Results: Democratic Rep. Josh Harder defeats Republican Tom Patti in California's 9th Congressional District election

Hanna Kang,Katie Balevic
·3 min read
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Patti Harder 2x1
Tom Patti's campaign; Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo; Insider

  • Rep. Josh Harder defeated Republican Tom Patti in California's 9th Congressional District.

  • San Joaquin County makes up the majority of the 9th District.

  • In 2018, Harder became one of seven congressional newcomers who flipped California districts from Republican to Democratic control.

Democratic Rep. Josh Harder defeated Republican Tom Patti in California's 9th Congressional District.

Polls closed in the state at 8 p.m. local time, or 11 p.m. EST.

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California's 9th Congressional District candidates

Harder is a member of the Committees on Agriculture and Appropriations and currently represents the 10th District. When the decennial redistricting process broke up his current district, Harder initially announced his run for the new 13th District. He later switched his candidacy to the 9th District after longtime Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney announced he would not seek reelection.

Prior to his time in Congress, Harder worked as a consultant, a venture capital investor, and taught business at Modesto Junior College.

Harder was elected to the US House in 2018, becoming one of seven congressional newcomers who flipped California districts from Republican to Democratic control after he defeated incumbent Rep. Jeff Denham.

Patti, Harder's challenger, is a San Joaquin County Supervisor and businessman. Patti came in second in the eight-way nonpartisan primary, bringing in 28.6% of the vote to Harder's 37.8%. Both men advanced to the general election under California's rules.

In November, California voters also voted on a constitutional amendment on abortion rights. Harder is a supporter of abortion rights and voted in favor of the Women's Health Protection Act. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Patti said he would not vote for a federal abortion ban and that he would follow the "will of voters."

Voting history for California's 9th Congressional District

California's 9th Congressional District is centered in Stockton, and San Joaquin County makes up the majority of the district.

President Joe Biden had an 18 percentage point margin of victory over President Donald Trump under the district's previous boundaries in 2020. The newly-drawn district lost the heavily Democratic Contra Costa County cities of Brentwood and Oakley in redistricting following the release of the 2020 Census, making it slightly less Democratic-leaning.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Harder raised about $6.1 million, spent more than $6.4 million, and had about $3.1 million on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Patti, raised $1.4 million, spent about $1 million, and had $423,000 cash on hand, as of October 19.

As of late October, several super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups had together spent $71,899 to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase, with national-level committees all but avoiding this race.

What experts say

The race between Harder and Patti was rated as "likely Democratic" by Inside Elections, "likely Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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