House wins part of a major realignment in Southern California

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Democrat Gil Cisneros on Saturday won a US seat in the US House of Representatives in Southern California, ending a democratic debacle in which the party won six congressional seats .

In what had been the last undecided House contest in California, Cisneros beat Republican Young Kim for the 39th district headquarters of the state. The Cisneros victory marks a staggering political realignment that will leave a vast expanse of the Los Angeles metropolitan area under democratic control in the House.

With Kim's defeat, four Republican-owned House Districts, wholly or partly in Orange County, California, the former nationally known GOP stronghold southeast of Los Angeles, will have gone from an election to the Democratic column. This change means that the county – the birthplace of Richard Nixon and the site of his presidential library – will only have Democrats representing his residents in Washington next year.

Democrats have also recently won the last seat of the Republican-held House of Commons, anchored in Los Angeles County, when Democrat Katie Hill overthrew Republican Rep. Steve Knight.

With other gains – the Republicans have also lost a seat in the Central Agricultural Valley – the Democrats will hold a 45-8 advantage in the US House in California next year.

The district was one of seven countries targeted by California Democrats after Hillary Clinton took them to the 2016 presidential election.

Cisneros, 47, winner of the $ 266 million lottery lottery, had been stuck in a tight race with Kim in an increasingly diverse district. This is roughly equally divided between Republicans, Democrats and Independents, as is the case with Asians, Hispanics and Whites.

Kim, 55, a former state legislator, worked for years for retired Republican Rep. Ed Royce, who stepped down from her position and endorsed her.

In a state where President Donald Trump is unpopular, Kim sought to create a distance with the White House on trade and health care. His immigrant background – and his sex – made him stand out in a political party whose leaders in Washington are mostly older white men.

"I am a different type of candidate," she said.

This was not enough. Democratic ads described her as a Trump submarine, eager to carry out her program.

Cisneros, a candidate for the first time, described his interest in Congress as an extension of his time in the army. He said that it was a public service. He runs a charitable foundation with his wife.

In health, he talked about his mother who remained uninsured for 16 years. "It just should not happen in this country," he said.

The election results in the United States have been mixed, but California's reputation as a democratic fortress has been affirmed.

Democrats are on the right track to occupy all positions in the state – again. The party holds a supermajority in both houses of the legislature – and a benefit of 3.7 million euros in voter registration.

There was not even a Republican on the US Senate ballot.