The 2020 election saw record voter turnout both in California and across the nation. Although 98% of the votes statewide have been counted as of this writing, due to a small handful of extremely tight races, it is too soon to know with certainty the final roster of who will be heading to Sacramento to serve in the state Senate and state Assembly. In addition, the unprecedented levels of spending on ballot initiative campaigns have almost certainly changed the game for future election cycles.

There were several races that CNCDA supported in recent months, helping to elect Republicans and moderate Democrats. Victories in our efforts include Brian and Megan Dahle in Shasta, James Gallagher in Yuba City, Kevin Kiley in Rocklin, Heath Flora in Ripon, Devon Mathis in the Central Valley, Vince Fong in Bakersfield, Jordan Cunningham in San Luis Obispo, Tom Lackey and Suzette Valladares in Santa Clarita, Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh in Riverside, Phillip Chen in Diamond Bar, Kelly Seyarto in Murrieta, Steven Choi and Janet Nguyen in Orange County, Laurie Davies in Mission Viejo, and Marie Waldron in San Diego.

Despite the uncertainty about the final results of a few races, we do know the outcome of many important races and ballot measures, and we will detail those here.

For more information from the Secretary of State’s Office on State Assembly and Senate district races, click here:
https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/

Ballot Propositions

Voters were asked to decide the fate of 12 ballot measures, three of which are important for dealers to be aware of — Proposition 15 (to require commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value, rather than their purchase price); Proposition 22 (to define app-based transportation and delivery drivers as independent contractors and adopt labor and wage policies specific to app-based drivers and companies); and Proposition 24 (to expand the state’s consumer data privacy laws, including provisions to remove the time period in which businesses can fix violations before being penalized and create a new Privacy Protection Agency to enforce the state’s consumer data privacy laws).

Proposition 15 failed, with 52% of voters opposed and 48% in support. At the direction of dealer leadership, CNCDA supported the “No” on Proposition 15 campaign with a $250,000 campaign contribution. This was a race that many watched very closely, and the “No” campaign’s victory has been largely seen as a strong rebuke to any effort to upend Proposition 13.

Proposition 22 does not directly affect dealers like Propositions 15 and 24, but a “Yes” vote on 22 is notable because Uber and Lyft claimed the measure is necessary for them to continue their California operations. Since many dealers utilize Uber and Lyft for service drive customers, this battle is worth mentioning. The “Yes” campaign received more than $200 million in contributions, which is a record in California for the amount of money raised by an initiative campaign. The Yes campaign won with 59% of voters in support. Leadership at Lyft has said the company is still open to negotiating with state labor leaders on a compromise, likely to stave off any future legislation, but any such compromise effort remains to be seen.

Proposition 24 is one that dealership compliance departments need to take special note of due to the additional scrutiny that will now be placed on business practices regarding consumer data. This initiative passed, with 56% of California voters in support and 44% in opposition. Perhaps most notably, the initiative creates the California Privacy Protection Agency, which will exist to enforce the CCPA — making California the first state with its own standalone privacy regulator. CNCDA will send out more information regarding the compliance ramifications of this measure’s passage in the coming weeks.

Senate Races

Half of the 40 California State Senate races were up this year. Democrats came into Election Day with 29 members, while Republicans held just 11 seats. The results show that the senate Democrats have expanded upon their supermajority status by winning at least two and possibly three more seats. 98% of the votes have been counted, but we are still awaiting results from one senate race — SD 21 remains too close to call as of this writing, with incumbent Senator Scott Wilk leading Democrat challenger Kipp Mueller 51%-49%. Confirmed Republican victories include incumbent Senator Brian Dahle in SD 1 and realtor Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh in SD 23. Unfortunately, incumbent Republican Senator Ling Ling Chang lost a close race to her Democrat challenger in SD 29, and incumbent GOP Senator John Moorlach has conceded to his Democrat challenger Dave Min in SD 37.

The state senate will now be even more lopsided with 31 or 32 Democrats and 8 or 9 Republicans. CNCDA supported all the Republican incumbents being challenged both with direct contributions and with independent expenditures.

Assembly Races

With all 80 seats in the assembly up for election this year, there were contests to watch in every part of the state. The assembly Democrats started with a supermajority of 61 Democrats, while Republicans had 18 members (and 1 Independent). Just two races remain too close to call — AD 13 with a Democrat-on-Democrat challenge and AD 74, where incumbent Assembly member Cottie Petrie Norris is barely holding on to her seat as of this writing, with 51% of the vote to Republican challenger Diane Dixon’s 49%.

California Republicans did better on the assembly side than on the senate side. At this point, with 98% of votes in, the Democrats have 59 confirmed wins, the Republicans have 19 confirmed wins, and Independent Chad Mayes has also won reelection. Based on where AD 74 falls, Democrats could pick up one more, or the Republicans could pick up one more. Regardless, despite a few Republican gains, Democrats have held on to their supermajority in the state Assembly.

As the few outstanding outcomes continue to be finalized across the state, CNCDA will be watching closely in anticipation of what is expected to be an even tougher political environment in the coming legislative session.