Meet 2022’s leading GOP vote-getter (who lost his race)

California Republican Lanhee Chen's campaign released new analysis showing he won more votes during last year's midterm election than any other Republican in the country.

Chen's campaign won almost 4.8 million votes, which it notes is more than candidates like Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. But that total still fell short of the most important threshold in Chen's race — he lost to Democrat Malia Cohen by more than 1 million votes (she finished with more than 5.9 million).

While Chen outperformed the rest of the ticket, that gap between himself and his Democratic rival shows how far Republicans have to go to win statewide.

Still, Chen's camp noted he won at least four congressional districts represented by Democrats, giving Republicans some hope down the ballot in future years.