area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. anchor: good afternoon. kristen: you have a few more hours to cast your ballot. we have a live team coverage across the bay area. larry: we are also on storm watch. we will tell you what to expect. kristen: the powerball numbers are in after a long delay, and a ticket worth $2 billion was sold in california. there is a one million-dollar winner in san francisco. larry: we begin live in sacramento, checking in on the governors race. reporter: yeah, we are at democratic headquarters, where governor newsom is poised to claim second term as california

governor. it is a low-key event of a not a big party planned, considering his reelection is guaranteed. the question is by how much. today, governor newsom and his partner voted in sacramento. newsom has been primarily focused on abortion rights, boosting fellow democratic candidates. he is up well over 20 points against his opponent. newsom famously defeated a recall measure last year. >> in many ways, we will win tonight because we won collectively year ago. republicans tried to take their best shot, and came up short. governor newsom has continued to move california forward in the issues californians are facing. reporter: like housing, jobs,

and health care. newsom has promised to finish his second term if reelected, knocking down speculation he could make a run for the white house should president biden choose not to seek a second term. we will bring you all the action , subdued as it may be. larry: thank you. kristen: in the south bay, the biggest city is voting for a new mayor. we are now live from san jose with more. reporter: tonight will bring a big change to san jose. after eight years, the current mayor is out. the county supervisor and one councilman are facing offer his seat. today, the campaigns provided video of candidates voting this morning they have similar

focuses, including homelessness, affordable housing, public safety, and combating crime. separately, they tell me it's about spinning money better and in a more intentional way. >> san jose has been $45 one million a year. they could've hired officers come expanded the library hours, and get san jose clean. >> getting back to the basics, safety, cleanliness, affordability. the city is setting measurable goals around core services, reporting publicly on performance, and tying pay raises to moving the needle on these issues. reporter: the two different and how to accomplish those goals, their resumes. chavez has dedicated two decades

to public offices, including serving as vice mayor. his opponent selected to counsil in january 2021 and has a background in teaching and technology. both believe they are the answer to some of san jose's toughest problem and ready to take action to shape the future of the nation's 10th largest city. kristen: thank you. our news reporter is focusing on another race and he joins us live in san jose. reporter: aside from that mayoral race, another one being closely watched in santa clara county is the race for sheriff, replacing the former sheriff. the two candidates are kevin jensen and bob johnson. smith was found guilty on six corruption and misconduct counts in a civil corruption file and announced she was not

running for reelection and announced her resignation last week, before being found guilty in the trial, so that is what is making the sheriffs raised the one to watch closely this evening, among everything else happening in santa clara county. the voting imbalance will be coming through the registrar's office. the registrar is here with me. what have we been seeing so far with the turnout? >> a great, wonderful turnout for election day. we are just over 30% turnout for the election. we are expecting 55% to 65% turnout when they finish coming in by the end of today with all the ballots in the next few days with the postmark. an exciting day. the rain has slowed down. everything is going well. >> we are seeing more people coming through and just some final words of advice for voters coming out, getting out here at last minute throughout the bay area. >> it is not too late to vote.

all the boat centers -- vote centers are open until 8:00 tonight, so get your vote center and you will be able to vote, and it's not too late if you haven't registered. you can register and vote conditionally also at the boat centers, so get out and vote. reporter: get out and vote. thank you. we will be here tonight and watching those races that will have big impact in the south bay. kristen: thank you. election coverage continues. at 5:00, we go live to network coverage of national elections with live on the local updates every 30 minutes. abc news at 11 will have a full recap of results, and we were livestream results at 8:00. you can watch that honor abc 7 bay area news app on your smart phone or smart tv. larry: what a messy morning it

was. what can we expect this evening on the drive home? mike: scattered showers. not like this morning. a chance of showers locally heavy with locally gusty wind and lightning possible with hail , and more likely those record cold temperatures we are dealing with now could lead to a chilly night. we have some residual issues in the santa clara valley and alameda county. we are looking at a flood advisory, streams and creeks overflowing their banks with ponding on the roadways. one inch to 1.5 inches of rain. how about that for the south bay. all is quiet now. the storm is down to the south and sliding away from us. we have showers redeveloping to the north, light.

