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Tight US House races in California as GOP maintains control over the chamber
Legal Information |
2024/11/14 10:23
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Republicans and Democrats awaited the outcome of vote-counting for crucial U.S. House districts in California on Wednesday, as the GOP clinched majority control of the chamber next year with a race call in neighboring Arizona.
In a rematch from 2022, Rep. Ken Calvert — the longest-serving Republican in the state’s congressional delegation — defeated rival Democrat Will Rollins in the 41st District, which lies east of Los Angeles and was a top target for national Democrats.
In Southern California’s Orange County, Democrat Dave Min defeated Republican Scott Baugh in a closely divided swing district, ending Baugh’s bid to seize the seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter in what was once a conservative stronghold.
The 47th District, southeast of Los Angeles, was a top target for national Republicans looking to protect and possibly expand the their narrow majority.
Calvert, who was backed by President-elect Donald Trump, claimed his 17th term in a district narrowly carried by Trump in 2020.
“This is a hard-fought victory that shows voters want someone who will put results above partisan politics,” Calvert said in a post on the social platform X.
Min, also posting on X, said that in Congress he will “fight to protect our democracy, safeguard our freedoms and expand economic opportunity.”
Baugh said on the same platform that “despite running a strong campaign … that effort is going to come up a little short.”
On Tuesday, Republican Rep. David Valadao’s victory in California’s 22nd District moved Republicans within two wins of retaining the House gavel, with the tally 216-207 in favor of the GOP, as counting continued in a sliver of races across the country.
With Calvert’s win, the Republican tally reached 217. That became 218 on Wednesday night, securing a majority margin, as Rep. Juan Ciscomani won reelection to a seat representing southeastern Arizona. Some squeaker races remained in play in California.
In the 45th District, anchored in Orange County, Republican Rep. Michelle Steel’s lead over Democrat Derek Tran was whittled down to a few hundred votes as counting continued.
California is known as a liberal protectorate — Democrats hold every statewide office, dominate the Legislature and congressional delegation and outnumber registered Republicans by a staggering 2-1 ratio. Still, Republicans retain pockets of political clout in the Southern California suburbs and vast rural stretches, including the Central Valley farm belt.
Orange County was once considered conservative holy ground, where white, suburban homeowners delivered winning margins for Republicans year after year. It was a foundational block in the Reagan revolution. But the county has become more demographically diverse and Democratic over time, like much of the state.
The 47th District, which includes Huntington Beach and other famous surf breaks, has been occupied by Porter, a progressive favorite who in 2022 narrowly defeated Baugh, a former Republican legislator. Porter, known for grilling CEOs during Capitol Hill hearings, stepped aside to run for U.S. Senate, but lost in the primary.
Given the stakes in the closely divided district, the contest was especially rancorous. Min ads called Baugh a “MAGA extremist” who would endanger abortion rights. Baugh said Min’s “extreme liberal views” were out of step with the district. |
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Election 2024 highlights: Republicans win House majority of 218 seats
Law Firm Press Release |
2024/11/11 10:25
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The past two years of Republican House control were defined by infighting as hardline conservative factions sought to gain influence and power by openly defying their party leadership. While Johnson — at times with Trump’s help — largely tamed open rebellions against his leadership, the right wing of the party is ascendant and ambitious on the heels of Trump’s election victory.
The Republican majority also depends on a small group of lawmakers who won tough elections by running as moderates. It remains to be seen whether they will stay on board for some of the most extreme proposals championed by Trump and his allies.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, is trying to keep Democrats relevant to any legislation that passes Congress, an effort that will depend on Democratic leaders unifying over 200 members, even as the party undergoes a postmortem of their election losses.
When Trump was elected as president in 2016, Republicans also swept Congress, but he still encountered Republican leaders resistant to his policy ideas, as well as a Supreme Court with a liberal majority. Not this time.
When he returns to the White House, Trump will be working with a Republican Party that has been completely transformed by his “MAGA movement” and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices, including three that he appointed.
“Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week. “The American people want us to implement and deliver that ‘America First’ agenda.”
Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump.
A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats.
With hard-fought yet thin majorities, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and swiftly implement Trump’s vision for the country.
The incoming president has promised to carry out the country’s largest-ever deportation operation, extend tax breaks, punish his political enemies, seize control of the federal government’s most powerful tools and reshape the U.S. economy. The GOP election victories ensure that Congress will be onboard for that agenda, and Democrats will be almost powerless to check it. |
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High court won’t review Kari Lake’s appeal over 2022 governor’s race defeat
Attorney Interview |
2024/11/08 08:19
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The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to hear Republican Kari Lake’s latest appeal over her defeat in the 2022 governor’s race, marking yet another loss in her attempt to overturn the race’s outcome.
The court made its refusal to take up the former TV anchor’s appeal public on Thursday without explaining its decision.
Lake, now locked in a U.S. Senate race against Democrat Ruben Gallego, had lost the governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs by over 17,000 votes.
The courts had previously rejected Lake’s claims that problems with ballot printers at some Maricopa County polling places on Election Day in 2022 were the result of intentional misconduct and that Maricopa County didn’t verify signatures on mail ballots as required by law. A judge also turned down Lake’s request to examine the ballot envelopes of 1.3 million early voters. In all, Lake had three trials related to the 2022 election.
Despite her earlier losses in court and a ruling affirming Hobbs’ victory, Lake had asked the Arizona Supreme Court to review her case, claiming she had new evidence to support her claims. Lawyers for Maricopa County told the court that Lake failed to present any new evidence that would change the courts’ findings.
Lake is among the most vocal of Republican candidates promoting lies that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election over President Joe Biden, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign for governor. While most other election deniers around the country conceded after losing their races, Lake did not.
The Lake campaign didn’t respond to an email seeking comment on the Supreme Court’s latest decision.
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Giuliani says he's a victim of 'political persecution' as he's told again to give up assets
Attorney Interview |
2024/11/04 08:19
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A defiant Rudy Giuliani was ordered Thursday to quickly turn over prized assets including a car and a watch given to him by his grandfather as part of a $148 million defamation judgment, leading the former New York City mayor to emerge from court saying he expects to win on appeal and get everything back.
After the hearing in Manhattan federal court, Giuliani said he was the victim of a “political vendetta” and he was “pretty sure” the judgment could be reversed.
“This is a case of political persecution,” he told reporters, citing the size of what he described as a punitive judgment. “There isn’t a person (who) doesn’t know the judgment is ridiculous.”
Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered the one-time presidential candidate to report to court after lawyers for the two former Georgia election workers who were awarded the massive judgment visited Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week only to discover it had been cleared out weeks earlier.
Lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, say Giuliani has mostly dodged turning over assets by an Oct. 29 deadline, enabling the longtime ally of once-and-future President Donald Trump to hang on to many of his most treasured belongings.
The possessions include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall, a shirt signed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, dozens of luxury watches and other valuables.
During Thursday’s hearing, Giuliani attorney Kenneth Caruso said he believed the plaintiffs were being “vindictive” in demanding that items to be turned over include a watch that belonged to Giuliani’s grandfather.
That comment drew a scoff and rebuke from Liman, who said individuals are forced to give up family heirlooms all the time to satisfy debts.
“They have to pay the debt. It doesn’t matter that it’s in the form of a watch or a watch that somebody passes down to him,” the judge said.
Caruso also claimed that the car was worth less than $4,000, an amount that might exempt it from the turnover order. But the judge said he’d already ordered that the car be turned over.
“Your honor has ample discretion to change an order,” Caruso said. When he arrived at the courthouse, Giuliani told reporters that he has not stood in the way of the court’s orders.
“Every bit of property that they want is available, if they are entitled to it,” he said. “Now, the law says they’re not entitled to a lot of them. For example, they want my grandfather’s watch, which is 150 years old. That’s a bit of an heirloom. Usually you don’t get those unless you’re involved in a political persecution. In fact, having me here today is like a political persecution.”
Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the election workers, told Liman that most of the New York apartment’s contents, including art, sports memorabilia and other valuables, had been moved out about four weeks prior to an attempt to recover the materials. Some of was believed stored on Long Island in a container Giuliani’s lawyer said they could not access.
At the hearing, Nathan complained that efforts to get assets were met by “delay and then evasion” and that Giuliani had only recently revealed the existence of new bank accounts containing about $40,000 in cash.
Giuliani spoke directly to the judge at one point, saying he’d been “treated rudely” by those trying to take control of his assets.
His lawyers have so far argued unsuccessfully that Giuliani should not be forced to turn over his belongings while he appeals the judgment.
Giuliani was found liable for defamation for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of ballot fraud as he pushed Trump’s unsubstantiated election fraud allegations during the 2020 campaign.
The women said they faced death threats after Giuliani accused the two of sneaking in ballots in suitcases, counting ballots multiple times and tampering with voting machines.
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