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Dems reign on election day
Reps. Schiff and Sherman best GOP rivals, while Sen. Obama wins the presidency.
By Jeremy Oberstein
BURBANK — The region’s left-leaning state and federal districts remained true to form Tuesday night, after Democratic candidates in California’s Senate and Assembly seats — and two out of three congressional seats — cruised to victory on a night when Democratic Sen. Barack Obama claimed the presidency.
Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Brad Sherman defeated their Republican rivals, Charles Hahn and Navraj Singh, respectively.
Schiff had received more than 66% of the vote as of press time, while Sherman bested his rival with 66.3% of the support of the region’s electorate.
With his reelection, Schiff will return to the U.S. House of Representatives for the fourth time with an ally in the White House.
Schiff was an early Obama supporter and expects the relationship to bolster legislation that had previously stalled.
Specifically, Schiff points to a bill he wrote that would commemorate the Armenian genocide and urges Turkey to acknowledge the role played by the Ottoman Empire in the atrocities.
In January, Obama called for the passage of the Armenian genocide resolution.
The congressman also pledged to work with Republicans in the House on a variety of measures, echoing Obama’s acceptance speech Tuesday night.
In front of thousands in Chicago’s Grant Park, Obama said, “Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.”
Sherman returns to office for another term after weathering corruption allegations from Singh during the campaign, despite the Republican challenger’s own trouble with filing campaign donations on time.
Singh was twice cited by the Federal Elections Campaign for failing to file financial forms by the government watchdog’s due date.
Rep. David Dreier, the lone Republican official from the region’s congressional delegation, had received 55.6% of voter support as of press time to defeat Democrat Russ Warner and Libertarian Ted Brown.
Despite strong gains from Democrats nationally, Dreier defended his seat by an even greater margin than in 2006, when he defeated his Democratic opponent with 57% of the vote.
In California, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian cruised to victory against Republican Jane Barnett in the 43rd District that includes Burbank and Glendale.
Like most other Southland Democrats, Krekorian spent Tuesday enmeshed in victory celebrations in Van Nuys and Pasadena. But the legislator, who will return to Sacramento for his second term, will soon return to the state capital for a special session Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called to address California’s looming budget crisis.
Legislators will begin work on a spending plan to address the budget deficit that is projected to be at least $1 billion.
“It’s important the Legislature get busy as soon as we can for the challenges we face,” he said. “The governor is absolutely right to call us into a special session.”
Krekorian’s win comes after stiff competition from Barnett, a Burbank businesswoman who had partly staked her campaign on “cleaning up Sacramento.”
“I’m flattered that my constituents agree with my style of leadership . . . and common-sense solution to dealing with problems that have been important to this district,” Krekorian said.
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino topped challengers Republican Brian Fuller and Libertarian Thomas Logan with more than 58% of the vote in the 44th District of the unincorporated region of La Crescenta.
State Sen.-elect Carol Liu took 63.3% of the vote against Republican Teddy Choi and Libertarian Steve Myers.
Liu will take over the 21st District seat of state Sen. Jack Scott, the termed-out legislator who was tapped this year to lead the state community college system.
Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Brad Sherman defeated their Republican rivals, Charles Hahn and Navraj Singh, respectively.
Schiff had received more than 66% of the vote as of press time, while Sherman bested his rival with 66.3% of the support of the region’s electorate.
With his reelection, Schiff will return to the U.S. House of Representatives for the fourth time with an ally in the White House.
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Specifically, Schiff points to a bill he wrote that would commemorate the Armenian genocide and urges Turkey to acknowledge the role played by the Ottoman Empire in the atrocities.
In January, Obama called for the passage of the Armenian genocide resolution.
The congressman also pledged to work with Republicans in the House on a variety of measures, echoing Obama’s acceptance speech Tuesday night.
In front of thousands in Chicago’s Grant Park, Obama said, “Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.”
Sherman returns to office for another term after weathering corruption allegations from Singh during the campaign, despite the Republican challenger’s own trouble with filing campaign donations on time.
Singh was twice cited by the Federal Elections Campaign for failing to file financial forms by the government watchdog’s due date.
Rep. David Dreier, the lone Republican official from the region’s congressional delegation, had received 55.6% of voter support as of press time to defeat Democrat Russ Warner and Libertarian Ted Brown.
Despite strong gains from Democrats nationally, Dreier defended his seat by an even greater margin than in 2006, when he defeated his Democratic opponent with 57% of the vote.
In California, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian cruised to victory against Republican Jane Barnett in the 43rd District that includes Burbank and Glendale.
Like most other Southland Democrats, Krekorian spent Tuesday enmeshed in victory celebrations in Van Nuys and Pasadena. But the legislator, who will return to Sacramento for his second term, will soon return to the state capital for a special session Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called to address California’s looming budget crisis.
Legislators will begin work on a spending plan to address the budget deficit that is projected to be at least $1 billion.
“It’s important the Legislature get busy as soon as we can for the challenges we face,” he said. “The governor is absolutely right to call us into a special session.”
Krekorian’s win comes after stiff competition from Barnett, a Burbank businesswoman who had partly staked her campaign on “cleaning up Sacramento.”
“I’m flattered that my constituents agree with my style of leadership . . . and common-sense solution to dealing with problems that have been important to this district,” Krekorian said.
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino topped challengers Republican Brian Fuller and Libertarian Thomas Logan with more than 58% of the vote in the 44th District of the unincorporated region of La Crescenta.
State Sen.-elect Carol Liu took 63.3% of the vote against Republican Teddy Choi and Libertarian Steve Myers.
Liu will take over the 21st District seat of state Sen. Jack Scott, the termed-out legislator who was tapped this year to lead the state community college system.
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