The congressional race is another indication that social conservatives can't win in the Golden State, especially in solidly blue districts

It's tough for a Republican to win California's 36th congressional district, where Democrats enjoy a sizable registration advantage, but it seemed like this could be the year. The competition, L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, had a long record of squandering time on ill-advised initiatives. She upset some Democrats during the primary campaign. And turnout was guaranteed to be low, a possible opening for a long shot challenger with an enthusiastic base of support.

Early Wednesday morning, however, unofficial results showed that the Democrats won anyway, defeating challenger Craig Huey by a comfortable margin, 54.6 percent to 45.4 percent. "While Hahn's 9-point margin of victory was far under the district's nearly 18-point Democratic registration advantage," National Journal reports, "her get out the vote efforts -- aided in the final days by a robocall from former President Bill Clinton and phone-banks organized by Obama for America -- likely made a difference." The Atlantic's in depth primer on the race is here. It explains why neither candidate was desirable (and recounts Hahn's dogged pursuit of a wild alligator).