The Latest Breaking News from Kevin Kiley

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In some of California’s most conservative counties, where Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Dahle was the clear favorite over Gov. Gavin Newsom and where anti-abortion Christian conservatives are leading in partial returns, voters still showed up for abortion access by supporting Proposition 1.

LOS ANGELES — Days after ballots were cast in California’s midterm election, 10 of the congressional races deemed most at risk of flipping remained too close to call.

DARWIN, Calif. — A little before noon on a recent Wednesday, residents of this improbable town halfway between Death Valley and Mt. Whitney gathered in front of the post office after the morning delivery.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In 2007, an idealistic 22-year-old Harvard student named Kevin Kiley wrote in his undergraduate thesis that “politicians are inclined to do the easy thing — cater to the worldviews of their constituents — rather than offer the more challenging task of self-examination.”