Democrats dominate California but face challenges after election

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Set us as preferred For all their dominance, California Democrats will emerge from Tuesday’s election facing considerable challenges.As polls show nearly 6 out of 10 Californians believe the state is going in the wrong direction and even more anticipate bad financial times ahead, the state’s new governor and legislators will have to confront some chronic problems, including a severe budget deficit, housing unaffordability, homelessness, and rising energy and insurance costs.

They will also have to grapple with difficult decisions on whether the state can provide Medi-Cal healthcare to low-income residents, how to make the state more resilient to climate change, and who pays for wildfire damage.“There’s not going to be a long honeymoon period,” said Mark Baldassare, the survey director at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.Californians are in a “pretty grumpy mood,” Baldassare said.Although their dissatisfaction is mostly hyperpartisan, with Democrats pointing the finger at President Trump and Congress as Republicans blame Gov.

Gavin Newsom and Sacramento legislators, he said, a majority of Californians are worried about the state of the economy and want to see better government performance.Affordability and housingFor voters, a key concern is unaffordability.More than half of Californians rank cost of living, inflation and the economy — along with housing cost and availability — as the most important issues facing California today.The state has long suffered from a housing shortage, driven largely by local zoning restrictions, high construction costs and lengthy permitting bureaucracy.

Newsom made housing a centerpiece of his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, initially pledging to build 3.5 million homes by 2025.He has largely fallen short of that goal.Since Newsom took office in 2019, about ...