Two Democrats in State Senate election - Guess which party won?

"Corruptus in Extremis"

• Yet another phony and corrupt California election.  Some 57% of the voters in the San Francisco Bay Area district below are not Democrats, but the voters were force-fed a phony "choice" of two special interest funded Democrats on their ballot.

(Los Angeles Times)  -  In a battle between two Democrats, Orinda Mayor Steve Glazer was elected Tuesday to the state Senate in a special election over Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla of Concord for a seat representing the East Bay.

With 100% of precincts reporting, Glazer had 54.6% of the vote, compared with the 45.4% garnered by Bonilla.

"Our campaign struck a chord with voters frustrated by the gridlock and dysfunction in Sacramento," Glazer said when the results were in. "They want leaders who are more pragmatic than partisan, more focused on answers than ambition."

The contest proved one of the most expensive and acrimonious legislative battles in recent years, with more than $7 million spent by outside groups, in addition to the $2 million spent by the candidates themselves.

Glazer, a moderate Democrat and longtime political advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown, received outside help from the California Chamber of Commerce, while unions spent heavily for Bonilla. Glazer had angered labor by opposing strikes by public transit employees of BART, while Bonilla supports their right to strike.

The California Democratic Party had backed Bonilla. The party's executive director, Shawnda Westly, said Tuesday the party would not back down from  supporting candidates like Bonilla in the future.

"Her opponent claimed to be Democrat but ran a cynical campaign to appeal to Republican voters in a low-turnout election," Westly said in a statement. "We know that low-turnout elections favor Republicans. When Democratic voters show up and vote, Democrats win." 

The special election was held to fill a vacancy in the Senate created when Mark DeSaulnier was elected to Congress.

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Back When Free Elections Existed
In the olden days when legislative districts were small just about anyone could afford to run for and win political office.  A candidate might spring for a few kegs of beer for the audience and then jump on a tree stump and give a speech.  The more or less sober voters would then select the candidate that supported their views.
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State Senate districts in neighboring Nevada have only 133,000 people. Today California State Senate districts have nearly 1,000,000 people making it insanely expensive to run for office.  So in California only millionaires or those willing to be bribed with campaign cash by Billionaire Special Interest Cartels win elections.
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California voters are only allowed a "choice" between two bought and paid for special interest funded candidates.  It is rule by oligarchy.
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The answer is much smaller state legislative districts and a part time legislature that meets for 90 days and the legislators are forced to return home to work for a living like the rest of us do.