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| Venom of U.S. Election Seeps Down the Ballot — Way Down | Venom of U.S. Election Seeps Down the Ballot — Way Down |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| IRVINE, Calif. — Dirty tricks. Accusations of scandal, financial malfeasance and espionage. Expensive television ads. Identity politics. Veiled charges of religious intolerance. | IRVINE, Calif. — Dirty tricks. Accusations of scandal, financial malfeasance and espionage. Expensive television ads. Identity politics. Veiled charges of religious intolerance. |
| These are the things that have defined the 2016 campaign — for the City Council in Irvine, Calif., one of America’s safest cities. | These are the things that have defined the 2016 campaign — for the City Council in Irvine, Calif., one of America’s safest cities. |
| The bruising presidential race between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton, now entering its final week, has divided Americans and taken politics to a new low. But they are hardly the only people on the Nov. 8 ballot, nor the only ones battling for leadership in a polarized country. | The bruising presidential race between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton, now entering its final week, has divided Americans and taken politics to a new low. But they are hardly the only people on the Nov. 8 ballot, nor the only ones battling for leadership in a polarized country. |
| Thousands of narrower “down-ticket” contests are also in play: for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, which are up for grabs every two years; 34 of the 100 slots in the Senate; 12 governorships; almost 6,000 state legislative posts; and countless local mayoralties, judgeships, school board posts and city council seats. | Thousands of narrower “down-ticket” contests are also in play: for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, which are up for grabs every two years; 34 of the 100 slots in the Senate; 12 governorships; almost 6,000 state legislative posts; and countless local mayoralties, judgeships, school board posts and city council seats. |
| Some of those elections have provided welcome relief from the cacophony of the presidential battle. A lighthearted video from Travis County, Tex., went viral last week because it depicted the exasperated wife of a candidate for county commissioner pleading with voters to help get her husband out of their house. | |
| “Please re-elect Gerald,” she says, with mock sincerity. “Please.” | |
| But other low-altitude races reflect the more turbulent currents of American politics at a time when the country’s social and political rifts have been laid painfully bare. Here in Irvine, for example, religion, race and money are factors, as are the national splits inside the Republican and Democratic Parties. And if the prizes are far less powerful than that in the presidential race, the contests themselves can be no less ferocious. | But other low-altitude races reflect the more turbulent currents of American politics at a time when the country’s social and political rifts have been laid painfully bare. Here in Irvine, for example, religion, race and money are factors, as are the national splits inside the Republican and Democratic Parties. And if the prizes are far less powerful than that in the presidential race, the contests themselves can be no less ferocious. |
| I came to Southern California to check in with some Democratic delegates I met at the party’s national convention in Philadelphia in July and see how the roller-coaster campaign was playing out for them. There’s little at stake in the marquee contest here: California is overwhelmingly Democratic, and Mr. Trump has a less than 0.1 percent chance of winning it, according to the website FiveThirtyEight. (Days before I arrived, a pickax-wielding man, angered by reports that Mr. Trump had been accused of sexually assaulting women, destroyed the candidate’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.) | I came to Southern California to check in with some Democratic delegates I met at the party’s national convention in Philadelphia in July and see how the roller-coaster campaign was playing out for them. There’s little at stake in the marquee contest here: California is overwhelmingly Democratic, and Mr. Trump has a less than 0.1 percent chance of winning it, according to the website FiveThirtyEight. (Days before I arrived, a pickax-wielding man, angered by reports that Mr. Trump had been accused of sexually assaulting women, destroyed the candidate’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.) |
| The election drama in California instead lies within the Democratic camp. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who challenged Mrs. Clinton from the left during the party primary contests, still has many staunch supporters. Some Democrats see their party’s nominee as a mortal enemy, and the scars of the rivalry are still tender as the election draws near. | The election drama in California instead lies within the Democratic camp. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who challenged Mrs. Clinton from the left during the party primary contests, still has many staunch supporters. Some Democrats see their party’s nominee as a mortal enemy, and the scars of the rivalry are still tender as the election draws near. |
| That’s what brought me to Irvine, a thriving community of about 250,000 people between Los Angeles and San Diego that is the suburban epitome of the American dream: gleaming homes with glossy lawns, purring vehicles and an abundance of technology jobs. The average household income is $90,000, and two-thirds of residents are college graduates. It has the lowest rate of violent crime in America for a city of its size. | That’s what brought me to Irvine, a thriving community of about 250,000 people between Los Angeles and San Diego that is the suburban epitome of the American dream: gleaming homes with glossy lawns, purring vehicles and an abundance of technology jobs. The average household income is $90,000, and two-thirds of residents are college graduates. It has the lowest rate of violent crime in America for a city of its size. |
| On its website, the City Council estimates Irvine’s total assessed valuation at $55.7 billion, a little more than the gross domestic product of Lebanon. Eleven candidates are vying for the Council’s two open seats, including Anila Ali, a Pakistan-born educator who was among the leading supporters of Mrs. Clinton in the California delegation at the Philadelphia convention. | On its website, the City Council estimates Irvine’s total assessed valuation at $55.7 billion, a little more than the gross domestic product of Lebanon. Eleven candidates are vying for the Council’s two open seats, including Anila Ali, a Pakistan-born educator who was among the leading supporters of Mrs. Clinton in the California delegation at the Philadelphia convention. |
