Although we are still waiting for more votes to be counted, based on results as of yesterday, all the statewide Republican candidates far exceeded their party’s registration. According to the October 24, 2022 Report of Registration, 48.98% of the voters are Democrats, 21.99% are Republicans, 22.53% are registered as No Party Preference, and the other 6.5% are split among the various smaller parties.
Six of the seven statewide Republican candidates received 42%-43% of the vote. That is nearly double Republican voter registration. Their Democratic opponents received 57%-58% which is only about 8% more than voter registration.
Given the fact that six of the seven statewide candidates for partisan seats did not run comprehensive campaigns and that they have very similar vote totals, we can presume that party affiliation played the most substantial role in the votes they received. This is not a surprise, but usually there are contested races so the vote totals are a result of numerous factors. In this election, we have six similar races to compare.
Once the final votes have been counted, those standing around the water cooler should look at voter turnout by party, then compare that data with the final vote turnouts.
The candidates for State Controller have slightly different numbers. This was the only statewide race that was arguably competitive. It is an open seat. The Republican candidate raised a significant amount of money and received all of the major newspaper endorsements. Lahnee Chen (R) received 46.4% and Malia Cohen (D) received 53.6%
| Republican Candidate | Democrat Candidate | |
| Governor | 42.7% | 57.3% |
| Lt. Governor | 42.1% | 57.9% |
| Secretary of State | 41.8% | 58.2% |
| Treasurer | 42.8% | 57.2% |
| Attorney General | 42.7% | 57.3% |
| Insurance Comm. | 42.0% | 58.0% |
| Controller | 46.3% | 53.7% |