LOS ANGELES (AP) — Several California Republican U.S. House candidates could engineer surprise victories.
GOP candidates in districts in Southern California and the Central Valley padded their leads Friday, though thousands of votes remain uncounted.
In the 50th District anchored in San Diego County, former Congressman Darrell Issa has opened up a 19,000-vote lead. As of Saturday at 3:45 p.m., Issa was leading 159,864 votes to Ammar Campa-Najjar's 139,973 votes.
The 50th District covers East and North San Diego County and portions of Riverside County.
ELECTION RESULTS: See the latest results in local and statewide races
In the 39th and 48th Districts in Orange County, Republicans Michelle Steel and Young Kim opened up slightly larger leads over incumbent Democrats.
In the farm belt, former Republican Congressman David Valadao added votes to his margin over Democratic Rep. TJ Cox, who beat him two years ago.
According to the Associated Press, as of Saturday, 41 of California's Congressional seats have been called for Democrats while three have been won by Republicans.
