CA REPUBLICAN WINS SEAT IN DIST. WITH 60% HISPANICS, 22-PT. DEM ADV.

◼ Andy Vidak, the Republican farmer, won the special election runoff for the 16th District Senate seat when his opponent, Democrat Leticia Perez, a Kern County Supervisor, conceded on Wednesday, a day after voters cast their ballots. Vidak had 54% of the vote to Perez's 46%. - Tony Lee/Breitbart

Perez had initially conceded two months ago when the special election was held. But a recount put Vidak under the 50% threshold that was needed to avoid a runoff, and Perez took back her concession nearly a week after the initial election. The seat became vacant when the Democrat, who won the seat in 2010 by 21 points, resigned to work for Chevron. Democrats thought, especially with a Hispanic female candidate, the seat would be a shoo-in for them. The veto-proof supermajority Democrats have in the state Senate is now imperiled with Vidak's victory....

As Breitbart News had previously reported, though, "Vidak, a working class candidate, resonated with working class Hispanics in the district who also saw how coastal California elites were not putting their bread-and-butter interests first."

...It is often said that California is a harbinger of things to come for the country. For Republicans looking at California, there has not been much of hope of late, but Vidak's victory could be a sign that areas that have traditionally voted for Democrats may give the right kind of Republican a chance as they see unemployment rates increase and opportunities for upward mobility decrease in their communities.