some snow. more storms ready to rotate in. they have the possibility of containing some thunder, lightning, small hail, gusty winds, in brief, heavy rain. so dress to stay warm and dry. we still have a chance of showers. larry: thank you. that. spinouts. rescues. the impact today. our reporter >> this all around the bay to see the problems caused this morning. reporter: the coast, inland, east bay, southbay, everyone feeling the effects of dangerous conditions caused by tuesday's heavy rainstorm. in san jose, things nearly turned ugly for a man and his two-story structure along the guadalupe river. >> the building was surrounded by water. he said no, he was not ok, so we called 911. anchor: reporter: reporter: with the coalition as the river

swelled. we captured these efforts from san jose fire. the man walked away without injuries. there are worries for others who live along the river on rainy days like today. >> you have a lot of campers on the edge of the waterway was that the water comes up and could be over their heads. if you're in a tent, sleeping ill, there is a good chance people could lose our lives living along these waters. >> from the rivers, roads, traffic delays due to closures, including highway 85 in mountain view due to flooding. in half moon bay. they chopped up a tree that fell on highway 92, another example of issues the highway patrol faced. >> the trees are coming down. power poles. they are spinning out. you mentioned also flooding. anchor: caltrans works to clean up the mess as chp tries to keep up. >> we get 10 calls to 15 calls a

day, and monterey needed, triple that -- on a rainy day, triple that. anchor: chp wants everyone to slow down and be safe on the road so you are not their next: busy stormy days like today. -- there next call on busy, stormy days like today. kristen: a man will stand trial. velasquez is facing of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, after allegedly shooting at the man. a judge determined there is enough evidence to put the case before a jury. the jury granted bail to velasquez. if he posted, he would be under monitored release in order to stay away from the person he is accused of shooting up. larry: still to come at 4:00, more election coverage with the mayor's race. plus, big races, control of congress in the balance tonight.

plus, winning powerball numbers drawn. believe it or not, just one ticket last week i stepped in a bear trap. i should really get rid of it. but... i'll make do. just like i make do without home internet. besides, my phone gets the job done. sometimes. it's not that bad. it is that bad. don't settle. get xfinity home internet for just $24.99 a month for 2 years with no annual contract and a free streaming box.

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kristen: we have a winner. one ticket in southern california had all six powerball numbers to win the jackpot.

2 billion dollars. here the winning numbers. 10, 30 3, 41, 47, 56, and the powerball is also 10. larry: i think you would be more excited if it was your ticket. [laughter] you would be waving goodbye. the winning ticket was sold at a gas station and alta dena, north of los angeles. kristen: the drawing did not take place until this morning because the lottery in minnesota had issues processing sales. our reporter in los angeles is at the gas station that helped to make someone an instant billionaire. larry: unbelievable. it is good to see you. what is the mood? reporter: hey, good to see you as well. let me tell you something, my friends, in san francisco -- love you guys, by the way -- i would feel a lot better if i was not standing in the rain looking like a soggy noodle and have

that winning ticket, but i don't. someone was that ticket at this gas to satish -- won that ticket at this gas station and alta dena. you see it. billionaire made here. congrats. here is more. >> we have the privilege of selling the only powerball jackpot winning ticket. [applause] anchor: $2 billion $40 million. wow. the largest jackpot in lottery history. >> somebody is holding on to an important piece of paper this morning. that person needs to keep it safe. we will not who they are until they come forward. anchor: he walks away with $1 million for selling the winning ticket, the most for any retailer, no matter how big. >> no one deserves it more than this man. he has worked hard his whole life. >> they are spinning money to

buy a ticket. anchor: he has had many winning tickets. nothing like this. he is thrilled it was perseus and his community -- purchased his community. >> what will they take away? >> close to $1 billion. we will see what happens. anchor: the winner has not stepped up. >> normally most winners take a couple of nights to come in. it is rare we get a winner quickly. reporter: i have to tell you, folks, no sad story here. i spoke with a bunch of people who showed up at this gas station this morning, excited that ticket was bought at this gas station in their community. they bought their tickets right across the street. [laughter] anyway. [laaughs] the owner gets $1 million and plans to spend the money on his kids and grandkids. good stuff.

