What You Need to Know Before Tuesday

“We’re almost there — the finish line is right there,” Gavin Newsom, the Democratic lieutenant governor running for governor, shouted Saturday. Though the audience was partisan, the message was not. For months, California has had a rare moment as an epicenter in a national political battle: Which party wins control of Congress will depend on the results here Tuesday. What will this election say about California?

Here are five things you need to know.

Once again, voters here are being asked to vote on a variety of complex and vexing issues that many experts suggest would be best left to the Legislature. This year, ballot initiatives include a repeal of the statewide gas tax, allowing cities to expand rent control laws and even cap profits on kidney dialysis. To get a deeper sense of the range of issues, you can also check out the CalMatters interactive guide, which asks you a series of questions before suggesting how you should vote.

At age 85, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is running what is likely her last campaign. Her opponent, Kevin de León, the former Democratic leader of the state Senate, has suggested she is out of touch and not liberal enough for the state, but she has forcefully pushed back against both accusations and is far ahead in the polls. Even if he loses, de León is not likely to disappear from the political scene for long.

After Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat and the former mayor of Los Angeles, failed to get enough votes to make the general election, Newsom has enjoyed a comfortable front-runner status in the governor’s race. He has spent as much time campaigning for congressional candidates as he has for himself. His Republican opponent, John Cox, has been rather quiet, but has tried to stop what some call a coronation for Newsom.

In the words of Ronald Reagan, it’s “where the good Republicans go to die.” But the GOP is fighting hard to ensure that the party itself is not dying there, despite changing demographics. Party stalwart Dana Rohrabacher is in the fight of his career against Harley Rouda, a former Republican himself now vying to represent the largely wealthy coastal area. And while Rep. Duncan Hunter is facing a criminal indictment, polls suggest he will beat out his Democratic challenger, Ammar Campa-Najjar, the son of a Mexican-American mother and an Arab father. Throughout the state, the results could turn on whether Latinos turn out to vote in large numbers, which is far from certain.

With polls showing several congressional races in the state as a tossup, the only thing that matters is who shows up to vote. If you vote by mail but have not sent it in, simply take it to a polling place Tuesday morning. Reporters from The New York Times will be stationed throughout the state through Tuesday and beyond, trying to understand just what California’s results suggest about the future of our state and country.