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One year after an effort to recall him fell flat, Gov. Gavin Newsom cruised Tuesday evening to a November runoff election in his bid for another term leading the state, easily topping a field of two dozen challengers.
Newsom, who collected more than 60% of the vote, will square off in the race against Republican Brian Dahle, who earned about 15%.
Incumbents across the board in statewide offices easily advanced to the November runoff -- lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, insurance commissioner and superintendent of public instruction.
Only the controller's office was up for grabs, with Betty Yee termed out of office. Four Democrats -- state Board of Equalization member Malia Cohen, Los Angeles city Controller Ron Galperin, state Sen. Steve Glazer and Monterey Park City Councilwoman Yvonne Yiu -- and one Republican -- Lanhee Chen -- were vying for that post.
Chen was easily leading the field and will advance to the November runoff, likely against Cohen.
The top two vote-getters in all of the races advance to the November general election, regardless of political party.
Meanwhile, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, was on Tuesday's ballot twice. Padilla was appointed to the Senate seat when Kamala Harris became vice president, and he ran to both complete the current term, which runs through the end of the year, and to claim a fresh six-year term in the office.
Hence, there were two Senate races on the ballot -- with Padilla easily winning the right to fill out the current term. In his bid for a full six-year term, Padilla will square off in November with Republican Mark Meuser, a constitutional law attorney from Pasadena.