| Ms. Ali, 50, said her campaign cost $50,000, mostly from her family’s funds, including money for a campaign manager, TV advertisements on local channels and lawn signs bearing her picture. Still, when I caught up with her last week, she was jittery — her husband kept warning her that she was losing. | Ms. Ali, 50, said her campaign cost $50,000, mostly from her family’s funds, including money for a campaign manager, TV advertisements on local channels and lawn signs bearing her picture. Still, when I caught up with her last week, she was jittery — her husband kept warning her that she was losing. |
| It has certainly been a hard-fought campaign. Candidates have distributed fliers and emails accusing one another of not paying taxes, having large business debts or, in one case, a hit-and run conviction in a road accident in 1999. Some candidates were backed by big party machines and donors, especially on the Republican side, and local construction companies were also powerful players. | It has certainly been a hard-fought campaign. Candidates have distributed fliers and emails accusing one another of not paying taxes, having large business debts or, in one case, a hit-and run conviction in a road accident in 1999. Some candidates were backed by big party machines and donors, especially on the Republican side, and local construction companies were also powerful players. |
| But Ms. Ali’s most potent challenge came from close by: Farrah N. Khan, a fellow Democrat who was also born in Pakistan. | But Ms. Ali’s most potent challenge came from close by: Farrah N. Khan, a fellow Democrat who was also born in Pakistan. |
| Ms. Khan, 44, a businesswoman, had stolen a march on Ms. Ali by garnering the endorsement of young Democrats at the 30,000-student University of California, Irvine, a crucial battleground in the election. | Ms. Khan, 44, a businesswoman, had stolen a march on Ms. Ali by garnering the endorsement of young Democrats at the 30,000-student University of California, Irvine, a crucial battleground in the election. |
| Both women spend their afternoons on the leafy campus, canvassing students for support. The rivalry is personal. Ms. Ali accused some student leaders, now backing Ms. Khan, of “spying” on her campaign. “When people come into your home, pretend to be your friend, then stab you in the back, there’s something really wrong with that,” she said. | |
| Student leaders on campus dismissed those charges: Ms. Ali was sore, they said, because they refused to endorse her. | Student leaders on campus dismissed those charges: Ms. Ali was sore, they said, because they refused to endorse her. |
| These young activists told me they had taken Mr. Sanders to heart when he called on them, after his defeat to Mrs. Clinton, to start their political revolution at the grass-roots level. “In California, the question is not about Trump or Hillary,” Cassius Rutherford, 19, said. “It’s about what kind of Democratic Party we want to have.” | These young activists told me they had taken Mr. Sanders to heart when he called on them, after his defeat to Mrs. Clinton, to start their political revolution at the grass-roots level. “In California, the question is not about Trump or Hillary,” Cassius Rutherford, 19, said. “It’s about what kind of Democratic Party we want to have.” |
| This tiny race in Irvine also had echoes of the religious and identity politics that have rung loudly in the presidential campaign. | This tiny race in Irvine also had echoes of the religious and identity politics that have rung loudly in the presidential campaign. |
| Ms. Ali said she had been heckled at mosques and criticized by Muslim leaders for her refusal to publicly condemn Israel, and for her participation in a White House program, known as Countering Violent Extremism, that aims to root out potential extremists from communities. “I was lambasted,” she said. “People called it the spying program.” | Ms. Ali said she had been heckled at mosques and criticized by Muslim leaders for her refusal to publicly condemn Israel, and for her participation in a White House program, known as Countering Violent Extremism, that aims to root out potential extremists from communities. “I was lambasted,” she said. “People called it the spying program.” |
| Her rival, Ms. Khan, is one of those who criticized the program. “Even if I lose, I want to beat Farrah,” Ms. Ali said. | Her rival, Ms. Khan, is one of those who criticized the program. “Even if I lose, I want to beat Farrah,” Ms. Ali said. |
| I found Ms. Khan at her suburban home, where six students, all Sanders supporters, had gathered around her dining table to canvass voters by phone. Insinuations that she was soft on extremism were unfair, she said. She had opposed the White House counterterrorism program only because it unfairly singled out Muslims. (So did the American Civil Liberties Union.) | I found Ms. Khan at her suburban home, where six students, all Sanders supporters, had gathered around her dining table to canvass voters by phone. Insinuations that she was soft on extremism were unfair, she said. She had opposed the White House counterterrorism program only because it unfairly singled out Muslims. (So did the American Civil Liberties Union.) |
| She was fending off other attacks, too. One set of opponents had registered a $50,000 fund to attack her, she said. Then there were the lawn signs, posted around Irvine, that accused her of being “anti-Israel.” | She was fending off other attacks, too. One set of opponents had registered a $50,000 fund to attack her, she said. Then there were the lawn signs, posted around Irvine, that accused her of being “anti-Israel.” |
| She said it was a ridiculous charge — in her spare time, she runs an interfaith council that includes rabbis, Christian ministers and imams. | She said it was a ridiculous charge — in her spare time, she runs an interfaith council that includes rabbis, Christian ministers and imams. |
| The signs did not say who had financed them, although Ms. Khan said she was pretty sure who it was. She declined to name names. | The signs did not say who had financed them, although Ms. Khan said she was pretty sure who it was. She declined to name names. |
| “I don’t want to get drawn into negative campaigning,” she said. | “I don’t want to get drawn into negative campaigning,” she said. |