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In Key California House Races, Republicans Are Voting Early and in Large Numbers

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Jenna Ellis, director of policy with the James Dobson Family Institute, shared her insights on early voting across the country with CBN News anchor Mark Martin. Watch above.

With the midterm elections just a few days away, early returns of California's mail-in ballots in key House races shows little proof of the much-hyped big blue Democratic wave, unless they're all waiting to vote on Tuesday.  

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the exact opposite -- that Republican voter response has been strong.

Cautioning that there are a lot of more ballots to come in, Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc., which supplies voter information to a variety of political campaigns, told the newspaper that according to the mail ballot tracker that he runs, Republican votes are keeping up with Democratic ballots.

"Looking at the comparable numbers, the statewide mail ballot returns at this point are running about 40 percent higher than the primary, 1.7 million to 1.2 million," he told the Chronicle.

Democrats are looking to gain 23 seats in order to take back control of the House. They're hoping to pick up seven of those seats in the Golden State. 

Mitchell gave the newspaper two examples where vote-by-mail numbers are strong.  In Orange County's 45th Congressional District, US Rep. Mimi Walters (R) is being challenged by Democrat Katie Porter.  The mail-in ballots received by the weekend was almost double the number of the June primary.  In the 48th district where US Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa (R-Orange County) is facing Democrat Harley Rouda, the number of mail-in ballots was up by 84 percent. 

The numbers boost might not be helping Democrats, according to the Chronicle.  So far, the total number of ballots returned have favored Republicans 45 percent to 31 percent.

Mitchell told the newspaper that fact is not a surprise since first ballot returns in the Golden State usually favor Republicans.  "These are the people who vote in every election," he said. 

If the primary is a guide, almost two-thirds of Californians will mail in their ballots, according to the California Secretary of State

Democrats have poured millions of dollars in the campaign to get more young people to vote in this year's midterms.  So far, there's little indication that's working in California.

But as baseball's Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over till it's over." Californians and the rest of the nation will find out after the polls close at 8:00 pm Pacific Time on Tuesday. 

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of