Despite the overwhelming Republican tidal wave this November, California remained Democratic territory. In an election where nearly everything went wrong for Democrats, California was one bright spot for the party.

Senator Barbara Boxer was re-elected in a 52 to 42 percent victory over Republican challenger Carly Fiorina. While some thought the California senate seat was up for grabs, the “left coast” kept Boxer for another 6-year term. Boxer is a left wing radical, and her victory ensured Democratic control of the senate. With Democrats holding the majority, Republicans will have a harder time repealing Obama’s major changes, including changes to healthcare and massive government spending increases.

Proposition 19, the controversial legalization of marijuana bill, was defeated 54 to 46 percent as one of the most publicized propositions in California history. Supporters of Prop 19 vow to try again in the 2012 election and believe that there is still hope in their campaign for the legalization of marijuana. Prop 19 proponent Richard Lee tried to paint a picture of a partial victory, stating that, “The fact that millions of Californians voted to legalize marijuana is a tremendous victory. We have broken the glass ceiling. Prop 19 has changed the terms of the debate. And that was a major strategic goal,” said Lee.

In the governor’s race, Republicans were once again unable to get a significant number of Latinos to break from the Democratic Party. Meg Whitman lost the Latino vote by 34 points, and in a state like California with a 37 percent Latino population, that is an election death sentence.

Former Governor Jerry Brown was elected Governor for a third term after a 30-year absence from the governor’s mansion. Billionaire Meg Whitman was defeated 54 to 41 percent in one of the dirtiest, hardest fought campaigns in California history. According to ABC news Whitman has spent over $120 million of her own money, which shatters the previous record for a non-presidential election. Brown’s successful use of attack ads that focused on misrepresented reports about Whitman hiring illegal immigrants to do her house keeping.

Jerry Brown’s election will ensure California’s status as a pariah state, and unless the economy gets better in a hurry, California will be bankrupt in a few years. This means that college will get exponentially more expensive in the coming years as California tries to deal with a $20 billion budget gap.

California’s debt is so toxic that according to Reuters “The cost to insure California’s debt with credit default swaps is now higher than debt of developing countries, such as Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Uruguay. It costs $277,000 per year for five years to insure $10 million in California debt, compared with $172,000 for Kazakh debt.”