The traditionally Republican 38th Assembly District stayed true to its red roots Tuesday with incumbent Cameron Smyth (RSanta Clarita) beating his Democratic opponent Carole Lutness.

The sleep-deprived victor— Smyth stayed up until 3 a.m. to watch the election results—said Wednesday that he was "absolutely excited" by the outcome and added that it validates the effort he put forth the past two years.

"We knew that this was going to be the worst year for Republicans since Watergate so we ran a full campaign knowing that and took nothing for granted," Smyth said. "And as a result we saw a huge turnout."

The 37-year-old freshman Assemblyman's win has earned him a second twoyear term representing the 38th District, which includes the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and Glendale. Smyth succeeded threeterm Assemblymember Keith Richman in 2006.

In a reflection of the national scene, the candidates disagreed on many issues, including raising taxes and gay marriage.

Although Lutness, a 66yearold social worker, told the Simi Valley Acorn at the end of October that 2008 "is the year of the Democrats," she was unable to find the same support as President-elect Barack Obama did on Election Day.

Still, she was optimistic Wednesday.

"I'm feeling really good," Lutness said. "I feel we ran an incredible campaign, that we did better than any other Democratic candidate has ever done in the 38th Assembly District."

Prior to the election, Smyth contended that his ability to work across the aisle is what makes him an effective legislator, and it seems voters agreed.

"The fact that I ended up getting about 14 percentage points above Republican registration tells me that a large percentage of my constituents that voted for me are not Republican," Smyth said, "and my message of working just to get things done for the state of California really resonated."

However, it was not a landslide victory for Smyth. While he earned 54 percent of the votes, with more than 80,000 ballots cast in his favor district wide, Lutness was able to capture 68,357 votes, or 46 percent.

Ventura County voters mirrored these results, with Lutness receiving about 43.5 percent of the vote to Smyth's 56 percent.

Although he's aware that many challenges lie ahead, the victor said he is undeterred.

"I'm just ready to get back to work," Smyth said, as he prepared to board an airplane that would take him back to Sacramento for Thursday's special session. "We've got a lot of issues we need to work on for the state of California and I'm ready to go." Vote count breakdown Votes Cameron Smtyh (R) Carole Lutness (D) 80,353 (54 percent) 68,357 (46 percent) * All results are unofficial