i love you guys. you are awesome. back to you. kristen: you are so awesome. i'm surprised this turned into a socal is better than north c\ al thing. [laughter] >> battle of the titans. larry: sorry. great to see you. reporter: it is all good. same here. take care. we would do it again sometime. larry: stay dry in los angeles. he is the best. the bay area is not completely left out of powerball frenzy. our reporter visited a san francisco store where a ticket worth over $1 million was sold. reporter: someone from san francisco is among one of the lucky winners of the latest lottery drawings, purchasing a ticket at the start worth up to $1.1 million.

> i feel good for the people who won it. reporter: this store owner says he's on convenience stores for 40 years on the button never has someone won that much from one of his stores. >> i have been doing it for 22 years. nothing like this. reporter: he says he sold 490 five tickets in one day at the store leading up to the draw, and now one person has the ticket with five of the six winning numbers. >> you see people from all over. they try their luck. nonstop since saturday and yesterday, sunday. reporter: this location is no stranger to lottery winnings in the past, but after this latest drawing, they will be together. >> monday, i could not get them. that is amazing news. reporter: the odds of winning the $1 million prize is still an intense one and 11 million.

he hopes it leads to more business in the future for this store. larry: it's funny how you think about $1 million, in most cases you say, $1 million. somebody has $1 billion. kristen: $2 billion. larry: after the taxes. kristen: no windfall, but rainfall. mike: we had a windfall of rainfall. absolutely. let me put my glasses on. one inch in santa rosa. one engine san francisco. more than one engine open. one point 25 inches in sunnyvale and san jose. concord about one inch. arts of napa in the hills, more than two inches of rain, so very impressive. you can see behind me, some

quiet weather from our oakland airport camera. those clouds have enough vertical development, more showers and thunderstorms, scattered tonight, isolated tomorrow morning, then we deal with thick frost friday, thursday morning, friday morning, and the weekend is drier and sunny here. here is the exclusive storm impact scale. this evening's commute in tomorrow's commute is nothing like this morning. more storms rotating our way. i want to show you the thunder snow and this year this afternoon. that's how you get four feet of snow. you can see the signature, texture, nature of the clouds. that is cold air, and that is the instability we need. until it passes south and east tomorrow morning, we have a chance of wet weather. sierra, no driving, heavy snow,

17 inches above 4000 feet. winter storm warning through 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. future radar. scattered showers through the afternoon into the evening. tomorrow morning, look how quiet it is. a chance of wind and moisture bumping into the higher elevations by noon and an isolated shower, but for the most part, sunshine in the afternoon. temperatures are rainfall, up to 1/10 of an inch possible. temperatures right now are chilly. some of these will be record cold high temperatures in the breezes make it feel cooler. that's why you have to dress warm this evening. tonight, 30's in the north bay areas. tomorrow, dry, sunny, warmer, upper 50's, low 60's, well below average. get ready for the frost thursday

morning, friday morning, then temperatures stay below-average. we could be in for dry weather after this. larry: i don't see anymore sprinkles or anything on the seven-day. kristen: thank you, mike. kristen: thank you, mike. la meet leon the third... leon the second... and leon... the first of them all. three generations, who all bank differently with chase. leon's saving up for his first set of wheels... nice try. really? this leon's paying for his paint job on the spot... and this leon, as a chase private client, he's in the south of france, taking out cash with no atm fees. that's because this family of leons has chase. actually, it's león. ooh la la! one bank for now. for later. for life. chase. make more of what's yours. we've got our vision... ...and so much to choose from. but with free in-store design services our budget and our time are well spent. at floor and decor, with a wide selection of products

