CA-10: What a Garamendi Victory Means
Garamendi is expected to win today's special election.
Polls close in California's special election to replace former Rep. Ellen Tauscher in the 10th Congressional District at 8pm local time, but most observers discount any shot Republican David Harmer has to win in this heavily Democratic district.
John Garamendi, the state's current lieutenant governor, dropped out of next year's governor's race to make a play for this seat, and he is likely to do just that.
David Dayen wrote that a Garamendi victory is not yet another Democrat taking over a previous Democrat's seat. Rather, it is a transition from the Democratic centrists to the progressive caucus.
Democratic seat, “near San Francisco,” no big deal. A Democrat replaces a Democrat in Congress. Ho-hum.
Except the difference between the departed Ellen Tauscher and the incoming John Garamendi is numerous. Tauscher led the pro-business New Democrats; Garamendi, the state’s Lieutenant Governor, is one of California’s leading progressives and a longtime single-payer advocate. Tauscher ran away from progressive values; Garamendi charges toward them. Tauscher and her allies were fond of explaining that CA-10 was a moderate district and only moderates could win there; Garamendi ran as himself and will win today. In fact, because of the prominence of vote-by-mail in California, he probably already has.
One cannot help but to chuckle at the attempts of the conservative media and their allies to try to spin the race as competitive. Noel Sheppard, an "editor" of the far-right website, claimed in a FOX News opinion piece, "Today's Big Political Earthquake Could Be In California."
