On, November 6, 2018, the United States had the midterm elections. All across the country, 50 states hosted elections for hundreds of spots for government officials and legislation.

Amador Valley High School and Pleasanton Unified School District hosted a mock election for multiple governing spots in California government including Governor, Mayor, State Superintendent, and more.

For the most part, nearly all percentages in Pleasanton Unified School District from voters matched the percentages from the major California election. However, a few offices differed between our school district and the state of California.

At the top of state legislation is the Governor. The race for Governor of California was between Gavin Newsom and John Cox. Newsom won by a landslide in PUSD by acquiring over 70 percent of all votes. He also won the California election by acquiring nearly 60 percent of the votes.

Some believe Newsom can battle President Trump on the behalf of California. “I feel a responsibility to call out the administration when they attack this state” (LA Times). Newsom believes that it is his responsibility to defend this state when attacked by the President. Despite John Cox running against him, Newsom based his campaign against Trump through “forceful confrontation” (LA Times). In conclusion, Newsom is willing to defend the state from being bashed by the President, and may be a huge reason he won the vote in both our school district and the state of California.

In the Lieutenant Governor race, Eleni Kounalakis won both the school district and state election by the same percentages. Kounalakis’ plan is based “on public higher education, and how to make it more affordable for students by operating more efficiently” (San Diego Tribune). It is clear why students and staff voted for Kounalakis, as she plans to make state colleges and universities more financially stable. She also believes that more students should be accomodated in the UC/CSU system. “Turning students away from the CSU is a lost opportunity,” Kounalakis stated in an interview.

Alex Padilla has served as California’s Secretary of State since 2015. Padilla has ambitions to increase his agenda in energy and power grid solutions across the state. Padilla also succeeded to author California’s first smoke-free housing law and enforce stricter penalties in selling tobacco to minors. Alex Padilla has achieved a lot in the last three years and plans to do even more in improving California as a whole.

In the race for Attorney General, it was between Xavier Becerra and Steven Bailey. Becerra has held the office for the past year and hopes to earn another term. Becerra received 70 percent of the vote in PUSD, and 60 percent in California. According to Becerra’s website, he believes “health care should be a right for everyone.”  Over the past years, Xavier has been pushing for lower prices on health care across the state and country. He also is a strong supporter in reducing climate change.

For United States Senator in California, came one of the tightest races between Dianne Feinstein and Kevin De Leon. The two were separated in the school district by just 5.2 percent, and 8.8 percent in the state election. Dianne Feinstein held her spot as senator and continues to hold office since 1992. Due to the recent mass shootings in California and the United States, Feinstein stated in a press release that “without stronger federal gun regulations, there’s little California can do to keep guns coming in from other states.” Feinstein believes that not only should California be stronger on gun laws, it should also impact gun laws on a federal level in the United States.

State school superintendent is the most important office for all education in California and is the closest race between Tony Thurmond and Marshall Tuck. Tony Thurmond won the election and the PUSD mock election by over seven percent.

California is one of the biggest and most populated states in the country and this year’s midterm elections continued to show why California is so important to the national landscape.