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kristen: the department of elections will release results tonight from ballots released prior to today. larry: our reporter is live outs ide with more about turnout. reporter: it may be wet outside, but not inside. there is excitement in san francisco at city hall on election day. the department of elections tell me that going into today, they

had 30% of the mail-in ballots. we went to several polling locations in san francisco, including city hall. we have not seen huge numbers of people voting today, but many voters dropped off mail-in ballots, similar to the midterm elections in 2018. there was a 74% overall turnout a polling locations that year. 65% of the vote at those locations came on those mail-in ballots. >> since i have been here, it has been real slow, real quiet, not crowded or loud. >> today we have seen a lower than usual turnout regarding the midterm elections, but we have had a high number of people drop off mail in ballots and voting provisionally. >> it has been quiet, but it is picking up now, yeah. reporter: keep in mind that we

will see some results later this evening, but those results come from the mail-in ballots that arrived before today. they are not counting today. they are just in the process of getting all of those ballots, and because this one was 10 pages long in san francisco, they say it would likely take something in the neighborhood of five days to count, so patience is key. kristen: yeah. if it is close, you will not know tonight. larry: five days? thanks. kristen: election coverage continues after the break. we speak with congresswoman jackie spirit

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it's how it brings us together. ♪♪ ♪ announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. larry: as you know, today, americans will decide which political party americans want to see control congress. kristen: we are tracking it from washington. reporter: as tens of millions of americans take to the polls, everybody is watching the congress, where democrats are

fighting to defend a narrow majority. republicans need one seat, and five seats in the house. >> it could not be tighter. reporter: in georgia, a deadlock between raphael warnock and herschel walker. >> he voted to put men and women sports. that's like asking me to compete against your daughter. >> herschel walker is not fit to represent the people of georgia in the u.s. senate. reporter: in pennsylvania, another razor thin race between john fetterman and dr. mehmet oz, both casting ballots is morning. >> pennsylvania sent a clear message, less radicalism and more balance. >> one thing i will always get right is making sure we stand for the important things in washington, d.c. reporter: election officials

warning final results will take days to tabulate. the same potential slow down for several of the tight senate races, including nevada, arizona, wisconsin, and ohio. >> if you win, you win. if you lose, you concede. >> we should be in the clear. reporter: it is the voters are not posters, who will have the final say about which party will be in control of congress. >> congress is spending out of control and needs to come back in line. >> i want to make sure what i believe in and the policies i think are best for our country reporter: are put in place. historically, first-term presidents lose congressional seats, but experts in many key races in this year's election are unexpectedly close. larry: after decades in service, congresswoman jackie speier is not seeking reelection, but joins us to look at the state of

politics and a reflection of the remarkable career. thank you for joining us. how odd is it to be on the sidelines not wondering how many votes you will get? >> first time in four years, larry. you know, it is obviously difficult, but it is time to pass the torch to a new generation, and i am very excited about the prospective candidate, the person who replaces me, and we will see what we see denied. larry: you have been in politics for four decades. life as an elected official has changed a lot since you got started. >> no question. it is still pretty civil on the local and state level. it has become truly a bloodsport in congress. it is now an environment in which it is all about winning the next election, so there are

extremes frankly on both sides, but certainly more on the republican side, because there has been this effort to be violent, whether january 6 or the attack on speaker pelosi, who was not at home, so paul pelosi was attacked. i mean, that is crossing the line, and if we are going to maintain this democracy, we have to return to discussions and the word "consensus" or "compromise" cannot be a dirty word. i am hopeful that will be the case. enormous you mention the social -- larry: you mentioned the social divisiveness now, but are you concerned qualified people would look at the landscape and say i do not want this to be my life. i do not want to run for office.

>> i do not think anybody wants to put themselves or their families at risk. i think the vicious attack on paul pelosi has put that in everyone's mind set, but i also think there is outstanding individuals who see this as public service, who see this is what john f. kennedy said, which is a mess not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. that is what i was raised with, and i think it continues today. larry: what is your biggest fear if republicans take control the senate, house, or both? >> if they take control of both houses, i think you will see congress actually frozen. it will be paralysis first and foremost. it will be an effort by certainly republicans on the house side to make it all about hunter biden, who frankly should not be part of the discussion, because he is not the president, but they will use whatever tools they have two make it about

