DUBLIN — Unseating the Bay Area’s only Republican lawmaker next year might not be as easy as Democrats once hoped.
Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-Dublin, was widely considered a target when she took office last December after winning one of the state’s costliest and ugliest legislative races. Democrats viewed the 3.2 percentage points by which she defeated Democrat Tim Sbranti as an easily surmountable margin — particularly given their seven-point voter registration edge in the 16th Assembly District and the fact that 2016’s presidential contest is sure to turn out more Democratic voters than the low-key November 2014 election.
