Feuds between two rival Latino Democrats could give California Republicans a chance at picking up one or two  senate seats in special elections later this year.
California’s 32nd and 40th districts will have elections this year due to resignations.
If this happens, can it make a difference on the efficiency of California’s government?
With a 26 to 11 Democratic majority in the California state Senate two seats could potentially make a huge difference in the way the senate  is run.
With more Republicans in the senate, there could be more room for disagreements, which will ultimately affect the residents of California.
The 32nd district election is a shootout between a Democratic faction lead by Gloria Negrete McLeod and Joe Baca loyalists.
McLeod resigned from the senate after defeating Baca last year in the election.
A similar situation also exists in California’s 16th district, which encompasses the San Joaquin Valley’s
Kern County.
According to an article from the San Jose Mercury News,   two Latino Democratic political families, the Parras and the Florezes, have feuded for years.
“Rubio came from the Florez camp, having succeeded Dean Florez in the Senate seat, and two others from the Florez faction could run, either Dean Florez’s mother, Fran, or Leticia Perez, a Rubio aide who succeeded him on the Kern County Board of Supervisors,” Dan Walters wrote in his article.
If this political rivalry between two families leads to voters’ frustration, then Walters suggests that both may resign and a potential Republican candidate can take over the two spots.
Also taking into account  the overall disappointment with budget disputes in the Democratic-led state Senate which took place in last two years, I see a certain possibility for Republican candidates to win these two seats.
In the San Joaquin Valley where the 16th district lies, there is a plurality of Latino voters.
A similar situation exists in  the 32nd and 40th districts.
Even though there is a majority of Latinos in these counties, Republicans can still pick up two seats due to voter frustrations.
Most Latinos support Democrats, mostly because of their more lenient position on undocumented immigrants and social welfare issues.
But growing numbers of Latinos joining the middle and upper class tend to agree with the GOP because it express interests of the business community.
Also, many Latinos are strict Catholics with conservative ideology.
Results of the special elections are difficult to predict.
But if the Republicans do succeed in gaining two seats in the senate, it could make a huge difference on how the laws and policies that
are passed.
The California government has been pretty inefficient in making decisions that affect all of its residents.
If there are more Republicans in the Senate, it could open up the doors for more disagreements and
more inefficiency.