hunter biden. they will also try to roll back some of the improvements we have made. i hope it will not be rolling back the infrastructure back, which is the first time we have invested in a huge way in our infrastructure in this country, broadband, highways, or our train system. we will have to wait and see. they want to decrease taxes on the wealthy. we have already seen what they spent over the course of the trump tax cuts, and now the interest is in reducing the taxes of the wealthy, once again, which will make the deficit balloon and we will have much greater debt as well. larry: i am up against the clock, but quick, what is next for you? >> coming home. i don't see this as retirement

as much as coming home. i intend to work in our community. san francisco is the third richest century in the country. san mateo is the fourth richest county in the country, and yet, both communities have great needs among children, the homeless, and so, i am hoping to come back to fix the issues that are front and center in our communities. larry: thank you so much for your years of service, congresswoman jackie speier, and i look forward to seeing you at home. >> thank you. larry: take care. we will be watching the local and national races. hopefully we will have results tonight, but we will have to be patient. kristen: right after the polls close in california that will be streaming local coverage. we will be on the show. reporter: patience is the key word tonight, but we are

excited. we will be livestreaming local and statewide results from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. tonight on our abc 7 bay area streaming tv app, covering many key local races, and we have a lot of political analysts joining us for the whole night. there is a lot of interesting propositions on the ballot we are following. reporter: propositions, elections. it is interesting to watch how congress goes, how pennsylvania votes for the senate, but it is crucial what happens in the bay area. it affects our lives on a daily basis. one big question, legalize sports betting on your phone. that is huge. another is the question of choice. how big of a statement is california willing to make on that? and others, will we ban flavored tobacco for children? that would be a lead.

we have prop 30 of the question about how to finance more electric cars, tax the people to make over $2 million? or go with governor newsom who says he has they already have the money in the budget. kristen: that split the democratic party, and also, some key bay area races. >> this is something to watch. we have an open mayor's race, san jose's mayors race. those are two of the biggest cities in the bay area. what course will they set? the other ones are the district attorney races, crime, police misconduct, both big huge issues. which way will they go in alameda county? were you have the choice between a veteran prosecutor and someone coming in on a justice reform ticket? or in san francisco with a controversial district attorney is facing voters for the first time. which way does it go? which way does it go?

debate every will be watching it. >> in many house races in california which could determine the direction of the house nationally, some of those races are in the central valley in southern california. >> we will have those. >> exactly. again, we hope you join us from 8:00 p.m. to 11 p.m. tonight. people continue to watch abc7news for your national result, so get your phone, tablet out and stream is online and get simultaneous local results in national result at the same time so we hope people join us. kristen: i have my two screens ready. we will be watching. we will be livestreaming results at 8:00 p.m. when the polls close and your brain is an amazing thing. but as you get older, it naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. the secret is an ingredient originally discovered...

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joins us live now. reporter: good evening. there are 10 candidates running, and because of ranked choice voting, it could be a couple of days before we find out who the next mayor is. some front runners have emerged. a pole in mid-october shows two candidates battling about at the top. taylor scored key endorsements, including other mayors. he is being endorsed by the san francisco chronicle and other newspapers. taylor is considered to be a moderate. the other candidates endorsements include the california attorney general and a u.s. congressman and has the backing of several labor unions

and support from the alameda county democratic club in planned parenthood. he supports more police funding, but once torilla durant police -- reorient police to focus on crimes and she once knew apprenticeships and workforce programs. i spoke with one business owner who is a prominent real estate agent. she says is a small business owner, the big issues come down to public safety, the homelessness issue, and taxes. >> as small business owners, we don't want to feel like repaying paying the same business taxes, expenses, or anything else that a large corporation would be paying. we don't have the capacity to do so. reporter: it could be a couple

of days before we know who the next mayor is. larry: thank you. how reporter was in alameda county earlier today in the rain , gauging the enthusiasm of those who went to cast their ballots. reporter: with the wind, rain, the outdoor voting booths were not terribly popular outside the courthouse. >> i voted. reporter: the dry through had a steady stream of cars. >> i think there is so much at risk and we have a lot at risk with reproductive rights and other things. i think being born and raised in oakland is important to me to get out and vote. >> thank you for voting. >> i am a teacher. a lot of my students are voting today, which is good. >> this used to be filled with voting booths. no more.

