What to look for on election night in California

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Amid a bad economy and continuing state budget crisis, California voters headed to the polls Tuesday to select candidates for governor, U.S. Senator and other races.

Polls close at 8 p.m. In the video above, Times Staff Writer Seema Mehta offers a guide for what to look for tonight -- and how turnout might affect the final results. The Times’ Carla Hall reports on what voters were saying at several polling stations on L.A.’s Westside. The Times’ Steve Marble talks about the high-stakes race for Orange County Sheriff, where the candidates vying to run a department wracked by corruption.

Los Angeles Times’ Full Election Day Coverage:VOTER GUIDE: Breakdowns of the candidates, polling information, resources, links and biographies

ENDORSEMENTS: From The Times’ editorial page

BREAKING POLITICAL NEWS: From PolitiCal, The Times’ state politics blog. Election results will be posted there as they come in.

COLUMNIST: Steve Lopez talks about the race coming to an end