California Democrats seek congressional gains, but turnout is key
California’s Democratic Party leaders can be confident that their candidates will once again sweep statewide elections next year and retain strong majorities in the Legislature.
They can also hope for more — that a blue state backlash against President Donald Trump’s so-far-erratic performance and a Republican-controlled Congress, keyed to hot-button issues such as immigration and health care, will shrink the California GOP’s already thin congressional ranks — just 14 of 53 seats.
Nationwide, Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 23 Republican-held congressional districts and seven of those were in California, which puts their incumbents in the cross-hairs next year.
Darrell Issa, the combative and controversial Republican congressman from San Diego and Orange counties, is widely regarded as the nation’s most embattled GOP incumbent, and he knows it. Once a Trump backer, he is now scrambling to put distance between himself and the president.
Read more: http://www.sfexaminer.com/california-democrats-seek-congressional-gains-turnout-key/
