Tech Bet Big on California — and Voters Shrugged: Erika D. Smith

Ballots are still being counted in some of California’s highest-profile primary election races — a process that will continue for several more days, perhaps even weeks, before the winners are announced. But one loser is already clear: Big Tech.

Indeed, Tuesday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night for an industry that has plowed tens of millions of dollars into political action committees and candidates’ campaigns, all to try reshaping California’s government to its liking.

Tech executives, from Ripple cofounder Chris Larsen to Google cofounder Sergey Brin, have been upfront about wanting to blunt labor unions’ longstanding influence ...