Three years ago, when the LGBTQ resort and retirement mecca of Palm Springs was redistricted into new congressional and state legislative districts, it bolstered LGBTQ advocates' hopes of seeing out candidates be able to win the seats. The influx of more Democratic-leaning voters added a purple shade to an area of the state where Republican lawmakers have long had an edge at election time.
Alas, in both 2022 and this year's election, most LGBTQ non-incumbents running in Riverside County for Congress or the Statehouse ran into a red wall. While they came incredibly close to breaking through it, they ultimately found the GOP's stronghold on the electorate too impenetrable.
Gay lawyer Will Rollins and bisexual Palm Springs City Councilmember Christy Holstege in their back-to-back bids for election to the U.S. House and the state Legislature, respectively, both came up short. Palm Springs City Councilmember Lisa Middleton, running this year for a state Senate seat, lost her bid to be the first transgender legislator in Sacramento.
And Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, who is queer and bisexual, is falling short in her bid to succeed her lesbian older sister, Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), in the Legislature. The elder Cervantes sibling, as yet, was the lone victor among the Democratic quintet, having won election to the state Senate's open District 31 seat.
Some have speculated Republican President-elect Donald Trump's making a campaign stop in the county ahead of the November 5 election helped to bolster the candidacies of the LGBTQ contenders' GOP opponents. Yet Tom Temprano, managing director of external affairs for statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality California, told the Bay Area Reporter he doubts it had much of an impact on the outcomes.
"I will start with, in each of these races, we had fantastic candidates that ran strong races, that raised the money, that had the ground game. These candidates and their supporters did everything they needed to do to set themselves up for a victory," said Temprano, a gay San Francisco resident who spent the days leading up to the election helping with get-out-the-vote efforts in Riverside County. "Unfortunately, the conditions we saw in Riverside County mirrored the conditions across the country where there was a notable shift to the right."
That shift happened to be "more pronounced," said Temprano, in the Coachella Valley and other areas within Riverside and San Bernardino counties than elsewhere in the state. The House, state Senate and Assembly districts that the five LGBTQ candidates had vied for all include parts of both jurisdictions.
Nonetheless, the region's U.S. House seat and legislative offices are "absolutely not" lost causes, said Temprano, and are likely to attract strong LGBTQ candidates once again. The congressional and Assembly seats will all be up for grabs in 2026, while the state Senate seats will be back on the ballot in 2028.
"We expect to see high-profile LGBTQ candidates running and winning races in Riverside County for years to come," said Temprano.
Holstege indicated as much in her concession statement she posted to X on Wednesday, November 20, after another vote count update was released. It showed her in second place with 48.9% of the vote behind Assemblymember Greg Wallis (R-Bermuda Dunes), who also narrowly won his Assembly District 47 seat during their 2022 contest.
"This campaign showed what was possible: that a Democrat could compete in a district once considered unwinnable," wrote Holstege, who like Middleton is termed out of her council seat this year. "Alongside the incredible Democratic campaigns in the region — Will Rollins for Congress and Lisa Middleton for State Senate — we made historic gains, proving that when we organize, engage, and inspire — change isn't just possible it's inevitable."
After a hard-fought campaign in one of California's most closely watched Assembly races, Christy Holstege has conceded the race for California's 47th Assembly District. Holstege, a Palm Springs City Councilmember and former Mayor, expressed gratitude to her supporters and shared... pic.twitter.com/PemF8Pu0t0
— Christy Gilbert Holstege (@christyholstege) November 20, 2024
It remains to be seen if Holstege will mount a third bid for the Assembly seat in two years or pursue a different political position. She did express optimism about the chances for seeing her party's candidates get elected in the future.
"Our region has not been represented by a Democrat in over 25 years, our work on these historic campaigns over the last three and a half years has ignited a movement that cannot be ignored," wrote Holstege, adding that her own candidacy "wasn't just about one Assembly seat — it was about building a movement, and that work doesn't end here. Together, we've planted the seeds for a brighter future in this district, and I have no doubt that we will see them grow."
In his second attempt to oust conservative Congressmember Ken Calvert (R-Corona) from his 41st Congressional District seat, Rollins again came close to doing so. But he fell short by nearly 11,000 votes, according to the unofficial returns.
Clarissa Cervantes is trailing in her bid for her sister's 58th Assembly District seat to Republican Leticia Castillo, who lives in Home Gardens. Castillo, a mental health clinical therapist for the county, narrowly won with 50.2% of the vote and, as of Friday morning, led by 504 votes.
Their race is one of a handful in the state that have yet to be called. In an Instagram post earlier this week, Cervantes asked her supporters to ensure their ballots had been counted via what is known as the "curing" process for those rejected by the county registrar because of errors.
Riverside County has 11,000 ballots left to cure on top of 15,600 mostly conditional registration ballots left to count. As of Thursday, San Bernardino County was down to 18,000 ballots to count with another 9,100 to cure.
"EVERY SINGLE VOTE MATTERS IN THIS RACE. Please do not wait—take action today to make sure your ballot was counted!" read the post, noting the deadline to do so is December 1.
Stinging defeat
Middleton lost to state Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa) in their contest for the 19th Senate District seat. She took second place with 45% of the vote.
It was a stinging defeat for LGBTQ advocates who were hopeful of seeing Middleton break through one of the last remaining pink political glass ceilings in the state Legislature. Nonetheless, she has the distinction of being the first serious transgender candidate for a California legislative seat to make it to the fall ballot and laid the groundwork for future transgender candidates to run.
"LGBTQ+ people are parents, taxpayers, and community members, and deserve to see themselves represented in political leadership. LPAC was proud to endorse Lisa Middleton, who has been a remarkable leader on the Palm Springs City Council, and would have made history as the first out transgender person in the California Legislature," stated Janelle Perez, a lesbian who is executive director of the political action committee that works to elect out women and nonbinary candidates. "While we are disappointed by her loss, her being in the race showed future LGBTQ+ candidates that they deserve a seat at the table."
In Cathedral City, the two gay men seeking the District 1 City Council seat, Michael Hayes and Mark Scharaga, lost. Incumbent Councilmember Rita Lamb won reelection with 66% of the vote.
Some victories
The LGBTQ community did notch several high-profile political victories in Riverside County this month. Gay Congressmember Mark Takano (D-Riverside), who was outed by Calvert when he ran against him in 1994 in a differently drawn House district, won reelection to his District 39 congressional seat with nearly 57% of the vote.
Sabrina Cervantes, a married mom of triplets, defeated her Republican opponent, Cynthia Navarro, in their state Senate contest with 54.4% of the vote. Meanwhile, gay Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, Ph.D., (D-Perris) won a second term in his 60th District seat with 55.5% of the vote.
With a number of out candidates winning their down ballot races in the county this month, Temprano told the B.A.R. there will be "a strong and growing bench of LGBTQ elected officials" in Riverside County who would be strong contenders should they decide to jump into races for seats in the state Legislature or Congress in future election cycles. Nor did he rule out seeing this year's out contenders run again.
"We need to give these individual candidates time to regroup and recharge before we see what they are interested in doing next," he said. "I hope they have vacations booked; they certainly deserve them."
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday the Political Notes column will return Monday, December 9.
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