For the Filipino-American community, voter turnout slightly increased during recent elections, but things slowed down during this year’s midterms.
Analysts believe a non-competitive race for governor and the lack of controversial ballot initiatives—for instance, same-sex marriage—kept voters away from the polls.
But despite the low turnout on Election Day, Southern California Fil-Am candidates remained hopeful and in good spirits, regardless of the results.
Lorri Galloway, a candidate for mayor of Anaheim, did not win the seat, but remarked how a lot of young voters came out to vote and participated in the political process.
“I think it is very important to get engaged and get involved, and to understand especially how local politics affect us so much more than national politics,” said Galloway.
Armin Reyes ran for a seat on the Cerritos College Board of Trustees, with hopes of becoming the first Fil-Am elected in that position. Reyes, who has served on the ABC School Board of Education since 1999, lost his bid for the trustee seat.
But in San Diego, Republican Chris Cate defeated favored Democrat candidate, Carol Kim, in the race for the city’s only open City Council seat. Chris Cate is the first Asian-American to serve on the council in nearly five decades.
Cate celebrated his victory on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at the US Grant Hotel, thanking voters for their support on embracing his agenda for Council District 6, which includes Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Clairemont and parts of Rancho Penasquitos and Linda Vista.
“The voters believe that our plan to reform government, help create jobs and rebuild our neighborhoods are our top priorities,” Cate promised his cheering supporters.
Statewide results
Democrats conquered offices statewide, proving California to be one of the lone blue spots from the rest of the red-streaked nation.
Incumbent Jerry Brown won a historic fourth and final term as governor, easily beating out his opponent Neel Kashkari.
The governor, who has already pushed for a higher statewide minimum wage, promised to use his new political energy during his final term to continue focusing on on the state’s pressing environmental and economic issues, especially with the passing of new laws he has endorsed, such as Prop 1 (the Water Bond) and Prop 2 (the Rainy Day Fund). The new measures will allow California to sell more than $7 billion in bonds to fund water infrastructure projects, and will establish a special “rainy day fund” to help save money and lower debts.
“Every part of my mind, body, imagination I’m going to throw into these next four years,” Brown said.
Current Lt. Governor (and formerly San Francisco Mayor) Gavin Newsom also reelected, as well as current Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and current Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.
State Controller John Chiang is now the State Treasurer, while Betty Yee won her bid for his position.
Democrat Alex Padilla is now the new Secretary of State for California, succeeding Debra Bowen who was termed out. Padilla beat out Republican challenger Pete Peterson by a small margin, 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent. Kamala Harris also won re-election for Attorney General, with 56 percent of the vote.
Marshall Tuck also came up short against incumbent Tom Torlakson, a former state legislator and teacher, in a close nonpartisan race for superintendent of public instruction.
Negative results for other CA propositions
The overwhelming support for Props 1 and 2 did not extend to the remaining propositions in the ballot.
Prop 45, which sought to have the Insurance Commissioner’s approval before any health insurer can change its rates or anything else affecting the charges associated with health insurance, and Prop 46, requiring drug testing of doctors and an increase in the pain/suffering cap for medical negligence lawsuits, were soundly defeated. No Votes on Prop 45 were at 59.8 percent, while No Votes on Prop 46 were even higher, at 67.1 percent.
Another ballot measure, Prop 48, seeking approval or rejection of the tribal gaming compacts between the state and the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians and the Wiyot Tribe, was rejected by voters. No votes on Prop 48 won, garnering 60.9 percent of the total votes.
Meanwhile, Prop 47, which requires a misdemeanor sentence instead of felony sentence for certain drug and property offenses, garnered approval from California voters. Yes votes on Prop 47 tallied 58.5 percent against No votes which totaled 41.5 percent.
GOP control of Congress
In Washington, Republicans took control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, increasing their power in the final two years of President Barack Obama’s term. It was a major victory for the GOP, which now controls both chambers of Congress for the first time in eight years, since 2006.
About one-third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, 36 of 50 state governors, and numerous state and local offices were up for election on Nov. 4. Republican victories swept the nation, retaining every one of the GOP-held seats up for grabs and picking up more than the six seats needed to take control of the Senate.
The GOP now controls 52 seats in the Senate, with two independents, and is tipped to win at least one more as votes are still being counted. They are also projected to retain control in the House of Representatives, expanding their majority to levels not seen since before World War II.
Republican Mitch McConnell, who was elected as the new Senate majority leader last night, said the result was a vote against “a government the people can no longer trust.”
He also said that the White House and lawmakers no longer have to be in “perpetual conflict,” and are obligated to “work together on issues where we can agree.”
“Tomorrow, the papers will say I won this race, but the truth is…tonight we begin another one, one that’s far more important—and that’s the race to turn this country around,” McConnell said at his victory speech in Louisville, Kentucky.
It was a sweeping blow to President Obama. The Republican Senate takeover will undoubtedly limit his legislative agenda and possibly force him to shape up during the remainder of his term in office, allowing Republicans to hold hearings from both chambers and pass GOP-favored legislation.
President Obama has been widely unfavored even among Democrats, lurching ambitiously from crisis to crisis, causing many to question his reliability.
The results of the Election will also test the President’s ability to compromise with his empowered political opponents, who have been resisting his legislative agenda since he was first elected in 2008.
(For complete results of the statewide elections and ballot measures, visit the California Secretary of State’s website at www.vote.sos.ca.gov/contests/statewide/. With reports from Balitang America, KTLA5, LA Times, USA Today, LA Weekly, U-T San Diego, Politico, NBC, and Los Angeles Daily News.)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(OCIE November 7-13, 2014 Sec. A pg.1)
