2022 Midterm California Election Results: Who won governor race, propositions

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- This year's election includes some high-profile races for the state of California, including the race for governor and enshrining the right to an abortion into the state's constitution.

FULL LIST: Latest 2022 midterm election results across the San Francisco Bay Area

Here's a look at some of the races to keep an eye on:

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ABC News projects Gavin Newsom has been re-elected as governor of California defeating Republican challenger State Senator Brian Dahle.

It was the second decisive statewide victory for Newsom in barely a year. In September 2021, he easily beat back an attempt to kick him out of office that was fueled by anger over his pandemic policies. The failed recall solidified Newsom's political power in California, leaving him free to focus on the future - which many expect will include a run for the White House.

Newsom and Dahle agreed to just one debate. Go here to watch in its entirety and get a rundown of the hot topics they discussed.

The Democratic dominance in statewide offices continued for lieutenant governor and secretary of state as well.

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis cruised to a second-term victory over Angela Underwood Jacobs, a city councilmember from Lancaster, according to Bay City News Service.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has defeated Republican former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman to win a four-year term as the state's top law enforcement official, according to the Associated Press.

He is a progressive reformer and is the first Filipino to hold the job in any state. He retains the office after Gov. Gavin Newsom picked him to fill a vacancy last year.

He's eligible to serve nearly 10 years in an office that already has given him a national stage on issues as diverse as abortion, climate change, gay rights and gun control.

San Jose City Councilman Matt Mahan will be the next San Jose mayor after Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez conceded to him.

Mahan only had a 51.32% to 48.68% lead over Chavez after a week of ballot counting and with 100% of all the city's precincts reporting.

After the latest ballot count on Monday night, Oakland City Councilmember Sheng Thao has declared victory in the race to be the Oakland's next mayor.

On Tuesday, her contender City Councilmember Loren Taylor conceded saying he just doesn't see a viable path forward to winning this race after the last batch of results came out. He confirmed he called Thao Tuesday morning to concede and congratulate her on her successful campaign.

The latest ranked-choice results showed Thao with 50.3% of the votes with City Councilmember Loren Taylor's 49.7%, difference being 682 votes.

In ranked-choice voting the candidate with a majority of the votes wins. If no candidate has a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. The second choice of voters whose candidate was eliminated will get an additional vote until one candidate gets a majority.

San Francisco voters have chosen to overwhelmingly elect Brooke Jenkins to serve as San Francisco's District Attorney. A statement released by Jenkins' office said the interim district attorney earned support and first-place votes from "every neighborhood and corner of San Francisco."

The San Francisco Department of Elections currently shows Jenkins holding a majority of the public's vote at just over 48%.

In a statement, Jenkins said, in part: "It is an honor of a lifetime to be elected and I pledge that improving and promoting public safety will be my and our office's top priority. Together, we proved that San Franciscans want accountability and smart reforms in and for our criminal justice system.Together, we proved that we will lead with our City's progressive values and advance public safety in all of its forms," ending her statement with "Let's get to work."

Jenkins, appointed by Mayor London Breed, is up against three candidates. They are lawyers Maurice Chenier, Joe Alioto Veronese, and John Hamasaki. Hamasaki also served as a San Francisco police commissioner until earlier this year.

Breed took to Twitter Wednesday afternoon to congratulate Jenkins, saying "I look forward to continuing the work Brooke and I have been doing to protect San Franciscans and uphold the law while getting at the root causes of crime."

After the latest ballot count, civil rights attorney Pamela Price has declared victory and has maintained her lead with more than 26,000 votes over Terry Wiley.

The Alameda County Registrar says there are only about 4,500 votes still to count or check for signatures. Therefore, with Price's lead it would appear there are not enough votes for Wiley to make up the difference.

This is also an historic moment for Alameda County, Price becomes first Black district attorney.

The 15th Congressional District seat opened up earlier this year when Rep. Jackie Speier announced she would not be seeking reelection.

The two candidates vying for the seat are both veteran politicians; San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa (D) and Assemblyman Kevin Mullin (D-San Mateo).

In the June primary, Mullin received over 40% of the vote compared to Canepa's 25%.

Around 8:30 p.m. on election night, Canepa made the following statement after initial election results showed Mullin as the early leader in the race.

"Running for Congress has been the most exciting year of my life and I'm so proud of my team. We fought hard and we never gave up. Congratulations to Kevin Mullin, we wish him the very best of luck and look forward to working with him on the most pressing issues our nation faces," Canepa said.

California's 9th Congressional District race is between incumbent Congressman Josh Harder (D-CA) against San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti (R).

This is a newly redrawn district and many say this is one of the most contentious races this November election season.

This measure moves San Francisco's mayoral elections to presidential election years starting in 2024. Mayor London Breed has voiced concerns about this measure which would extend her current term by a year.

California joined a wave of states affirming their support for abortion rights Tuesday night as voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1, an initiative to add "reproductive freedom" to the state constitution.

The approval of Proposition 1 won't fundamentally change abortion access in California. State law and court rulings already ensure that the procedure is available here until fetal viability, at about 24 weeks of pregnancy, and after that, if necessary for the life or health of the mother.

Here's more on Proposition 1.

The most expensive ballot proposition gamble in U.S. history went bust Tuesday as California voters overwhelmingly rejected sports betting, shooting down initiatives by Native American tribes and the gaming industry.

The two groups raised nearly $600 million in competing efforts to expand gambling and try to capture a piece of a potential billion dollar market in the nation's most populous state.

Here's more on Proposition 26, 27.

Proposition 28 may have been the least controversial measure on the ballot, and it passed easily, according to Bay City News Service. No official opposition was filed against the initiative to require the state to spend more money -- likely around $1 billion annually -- on arts and music education in public schools.

Former Los Angeles Unified Schools Superintendent Austin Beutner, who spearheaded the campaign to place the measure on the ballot, said it will ensure arts and music programs -- crucial to helping students recover from the pandemic -- aren't slashed during economic downturns.

Here's more on Proposition 28.

For the third time in three straight elections, California voters have rejected a ballot measure that would have mandated major changes to the operations of dialysis clinics that provide life-saving care to 80,000 people with kidney failure. Nearly 70% of Californians had voted "no" on Proposition 29 in returns late Tuesday.

Here's more on Proposition 29.

California's wealthiest residents won't see a tax increase after voters rejected a measure Tuesday that would have boosted rates on incomes above $2 million to help put more electric cars on the roads.

Here's more on Proposition 30.

Californians on Tuesday voted to allow a law banning flavored tobacco products such as menthol cigarettes and strawberry gummy vaping juice to go into effect, the Associated Press projects.

With about a quarter of the ballots counted, Proposition 31 won handily with 76.5% of the vote.

California passed a law in 2020 banning the sale of some flavored tobacco products. So why are California voters being asked to vote on it in the 2022 election? That's the question behind Proposition 31.

Here's more on Proposition 31.

Stay with ABC7 News for the latest election news here.

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