Bercerra Wins, Kounalakis Leading Among California Statewide Offices

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- California's appointed Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra has won election after promising voters he will keep fighting Trump administration policies.

Becerra says he's "honored and elated" after defeated Republican challenger Steven Bailey on Tuesday with more than 58 percent of the vote. Bailey, a former Superior Court judge, consistently trailed in the polls.

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Becerra last year as the state's first Latino attorney general after Kamala Harris left the job when she was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Meanwhile, Democrat Betty Yee fended off a Republican challenger and won re-election as California controller.

Yee defeated Konstantinos Roditis with nearly 61 percent of the vote.

The controller serves as the state's top accountant and audits various state programs, and has seats on several state boards and the State Lands Commission.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Eleni Kounalakis, a former diplomat, was leading Ed Hernandez, a state senator, in the race for lieutenant governor.

The contest is a Democrat-on-Democrat matchup after no Republican finished in the top two spots during June's blanket primary.

Both Kounalakis and Hernandez advanced after raising substantial money to get their names in front of voters and replace Gavin Newsom, the heavy favorite to be the next governor.

Although the job holds little real power, it's seen as a launching pad into higher office.

The lieutenant governor serves as a University of California regent, a California State University trustee and as a state lands commissioner overseeing conservation and public access. The lieutenant also acts as governor when the top executive is away.

Both candidates say they want to lower college costs, and both oppose oil drilling off the California coast.

If elected, Kounalakis would be the first woman to hold the position. She emphasizes her background as a developer and former ambassador to Hungary.

Kounalakis vows to stop sexual harassment in workplaces, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure women receive equal pay for equal work.

Hernandez, chair of the Senate Health Committee, authored a bill increasing transparency around drug pricing last year. It passed over opposition from pharmaceutical companies.

He also had a hand in passing laws to protect access to clean air and water, increase funding for schools and career education programs, and provide one year of free community college.

He says he wants to protect against sexual harassment, hold abusers accountable, and remove offenders from office.

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Republican-turned-independent Steve Poizner had the edge over Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara as they vie for insurance commissioner. Either candidate will break ground for a California statewide office. Poizner, a former insurance commissioner, would be the first independent to win such an election and Lara would be the first openly gay statewide officeholder.

The Department of Insurance enforces insurance laws, licenses and regulates companies and investigates fraud.

Poizner, a wealthy Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur who lost a bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2010, ran as an independent because he said the office should be free of politics.

Lara, who authored a failed bill that would have provided state-run health insurance, said that remains a top priority.

Poizner has said he would focus on making sure homeowners have adequate protection against wildfires and other natural disasters.

Both have promised not to take insurance money, though Lara had to give back money he took from the political action committee of the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer.

SECRETARY OF STATE

California's Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla has been re-elected after campaigning on his record of sparring with President Donald Trump.

Padilla defeated Republican Mark Meuser Tuesday to keep his position as the top state official overseeing elections. He won with 59 percent of the vote.

Padilla often denounced the president's unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in California. He won his first term in November 2014.

TREASURER

Democrat Fiona Ma is the voters' choice to replace outgoing Treasurer John Chiang. Ma defeated Republican Greg Conlon with 59 percent of the vote.

The treasurer manages the state's money and sits on the boards of California's public employee pension funds.

Ma, a State Board of Equalization member and former assemblywoman, vows to make socially responsible investments with the state's money.

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Los Angeles schools executive Marshall Tuck has a narrow early lead as he vies to be the state's top public education official.

After the first wave of votes was counted Tuesday night, Tuck led Assemblyman Tony Thurmond in the superintendent race.

The race has become a proxy battle in a larger fight over how best to improve California schools. On one side of the debate are powerful teachers unions, which back Thurmond. On the other side are wealthy charter-school and education-reform proponents, which support Tuck.

Thurmond has stressed opposing the Trump administration's agenda, including proposals to transfer money from traditional public schools to charters.

Tuck has emphasized giving families a choice in the schools their children attend, including nonprofit charter schools. His donors include charter school advocates such as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Tuck ran for the seat unsuccessfully in 2014. Incumbent Tom Torlakson beat him with union backing.

Tuck and Thurmond both want to spend more on public schools and ban for-profit charter schools.

Thurmond and Tuck are Democrats, but the race is nonpartisan and their party affiliation won't appear on the ballot.

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