California voters head to the polls for congressional primaries

After California voters approved a redistricting measure that heavily favored Democrats, several Congressional races are ones to watch in the state's top-two primary elections.

Transcript

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

It's primary day in six states today.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Voters will decide general election matchups in South Dakota, New Mexico, New Jersey, Montana, Iowa and California, where the rules say the top two candidates advance regardless of party. And Democrats hope to put a new map to use.

MARTÍNEZ: Scott Shafer is with member station KQED in San Francisco. He's keeping an eye on some of the more interesting races. So in November, Scott, voters approved new district lines drawn to give the advantage to Democrats. So how realistic are their hopes of replacing Republicans with Democrats in those new districts?

SCOTT SHAFER, BYLINE: Yeah. Well, the new lines were designed to weaken and potentially pick off five current Republican House members. Those new lines caused one Republican incumbent to retire. Another Republican switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent. So flipping three of the five seats now held by Republicans will be fairly easy. But then there are two which are not at all slam-dunks - tough races where Democrats could win if things go their way.

One of those is in the Central Valley, where Republican David Valadao is the incumbent. Now, he's given Democrats heartburn in the past - very tough to beat. This time around, although the district is somewhat more favorable to Democrats, it's still very purple. And there are two Democrats fighting it out there. One is an assembly member and a physician. She's the more moderate candidate. And the other is a progressive backed by Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

And then you've got CD 48. That includes parts of San Diego County and Riverside, including liberal Palm Springs, and we've got two top Democrats slugging it out there. One of them will likely prevail, and they're going to face the main Republican running. He's endorsed by President Trump. So come November, Democrats could pick it up, but, A, it's not at all guaranteed.

MARTÍNEZ: Across the country, we've seen some very contentious primaries where two or more Republicans are facing off. Any of that playing out in California?

SHAFER: Yeah. Because of redistricting, longtime Republican Congressman Ken Calvert moved to a neighboring district in Riverside and Orange Counties. And he is in a bitter fight with the incumbent Republican there, Young Kim. She's a bit more moderate than Calvert, but these two are really pulling out the stops. They're airing ads, with each claiming they're more MAGA than the other. Kim's ads have also targeted some old corruption charges against Calvert - even an incident from 25 years ago where he was caught in a car with a prostitute.

Now, these two could well face off again in November. One little wrinkle, though - polls now show it's possible that come November, there will actually be two Democrats and no Republicans vying for governor. That could drive down Republican turnout and affect these down-ballot races.

MARTÍNEZ: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, 86-year-old San Francisco Democrat - I'm sure everyone knows her name - she's retiring at the end of her term. What does the race to replace her look like?

SHAFER: Yeah. Well, this is a safe Democratic district, but the race to replace Pelosi has been very lively, where the future direction of the party is being debated. The frontrunner is state Senator Scott Wiener. He's authored legislation to build more housing and to confront Trump in various ways. Vying for second, our progressive city supervisor Connie Chan. She's a favorite of unions, and Pelosi recently endorsed her, which really should boost her campaign. Also running is Saikat Chakrabarti. He worked for Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but neither of them has endorsed him. He's a former software engineer. He's plowed $5 million of his own money into the race, A, in hopes of at least making it to November.

MARTÍNEZ: Scott Shafer is with member station KQED in San Francisco. Scott, thanks.

SHAFER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.