Vote counting continues in California three weeks after the 2018 election, and thanks to the latest round of ballot-updating by Kern County, Democrat TJ Cox has pulled ahead of Rep. David Valadao. Rep. David Valadao– another GOP casualty of Trumpism. As it stands, Cox leads Valadao by a whole 438 votes. The race is the last outstanding one in the country, following Rep. Mia Love’s concession in her Utah race. Valadao was presumed relatively safe in his race. If certified, his defeat will confirm just how badly the GOP has faltered in California in the era of Donald Trump, and just how ineffective Kevin McCarthy’s strategy of putting a gas tax repeal on the ballot was. Meanwhile, in the neighboring 22nd district, Rep. Devin Nunes– who usually wins with 70 percent of the vote– is down to 53.4 percent ahead of the end of the 30-day canvass period in which vote-by-mail…

It appears that the 2018 midterm election is, in fact, not yet over and it might just finish with Rep. David Valadao losing his race or coming within a hair’s breadth of doing so  in the end. Rep. David Valadao or Valada’oh? Valadao is currently only 1,000 votes ahead of Democrat TJ Cox. That actually puts him in a slightly better position than before the last batch of ballots came in from Tulare County, which voted more heavily for Valadao than Cox. However, the 1,000 vote margin is insanely slim for a district that should by right have stayed red easily, even in a “Blue Wave” year. In the last session of Congress, Valadao shied away from staking out equally strong pro-immigration stances as Rep. Jeff Denham at a time when voters in his district who would normally reliably vote Republican were starting to bail on the party. Many of…

Just minutes ago, the Associated Press announced that Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has indeed lost his re-election battle to Democrat Josh Harder, ticking the number of congressional seats won by Democrats in the Golden State in 2018 up one more. This brings the total number of seats flipped by Democrats so far in California to five with Young Kim leading Gil Cisneros by the smallest of margins. Once all the ballots are counted in that race, Kim could wind up losing, too. As it stands, it appears that David Valadao will hold his seat, albeit narrowly (the margin could come down to two points or fewer). It sure looks like the GOP tax bill, which raised taxes for many Californians by virtue of its treatment of state and local tax deductions, was an electoral loser for the party, helping to cost it a significant block of members who had guaranteed…

Remember House Majority Leader/Speaker wannabe Kevin McCarthy’s scheme to save a bunch of House GOP seats in California by getting the “repeal the gas tax” initiative stuck on the ballot? Well, two days after the election and it looks like the gambit may not be working after all. Apparently, a bunch of ballots remain outstanding and uncounted (potentially as many as 40 percent) in the races of Katie Porter, who challenged Rep. Mimi Walters, and Gil Cisneros, who challenged Assemblywoman Young Kim. The same situation probably applies in the race between Josh Harder and Rep. Jeff Denham. That means that while Walters, Kim and Denham appeared to have won their races on election night, the reality is they may have lost– and in any event, McCarthy’s “repeal the gas tax to save Republicans” scheme did not really work, or all three of the Republicans would be safely across the finish…

Uh-oh… The 2018 midterms are over, the 2020 presidential cycle has begun, Sen. Kamala Harris will almost certainly run and– boom!– Ryan Grim at The Intercept spots her copycatting Michael Avenatti’s dubious fundraising ploys to bring in cash for her own political committee. Check out the photos, via Ryan’s Twitter feed. Here’s Kamala’s email: And here’s what the email directs to: Help Stacey Abrams by giving me your cash! Ryan’s followers, who are mostly hardcore progressives like the ones Kamala needs to win over to, um, win, seem none too happy about this. Some choice quotes: “Call her out. She’s being sleazy & has done nothing in 2 years but write platitude twitter posts every day – as if “problems” she complains about is someone else’s job to fix. F*** these people thinking they can do nothing, have no record of accomplishment & run for prez.” “Seems like a grift…

Last night, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher lost his seat to Harley Rouda in a reasonably predictable result that probably could have been avoided if someone in the national GOP had convinced Rohrabacher to retire and let another candidate run in his stead. But Rohrabacher (R-Russia) was determined to fight on, even going so far as to claim the Russia investigation was “boosting” his campaign (Narrator’s voice: It wasn’t). In hindsight, this photo posted by Democratic political consultant Ben Tribbett, who advised Rouda, looked particularly prescient. Dasvidanya, Dana. Enjoy your In-N-Out!

Last night, the Kevin McCarthy-pushed gas tax repeal ballot initiative went down in flames, while also failing to save the backsides of Diane Harkey, Dana Rohrabacher, and Steve Knight. Republican Carl DeMaio is too sexy for this ballot initiative title. But word is Carl DeMaio, the public face of the initiative, is refusing to let it go and is now threatening to “recall” Attorney General Xavier Becerra over the titling of the initiative. The full wording of the initiative was “Eliminates Recently Enacted Road Repair and Transportation Funding by Repealing Revenues Dedicated For Those Purposes. Requires Any Measure to Enact Certain Vehicle Fuel Taxes and Vehicle Fees Be Submitted to and Approved By the Electorate. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.” Becerra amended it twice before it went on the ballot to address legal concerns raised. De Maio presumably wants Becerra recalled because he wouldn’t just straight up title it “Repeal The Gas Tax.” That…

Remember Montel Williams? It turns out he’s been in a bit of legal trouble in the Golden State due to his advertising on behalf of a payday lender. But in a twist in the case, a federal judge based in Oakland has let Montel off the hook, determining that his marketing activity does not qualify as “racketeering” as alleged in the lawsuit. Montel Williams: Not the new John Gotti Here’s the dirt: Borrowers claimed that Montel and the lender coordinated to “defraud” them and sued under the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). RICO has typically been used in going after organized criminal entities, including the mafia (infamous mafia “don” John Gotti was ultimately convicted under RICO). However, members of the plaintiff bar have recently been pursuing RICO claims against financial services providers as part of class action lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ruled last week from an Oakland…