PRIMARIES

Calif. Races Shake Up House

Both parties see big gains.

Move over, Wisconsin, the new district map in California could make it a battleground state for the U.S. House. Under the state’s new top two primary system, runoff elections will take place in all of California’s congressional, Assembly, and Senate districts—although not all the candidates will be from different political parties. Even before Tuesday’s races, eight veterans of the U.S. House were driven into retirement—although Democrats believe they can pick up five seats, and send Nancy Pelosi back into the House speaker’s chair. But Republicans also believe they can win big with the new system over the long term—saying that it could make the GOP a competitive party in the state. Meanwhile, California voters approved a new term-limit system, but defeated a measure to raise the tobacco tax for the first time in decades—a measure that had heavy support from the American Cancer Society.