Wait a minute, are the Democrats having a moment in Inyo?
The recent primary election had some interesting results that could reflect a bit of a change in the big political picture here in Inyo County. And by “big picture” I’m talking about state and national politics.
While Inyo has a bit of a reputation as a laid back outpost when it comes to politics (local elections aside), I am guessing local Republican and Democrat party enthusiasts will have plenty to chew over as they bite into the latest round of election results (the 7th semi-official report came out this week).
At first glance, it appears the Democrats are having a bit of a moment in Inyo.
This is surprising, since the county has been reliably Republican since the 1950s. There was a hint of a possible realignment during the 2020 General Election. Joe Biden won Inyo in 2020 by 14 votes over Donald Trump, giving the Dems their first Inyo presidential win since the 1950s. However, all the down ballot results were, once again, reliably Republican.
The March primary provides the most recent look at the county’s voters. Tempered, it should be noted, by a low turnout of about 55%. That’s about 30 percentage points below the 2020 General Election.
It is no surprise the Donald Trump easily won the Republican primary contest in Inyo. It is a bit of a surprise that 17% of the county’s Republicans voted for someone besides Trump, who only received 83% of the vote. The three former or current Republican governors challenging Trump all got some support. Niki Haley led the challengers with about 14%, with Ron Desantis and even Chris Christie picking up a smattering of votes each.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, has an iron grip on the county’s Democrats, racking up 91% of the vote.
California’s “jungle primary” for state offices puts all the candidates from both parties on one ballot with the top two vote-getters moving on. That makes direct comparisons a bit unreliable.
The U.S. Senate race was interesting. The leading Republican candidate, former LA Dodger Steve Garvey, took 42.6% of the Inyo vote, easily topping the field. But there were three well-known Democrats in the race, too. Their combined vote total came in at 44.5%, topping Garvey. The raw vote was 2,369 for Garvey and 2,475 for the three Democrats. Congressman Adam Schiff came in second overall with about 27%, with Barbara Lee and Katie Porter also getting votes.
Of course, there is a long list of other, lesser-known Republicans and Democrats, so where their voters will end up in November is hard to guess.
Nonetheless, having more voters support Democrats then the Republican for a Senate seat is a bit of an eye-opener.
Our incumbent Congressman, Republican Kevin Kiley, took about 55% of the Inyo vote. Solid, but not exactly a landslide. Same for our District 8 State Assembly race, where Republicans David Tangipa and George Radanovich took about 54% of the Inyo vote.
The two incumbent Inyo Supervisors, 2nd District Supervisor Jeff Griffiths and 4th District Supervisor Jen Roeser both garnered about 62% of the vote in their districts. One interesting point: The 4th District turnout hit 1,248, while only 956 voters in the 2nd District voted.
The 5th District race was a real race, with six candidates vying to replace retiring incumbent Matt Kingsley. And they all had their pockets of support. Two of them will be squaring off in November. Dan Berry led the way with 34.7% with Will “The Handyman” Wadelton hanging on to the second spot with 18.4%. Ash Seiter and Laura Blystone each had about 15%, which is impressive. Aaron Cassell and Spencer McNeal are in 5th and 6th place.
Now we get to suffer through a political summer before wrapping up this election year in November.
OPINION
(Jon Klusmire of Bishop has never seen election results he can’t bloviate about.)