West
California House race flips to narrow lead for Dem amid weekslong vote count
Votes are still being counted in California two weeks after the election, and a Democratic challenger in a key U.S. House race has just taken the lead against the Republican incumbent.
With 94% of the votes counted, Democrat Derek Tran now leads GOP Rep. Michelle Steel by 102 votes in California’s 45th Congressional District after Steel had maintained a lead since Election Day.
Steel, born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in Japan, has represented the 45th District since 2023 and represented the 48th Congressional District before that, from 2021 to 2023.
The district spreads across Los Angeles County and Orange County and includes the cities of Cerritos, Garden Grove, Buena Park and parts of Brea, Lakewood and Fullerton.
SIZE OF SLIM REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY HANGS ON 5 UNCALLED RACES
GOP Rep. Michelle Steel, left, and challenger Derek Tran, right (Getty Images)
“I am so thankful to all those who continue to support our campaign as we count the remaining votes in #CA45,” Tran posted on X Monday. “Over 10,000 lawfully cast ballots are outstanding, and we owe it to every Californian to ensure their voice is heard.”
A victory for Tran, the son of Vietnamese refugees, would be a crucial flip for Democrats, who will not control the House in January but are attempting to chip away at a Republican margin that stands at 218 to 212 with several races still to be called.
YOUNGEST HOUSE REPUBLICAN-ELECT REVEALS HOW GOP WON BACK AMERICA’S YOUTH
Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Huntington Beach, speaks to supporters at her campaign office in Buena Park, Calif., Sept. 26, 2022. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
President-elect Trump endorsed Steel in October, calling her one of the nation’s “strongest congresswomen.”
The race between Steel and Tran was the most expensive House race in the country with more than $46 million spent, LAist reported.
Democratic congressional candidate Derek Tran spoke on Jon Lovett’s podcast “Lovett or Leave It.” (YouTube screenshot)
Five House races have yet to be called across the country. Democrats lead in two of them, and Republicans lead in three.
In addition to California’s 45th, Democrats lead in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, where incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur is up by roughly 1,000 votes with 99% of ballots counted.
Republicans hold leads in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, California’s 13th District and Alaska’s At-Large Congressional District.
The Steel campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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It is not the way any homicide squad wants to start an already busy new year.
Prince George’s County police Sunday were trying to figure out who was found dead in a car behind a strip center overnight and why. Police, who responded after a call about gun shots, told News4 they’re still searching for the most basic details.
It comes just a day after three people were shot and killed at a Temple Hills banquet hall early Saturday morning. Police told News4 that investigation is active and showing signs of promise.
But the busy start somewhat hides the bigger picture about crime in the area.
Despite the tough start to 2026, homicide in Prince George’s County was down 40% in 2025 percent compared to 2024, and violent crime on a whole was down 19%, both through mid-December according to Prince George’s County police.
In D.C. is a similar story.
“Now we have no crime in Washington, DC. We have no killing,” said President Donald Trump Saturday during a news conference about action in Venezuela.
While the crime rate is not nearly as good as Trump has repeatedly said, the District recorded five homicides in December and 126 in all of 2025. That’s down 32% over 2024. Violent crime is down 29%, according to D.C .police crime statistics.
In Fairfax, homicide is down 14% — but the county only had 12 total — and violent crime dropped 4%, according to the county’s online reporting.
Editor’s note: This episode was originally published on Oct. 12, 2025.
Two cabins in Jackson, Wyoming are what’s left of a set for a Hollywood western filmed in the area during the 1950s. One of them is five miles north of Jackson in Kelly and the other is under the ownership of History Jackson Hole, a museum in town.
This week on “It’s Worth Mentioning,” Rett Nelson speaks with local researcher Samantha Ford and dives into the history of these cabins, the film in which they were featured and why Jackson was selected as the production site.
If you’re a cinephile or a fan of old movies, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!
Previous episodes are available in the audio player below. Watch previous episodes here.
Season two is coming in 2026. If you have a topic or guest idea for an upcoming episode, email rett@eastidahonews.com.
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A federal appeals court on Friday struck down California’s ban on openly carrying guns across most of the state.
In a 2–1 decision, the San Francisco-based Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled California’s ban on open carry in counties with more than 200,000 people — covering roughly 95% of the state’s population — violates the Second Amendment, according to Reuters.
U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, writing for the majority, said the ban conflicts with the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which requires gun regulations to be consistent with the nation’s “historical tradition of firearm regulation,” Reuters reported.
NRA SUES CALIFORNIA OVER BAN ON GLOCK-STYLE FIREARMS: ‘VIOLATES THE SECOND AMENDMENT’
U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke appears in a video released by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals March 20, 2025. (9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals/Handout via Reuters)
“The historical record makes unmistakably plain that open carry is part of this Nation’s history and tradition,” VanDyke wrote. “It was clearly protected at the time of the founding and at the time of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
VanDyke also noted that California previously allowed residents to openly carry holstered handguns for self-defense without penalty until 2012.
CALIFORNIA’S CRACKDOWN ON ‘LESS-LETHAL’ WEAPONS SPARKS 2A LAWSUIT TARGETING NEWSOM ADMINISTRATION
A pistol is concealed in a belt. (iStock)
“That changed only when California enacted its urban open-carry ban barely over a decade ago in 2012,” he said. “In doing so, California joined a tiny minority of states to have adopted such severe restrictions on open carry.”
The decision overturned part of a 2023 ruling by a lower court that had dismissed a lawsuit filed in 2019 by gun owner Mark Baird, while rejecting his challenge to open-carry licensing in smaller counties, according to Reuters.
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES CALIFORNIA AMMUNITION BACKGROUND CHECKS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
A retail store in San Ramon, Calif., July 21, 2019. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
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In October, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other gun groups said they were suing California over the state’s ban on Glock-style guns with features known as switches that allow them to be converted to fully automatic weapons.
The NRA was joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Poway Weapons & Gear, and two NRA members in challenging the state’s ban.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
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