It doesn’t speak well of your campaign if a historic sweep by your party and the death of your opponent still aren’t enough to secure a victory. Democrat Jenny Oropeza, who died of cancer two weeks before the election, still defeated her opponent by a landslide in a California state Senate race. Oropeza died too close to election day for Democrats to replace her on the ballot, so they encouraged people to vote for her anyway. Republicans, noting that Democrats didn’t directly mention Oropeza’s death in their direct mailers, have cried foul. Oropeza won with 58 percent of the vote, compared to Republican John Stammreich’s 38 percent. A special election will likely be held in the next three to four months to fill the vacant seat.
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