SAN DIEGO (KGTV)- Primary election results are still coming in across California, but early numbers show Republican candidates building leads in two high-stakes races.
In the race for the newly redrawn 48th Congressional District, Republican San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond has taken a commanding early lead and is projected to advance to the November general election. Democrat Marni von Wilpert is also projected to move on.
In the race for governor, Republican Steve Hilton — endorsed by Donald Trump — is also leading in early returns.
Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, said the Republican leads may be partly explained by how each party approached the primary.
"Republicans fielded relatively few candidates, right? Jim Desmond as the sole major Republican in the 48th Congressional District, Steve Hilton as the Donald Trump endorsee who really pulled away from his party in the governor's race, whereas the Democrats had multiple candidates running in both of those elections, splitting their vote," Kousser said.
Kousser said the early numbers are promising for Republicans, but they do not clearly signal a broader shift in the state's political direction.
"If there's one Democrat and one Republican on the ballot, the parties consolidate, vote the party line, uh, and Californians are over and over again choosing Democrats right now in this era," Kousser said.
Political analysts say Republicans also benefited from a more unified voting front in the early returns.
"Republicans were voting early. Democrats are holding on until the last few days to decide because they're trying to figure out how this crowded field of Democrats would shape up," Kousser said.
Despite the Republican leads, Kousser said the results still point to a divide among voters in some key races.
"If you look at the long-term future, even if we're not likely to see a Republican takeover of the governor's office or some of these key battleground races this year, I think this is a signal that as always, there are many people who would like to see California move in a different direction," Kousser said.
With months remaining before the general election, both parties will need to assess these results and determine whether they reflect a broader political shift among California voters.
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