagan Country" in Congress. According to the Los Angeles Times, the last time Orange County had no Republican U.S. Representatives was during the Great Depression.
Along with their historic wins in Orange County, Democrats captured unseated Republican Reps. Steve Knight (Los Angeles County) and Jeff Denham (San Joaquin Valley) and won the San Diego-area seat of retiring Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. Overall, this mean that Democrats will control the California delegation with a modern high of 45 seats to eight still in Republican hands.
Cisneros, who once won the California lottery with $266 million and used $8 million of his own money on the race, will succeed retiring Republican Rep. Ed Royce.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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