post-pandemic, the registrar says voters leaning into vote by mail or dropping off their ballot, especially of dry through's -- dry through. >> it is a convenience. they are deciding how they want to return it to us. reporter: alameda county registrar said 28% of voters had already voted by mail, and hoping to hit 50% turnout, far higher than the last election in june, and lots of brand-new voters flocking to this voting center by the campus. >> this is my first time voting in california. i am a student at uc berkeley. i always thought it was important to vote. >> this is the real way we can make a difference. larry: vote by mail. it is so simple. so easy. kristen: right.

larry: you have to requested. in a of t

kristen: it is one of those wet days. larry: mike? mike: scattered showers this evening, tomorrow. you can see how few there will be tonight. the best chance of

thunderstorms, close to the coast. mid 30's to mid 40's. a lot of thick dew tomorrow morning. high temperatures tomorrow, not much warmer than today, but not record high cold temperatures. cold this morning is thursday morning, friday morning. the weekend is trending drier, but cooler than average. larry: thank you. a chance encounter for stanford researchers. kristen: they are measuri

kristen: coming up next, network election coverage. we will have live, local updates every 30 minutes. the news at 11:00 will have a full recap of results. we will be livestreaming results at 8:00 when the polls close. we will have full coverage. larry: keep in mind because of

the election coverage tonight, the new episode of jeopardy will air at 3:00 a.m., with the wheel of fortune at 3:30 a.m., that set your dvr's. kristen: what california searches to conserve water, a team at stanford highlights worked on by engineers. larry: what makes these workers unique is they are not human but very busy. spencer christian reports. spencer: the chances are if you live in the bay area city, you have not seen beavers at work. now researchers at stanford are saying their dam building will be increasingly important to climate change among cycles of drought if they continue. the evidence comes from a newly released study that mixes persuasive science with a good bit of luck. >> really exciting there was this great natural experiment happening before us. spencer: christian dewey was a phd student at stanford when he set up to study changes in wet

and dry years that a tributary of the colorado river, but while his team was setting up instruments to measure water quality, a team of beavers moved in and set up shop themselves, damming the river. >> we were set up to capture the hydrologic impacts of the event, and also the impact on water quality. spencer: by measuring changes in water quality, dewey and his professor document the benefits especially during drier years, when water quality typically degrades. as the beavers dams spread the river water through the zones, the research documented a cleansing effect, and a drop in contaminants in excess nutrients, such as nitrogen. >> when we have long periods without a lot of rainfall, they will step in and start changing the hydraulics of the river systems, and that will be to our advantage. spencer: these findings come during that time of increased interest in beaver activity,

even in irving -- urban settings. in a separate paper a stanford visiting fellow connects the dams to a strategy known as nature-based solutions. >> you end up with an amazing restoration potential, flood control, sediment control. spencer: meanwhile, they are hoping their study will focus attention on how natural ecosystems could be stressed by drought and climate change in the future, and the benefits of supporting natural populations that might be able to help. >> for me, that is the primary message, appreciate them and do everything we can to help them naturally repopulate. larry: researchers say the nitrogen filtered by the beaver dam can threaten water quality in several different ways. kristen: this includes promoting algae, which can lower oxygen levels.

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they have direct flights to vegas. close enough! ♪ ♪ ♪ good evening on this critical election night in america. it is now 8:00 p.m. in the east, 5:00 p.m. in the west. at this hour, polls are closing in 16 states. including the key battlegrounds of pennsylvania, florida, and new hampshire. the polls have already closed in ohio and in georgia tonight. all eyes on the high stakes senate races there, and let's take a look tonight at the numbers coming in already. you can see in florida, at this hour, abc news can now project that ron desantis has been re-elected at governor. talk will turn to whether or not he runs for president in 2024. now to the senate in florida. senator marco rubio is taking a third term, he will return to the senate, it was a race against congresswoman val demings. one-time police chief in orlando, considered a very solid

condition. a lot of talk about her as