Young Kim advances in California House race

Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) advanced to the general election in a key House race, according to The Associated Press, handing Republicans a win in their effort to take back the House. 

Kim, who will face Democrat Asif Mahmood in November, garnered Republican backlash over her repeated efforts at bipartisanship. However, she’s veered more to the right after redistricting, which took her seat from having a 5-point Democratic registration advantage to a 5-point GOP registration advantage. 

She faced a conservative challenge in the June 7 primary from Greg Raths, a Mission Viejo councilman and vociferous supporter of former President Trump.

Kim in recent weeks unleashed an avalanche of ad spending, most of it targeted at Raths, largely focusing on her conservative policy platforms such as her opposition to unauthorized border crossings. 

Republicans had worried that Raths would be more vulnerable in November given that the Orange County-based district is not as conservative as his own reputation.

California employs what’s known as a jungle primary, in which candidates of all parties run in one primary and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote.