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Democrats gained a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers of the California legislature on Monday after picking up two more seats in the state Senate. Democrats Melisa Hurtado and Assemblywoman Anna Caballero were declared victors after vote totals were updated following last week’s election, The Associated Press reported. The two female candidates won seats in the Fresno area. Hurtado won the open 12th seat and Caballero beat out California Sen. Andy Vidak (R) in the 14th District. Democrats now have a two-thirds advantage in the 40-person Senate and in the 80-person Assembly. The massive supermajority gives the party the ability to...

“With 100% of precincts reporting, the Hanford-area grower holds a nearly 6,000 vote lead over Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez in the contentious 16th State Senate race,” 23 ABC News in Bakersfield just reported. The California Secretary of State is reporting Vidak has 54 percent of the vote, with a total of 39,085 votes. Perez has 46 percent of the vote, with a total of 33,252 votes. Kern County and Fresno County were where the majority of the provisional ballots appeared in the special election. In yesterday’s election, Kern County reported 48.1 percent for Vidak, and 58.9 percent for Perez....

"With 100% of precincts reporting, the Hanford-area grower holds a nearly 6,000 vote lead over Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez in the contentious 16th State Senate race. According to the California Secretary of State's office, Vidak has 54% of the vote with a total of 39,085 votes. Perez has 46% of the vote with a total of 33,252 votes. As with May's special election for the seat -- which was vacated by Michael Rubio -- Vidak enjoyed strong support. from Kings and Tulare counties................"

Voters in four counties will be going back to the polls Tuesday to finally settle the contentious and closely watched 16th Senate District special election battle. They're choosing between Republican farmer Andy Vidak and Democrat Leticia Perez, a Kern County supervisor, to replace former state Sen. Michael Rubio, who resigned in February to take a job with Chevron. Print Only 115 votes kept Vidak from winning the seat outright in the May primary election. In fact, Perez conceded the race the day after Election Day.

For three days after the May 23 special election to fill a vacant Valley-based state Senate seat, giddy Republicans were calling Hanford cherry farmer Andy Vidak "senator-elect." Then came news that an Election Day ballot surge by his rival, Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez, had forced a runoff, and her Democratic Party supporters dubbed her the "comeback kid." Now, Perez and Vidak — the top two finishers in the five-person primary — will square off in a one-on-one midsummer showdown for the 16th District state Senate seat, which became vacant when Bakersfield Democrat Michael Rubio resigned in February to take...

Democratic Rep. Jim Costa has declared victory in his race against Republican challenger Andy Vidak. New vote tallies from Fresno County put Costa 1,200 votes ahead of Vidak — Costa was losing to Vidak Tuesday by 145 votes — and his campaign believes his lead will continue to increase as the final absentee ballots are counted. “This has been a hard-fought campaign. It appears that it is now over. I believe our 1,200-vote margin will not only stand up, but will increase as the remaining few ballots are counted,” Costa said in a statement Wednesday evening.

A new SurveyUSA poll shows Democrat Jim Costa trailing Republican Andy Vidak by 10 points, 42% to 52%. Obama won the Fresno-based district with 60% of the vote in 2008, and Cook Political Report has the race rated "Leans Democrat." An interesting fact from Cook (subscription required): "This district is now 67 percent Hispanic, but it also has a serious cultural conservative streak. Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban passed statewide [in 2008], garnered 72 percent of the vote here." The provision to fund abortion coverage in Obamacare is probably hurting Costa in this district--SurveyUSA reports that 56% of likely...