As Republicans celebrated a nationwide red wave, California voters affirmed the state’s strong blue politics, with Democratic candidates achieving strong results for state and federal offices.

Like the prospect of a second presidency of Donald Trump weighed heavily on California, the state elected a new American senator in the person of Adam Schiff. A Democrat from Burbank, Schiff made a name for himself nationally in the U.S. House of Representatives by leading the prosecution of Trump’s first impeachment and for his key role in the investigation into the capture from the Capitol on January 6.

Democrats also led the most hotly contested races. represent California in Congressand they were running races that would expand their supermajority in the State Legislaturewhich puts the state in a good position to lead the resistance to a second Trump presidency.

But California voters were reluctant to fully embrace a progressive agenda. They spent a ballot initiative to increase criminal penaltiesa measure that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the progressive wing of the legislature had opposed. They once again rejected a ballot initiative that would have allowed a extension of rent control.

And they also ousted a progressive district attorney from Los Angeles County, the state’s largest.

“It’s just one of those things where allegiance to Democratic candidates and support for Democratic candidates doesn’t always mean allegiance to all progressive causes,” said Paul Mitchell, an election analyst.

Media outlets called Democrat Kamala Harris the winner of the state’s electoral votes as soon as polls closed at 8 p.m., and also quickly called the race for the U.S. Senate seat long held by Democrat Dianne Feinstein. Schiff was victorious against Steve Garvey, a former LA Dodgers star seeking to become the first statewide elected Republican in 18 years. Schiff won a six-year term to replace Sen. Laphonza Butler, who decided not to run for re-election after being appointed by Newsom to replace Feinstein, who died last year.

Democrats have taken early leads in four of six contested congressional elections, key seats that could allow Democrats to maintain control of that chamber and serve as a bulwark against Trump.

The Associated Press has yet to ask who controls the Chamber of Deputies and it could take days or longer to determine the winners of many of these hotly contested races, particularly in California.

On ballot measures, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36, which progressives opposed, which increases penalties for certain crimes, and partial vote totals show they reject progressive-sponsored Proposition 6, which would ban forced labor in prisons. Proposition 33, which would expand rent control, failed.

Prop. 32, which increase the minimum wagewas too close to follow, as were several others statewide proposals.

Meanwhile, Democrats led their Republican opponents in three contested legislative seats, which would expand the supermajority they need to raise taxes or put initiatives on the ballot without a single Republican vote.

But if the early vote totals hold, Mike Gatto, a former Democratic lawmaker from Los Angeles, warned members of his party not to view this as a decision by California’s electorate to embrace far-left policies in response to Trump’s return to power. that California voters appear to have demonstrated, through the state’s electoral initiatives, a more moderate agenda. Seduced by the national election results, Gatto said California’s Democratic elected officials should be careful not to appear too liberal.

“I think it would be wise for California Democrats to try to moderate the agenda a little bit,” Gatto said.

In Los Angeles County, voters chose Nathan Hochman — a former federal prosecutor who ran for state attorney general as a Republican in 2022 — to replace outgoing District Attorney George Gascón, a progressive.

Some experts say the votes show California has more nuanced political views than its national reputation as a liberal stronghold suggests.

Christian Grose, a professor of political science at the University of Southern California, considers the situation to be fairly typical of California.

“The state in general still seems to be moving Democratic and could tilt the House of Representatives toward the Democrats,” he said, “while supporting policies that are sometimes a little more conservative and a little more liberal.”

A caveat about California’s overnight election results: For some of the closest elections, it can be weeks before we know the final result. Although this fueled voter distrust, the reasons are not bad.

Since 2020, California has mailed a ballot to every registered voter — a convenience that requires additional verification from local elections officials upon return, including authenticating the signature and verifying that the voter does not. has not already voted in another jurisdiction before counting it. Counting requires much more manual labor, as workers must open envelopes, extract ballots, line them up for counting machines and duplicate any damaged ballots that cannot be read.

California accepts ballots that arrive up to seven days late, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, and gives voters the opportunity to correct missing or inconsistent signatures. These delays are deliberate, in order to minimize the number of legitimate voters disqualified for procedural reasons and to ensure a safe and accurate count.

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CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff contributed to this story.

CalMatters.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media company explaining California politics and politics.