Democrats appear to have succeeded in key California battleground districts where they were trying to avoid being locked out of running in November.

Politico reports: “The party has scrambled to avoid being shut out of the general election in three Southern California districts where large numbers of Democratic candidates split the party's votes. Under the state's ‘jungle' primary system, that would have allowed two Republicans to advance to the November general election for seats Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.”

The closest of those races decides who will face anti-gay Republican Dana Rohrabacher (above). Rohrabacher recently said that homeowners should be able to refuse to sell their homes to gay people.

The L.A. Times reports: “With about half of precincts reporting, three candidates were locked in a very close battle: Democrats Hans Keirstead and Harley Rouda and Republican Scott Baugh. The conclusion of a wild primary that left Democrats fearing they'd be left with no nominee in the Orange County district could be long delayed as votes are counted this week. Of the several California races where that were an existential threat to Democrats' chances of retaking the House, the risk was most acute here. That's because Rohrabacher, under increasing scrutiny for his off-the-wall comments and friendly stance toward Russia, has seen his support with local Republicans erode in recent months.”

Politico adds: “If the current vote totals hold, Democrats would avoid their most feared scenario. The party is hoping to make significant inroads in California as part of their effort to overcome Republicans' 23-seat edge in the House. Getting shut out of even a small number of competitive districts would have made that task significantly tougher.But the drama is expected to last for days — if not weeks — as local elections officials tabulate mail ballots that could be postmarked as late as Tuesday.”