Democrat Garamendi Cruises in California 10

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi kept California's 10th Congressional District in Democratic hands, easily winning the special election to fill an open seat.

With more than a quarter of the precincts reporting, Garamendi was ahead by 16 points over Republican opponent David Harmer. He had 56 percent of the vote compared with 40 percent for Harmer, a lawyer.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., released a statement congratulating Garamendi and Bill Owens, the winner in New York's 23rd District House race.

"In Congress, Bill Owens and John Garamendi will be champions for the middle class, strong advocates for our troops and veterans, and committed fighters for building a clean energy future," Pelosi said. "I look forward to welcoming Congressmen-elect Owens and Garamendi to the Congress this week and working with them and my colleagues to reform health insurance and continue America's economic recovery."

The seat opened up when the Democratic incumbent, Ellen O. Tauscher, took a job in the Obama administration at the State Department. Garamendi, a former state lawmaker and insurance commissioner, has been in politics for 35 years, including serving as deputy secretary of the Interior Department in the Clinton administration.

Democrats have a voter registration edge of 47 percent to 28 percent in the district along the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Almost as significantly, Harmer hadn't the funds to run much of an air war: He just went up with his first TV ad just days before the election. Harmer's fundraising report through Oct. 14 indicated he had receipts that were competitive with Garamendi. He raised a total of $498,000 compared with Garamendi's $942,000. But nearly half of what Harmer spent in that period went to mail services, with nothing for advertisements.

Still, the Garamendi campaign did not take the race for granted, recognizing low turnout from Democrats could make the race closer than expected. It launched a phone banking operation Oct. 30 and engaged in other weekend volunteer canvassing in the lead-up to today's election. Garamendi also enlisted big-name Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton and, more recently, former Vice President Al Gore, to rally the party faithful.

In a statement, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Garamendi congratulated "will be a great asset to our Democratic Caucus."