OAN Staff **Katherine Mosack**
California has seen two U.S. House seats flip blue after decades of Republican leadership.
Republicans suffered several losses across the nation in Tuesday’s midterm elections, even in districts with long-standing GOP support.
In California’s 48th Congressional District, Democrat San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert (D-Calif.) defeated former San Marcos Mayor Jim Desmond (R-Calif.). Desmond had been endorsed by the seat’s incumbent GOP Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who announced he would not be running for reelection and would retire after his 12th nonconsecutive term in Congress. He was first elected to the House in 2000.
The Associated Press called the race for von Wilpert, who led with approximately 59.5% of the vote to Desmond’s 40.5%.
Issa’s retirement announcement came earlier this year, after the Golden State drew new district boundaries under Proposition 50 to favor Democrats. The boundary lines in southern California changed several times since his first term in office, prompting Issa, who is based in the northern region of San Diego County, to serve California’s 49th and 50th districts at times.