Assemblyman Don Wagner's convincing win in Tuesday's primary has put him in a position to spend some time boosting the chances of other Republican candidates before November's election, he said Thursday.
Wagner pulled the lion's share of votes in the election, earning 68.9 percent in the race for the state's 68th Assembly District. The legislator currently serves Lake Forest residents as the 70th Assembly District representative.
Challenger Democrat Christina Avalos, who Wagner will face again in November, took 31.1 percent of the vote.
Avalos ran on a platform of universal healthcare and more regulations for corporations.
The make-up of the voters in the 68th—which Lake Forest became a part of in 2011 due to redistricting—propelled him to victory, Wagner said.
"The voters, they are generally a conservative and Republican district that like the conservative and Republican message that me and my caucus have been trying to take to Sacramento," he said. "They responded to that and I'm very appreciative of that."
Although Wagner said he is "optimistic" about his chances in the November election, he plans to continue campaigning, as well as stump for other Republican hopefuls.
"I absolutely will be campaigning," he said. "I don't want to take it for granted."
However, "I do feel that I'm in a unique position to be able to help some of the candidates around the state," he said. "I think we had some good election victories and I hope to continue carrying the message that the state needs to be job-friendly and we need to grow the economic pie rather than carve it up differently."
Those messages are what voters should expect Wagner to continue pushing in Sacramento if they reelect him in November, he said.
