'Blue wave' very real in California: Democrat Katie Porter takes late lead over incumbent

William Cummings | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Some have suggested that a "blue wave" never actually materialized on Election Day, but for California Republicans, it was very real and very rough.

At least four incumbent Republican House members were swept away in California by last week's election and two more are still at risk as votes continue to be counted.

Democrat Katie Porter jumped ahead by 261 votes over two-term Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange County, which had been considered a Republican stronghold in a state where Democrats hold a 3.7 million voter advantage in registration. Another Orange County Republican, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, was defeated in his re-election bid for a 16th term, and the seat held by retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa also flipped.

And Democrats still have hopes of sweeping all four Republican Orange County seats. Republican Young Kim's razor-thin lead over Democrat Gil Cisneros in the state's 39th Congressional District has narrowed to just 711 votes.

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In the state's farm belt, first-time candidate Josh Harder, a 32-year-old venture capitalist, was declared the winner in his race against four-term Republican Rep. Jeff Denham, 51. Harder made Denham's vote against the Affordable Care Act a focus of his campaign and vowed to fight for universal health care.

Denham held a slight lead on Election Day, but Harder overtook the incumbent as the vote count continued and eventually widened his lead to an insurmountable 4,919 votes.

It was an expensive contest. Harder raised more than $6.5 million to Denham's $4.5 million. And at least 26 outside groups spent another $10 million trying to influence the race, according to California Target Book, which analyzes campaigns.

Another Republican incumbent from California to give up his seat was Rep. Steve Knight, who lost by nearly 10,000 votes to Democratic challenger Katie Hill in a district north of Los Angeles.

With Harder's win, Democrats now hold at least 43 of California's 53 seats in the U.S. House.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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