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While Republicans celebrated a national red tide, California voters affirmed the state’s solid politics, easily electing a Democrat to the U.S. Senate and maintaining a Democratic supermajority in the state Legislature.

But voters have been less enthusiastic about progressive ballot initiatives, and it’s not yet clear whether California’s contested congressional seats will help keep the U.S. House in Democratic control.

Like a the second presidency of Donald Trump loomed large over California, the state chose a the new US Senator in Adam Schiff. A Burbank Democrat, Schiff made a national name for himself in the U.S. House by leading the prosecution of Trump’s first impeachment and for his key role in the investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol storming.

But the result six most contested congressional races in California was undecided Wednesday morning, with some races seeing changes in the leading candidate as returns came in. The California races were closely watched because control of the U.S. House was still uncertain, but full results could take days or more.

California voters have also been hesitant to fully embrace a progressive agenda on ballot measures. They resounded past a the initiative to raise criminal penaltiesa measure that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the progressive wing of the Legislature opposed. They once again rejected a ballot initiative that would have allowed a extending rent control.

And they fired a progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney, the state’s top.

“It’s just one of these things where loyalty to Democratic candidates and support for Democratic candidates doesn’t always mean loyalty to any progressive cause,” said Paul Mitchell, an election analyst.

News outlets named Democrat Kamala Harris the winner of the state’s electoral votes as polls closed at 8 p.m., and also quickly called the race to reclaim the Democrat’s long-held U.S. Senate seat Dianne Feinstein until her death last year. Schiff cruised to victory over Steve Garvey, a former LA Dodgers star who is seeking to become the state’s first elected Republican in 18 years. Schiff won a six-year term to replace Sen. Laphonza Butler, who decided not to run for re-election after being appointed by Newsom to replace Feinstein, who died last year.

On the ballot measures, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36, which progressives opposed, which increases penalties for certain crimes, and partial vote totals show them rejecting Prop. 6, sponsored by progressives, which would ban forced labor in prisons. Prop. 33, which would have expanded rent control, failed.

Prop. 32, which would raise the minimum wageit was too close to call, as were others proposals at the state level.

Meanwhile, Democrats have kept their supermajorities in the state Legislature, allowing them to raise taxes or put initiatives on the ballot without a single Republican vote.

Mike Gatto, a former Democratic state lawmaker from Los Angeles, however, warned members of his party not to view the supermajority as a mandate to embrace far-left policies in response to Trump’s return to office.

Gatto noted that California voters appear to have signaled, through the state’s ballot initiatives, support for a more moderate platform. Considering the national election results, Gatto said California’s elected Democrats should be careful about appearing too liberal.

“I think it would be wise for California Democrats to try to moderate the agenda a little bit,” Gatto said.

In Los Angeles County, voters chose Nathan Hochman — a former federal prosecutor who is running for state attorney general as a Republican in 2022 — to replace incumbent District Attorney George Gascón, a progressive.

Some experts say the polls show California has more nuanced political views than its national reputation as a liberal stronghold suggests.

Christian Grose, a professor of political science at the University of Southern California, thought the mix was fairly typical of California.

“The state, in general, looks like it’s still going Democratic and could swing the U.S. House toward the Democrats,” he said, “while supporting policies that are sometimes a little more conservative and a little more liberal.”

A note of caution about overnight California election results: For some of the closest races, it could be weeks before we know the final result. Although this raised mistrust among voters, the reasons are not nefarious.

Since 2020, California has mailed a ballot to every registered voter — a convenience that requires additional verification by local election officials when it is returned, including signature authentication and verification that the voter has not already voted in another jurisdiction . Counting mail-in ballots requires much more manual labor than other votes, as workers must open the envelopes, extract the ballots, line them up for counting machines, and duplicate any damaged ballots that cannot be read.

California accepts ballots that arrive up to seven days late, provided they are postmarked on Election Day, and gives voters the opportunity to correct missing or inappropriate signatures. These delays are deliberate, to minimize the number of legitimate voters disqualified for procedural reasons and to ensure a safe and accurate count.

CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff contributed to this story.