Election Day 2010: What does it all mean for us?

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent, your mailbox has been overflowing with campaign pieces for weeks and you've been DVRing your favorite TV shows just so you can skip over all the political ads. Now, millions of Americans are asking themselves, "what now?"

The dust has settled across our country and the message is clear: America needs private sector jobs now and she wants government to start living within its means.

Despite former Speaker (doesn't that sound nice?) Pelosi's predictions that "We're on pace to maintain the majority in the House of Representatives," the Democrats did lose control of the House. In fact, they lost 63 seats and counting!

What does this historic election mean for the nation, for California and for women?

The Nation......

American voters are fed up with big government policies and want a fiscally conservative, leaner federal government. The incoming class of members-elect is going to have to find a way to deliver on that promise.

What we have going for us is that voters have delivered a new class of dynamic, young, diverse leaders that reflect the will of the American people. We have to overcome the tendency of the ruling party to go back to how things were before. The 2008 Presidential election, as well as the current economic situation, has forever changed the electorate and I hope that the House leadership is going to change along with the people.

Our new Speaker-Elect John Boehner has a steep hill to climb. He must deliver on his promises to reduce spending in Washington, D.C., he must maintain party discipline on some upcoming tough votes AND he must show the American people that he will not be the type of leader who goes back to 'business as usual.'

Speaker Boehner must promote new leaders in both politics and policy, and he must remove the old establishment committee chairs and replace them with whoever is the best person for the job. He must throw out a system based on seniority and cronyism and replace it with a merit-based system of promoting the most qualified. Nationally, the GOP must signal a dramatic change, not only away from the policies of the Obama Administration, but also away from our own bleak record and towards a brighter future where the government is a facilitator not a hindrance to business and where real jobs are created in the private sector.

In California.....

In California, our voters demonstrated that the GOP tidal wave would stop at the Rocky Mountains. Voters in California returned Jerry Brown to the Governor's seat and our golden state will continue to suffer under his failed, irresponsible fiscal policies. In the Senate, Carly Fiorina was ultimately unable to pull out an upset victory over Barbara Boxer. It seems while the nation is taking a giant leap forward, California is stepping back.

I was born and raised in California and I love my home state, but we have to take a serious, hard look at how to get our house in order. If we don't we are going to end up looking like a third-world country, with half of our population on government assistance and the other half paying for them with no middle class left. If we don't want our state to be a picture of haves vs. the have-nots then we need to bring jobs back to California and STAT!

A reasonable answer....

We need a Governor who can cut spending, balance our budget and ease some of the onerous restrictions on businesses that are stifling our once-vibrant economy. We need a state legislature in California who is not afraid to make tough choices and will stop the decades-old policy of 'kicking the can down the road' in terms of our debt management.

I can see only one way in which we can achieve these goals: Redistricting.

California voters have given the power to draw district lines to a non-partisan, citizen commission and it's anyone's guess how that might shake things up in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. One thing is clear, with the criteria being to keep communities and cities whole, commissioners will be looking at population instead of politics and city's geography instead of incumbent's residences when making these determinations. Could be good for the GOP?

And now, what about women?

What does this mean for women? As a nation, we identify women voters as either 'hockey moms' or 'security moms' and most recently 'mama grizzlies'-so what does this election mean for them?

Well, for starters, some of them are now in Congress! I am thrilled to congratulate Nikki Haley as Governor of South Carolina, Mary Fallin as Governor of Oklahoma, Kristi Noem, Kelly Ayotte and others. In an election where the liberal media warned us about the number of women who may lose their seats in the House, it turns out that this was in fact, 'the year of the woman'.

In the House, a record number of 262 women ran in primaries this year, 134 Democrats and 128 Republicans. Compare that with 1992, the so-called Year of the Woman, when the numbers were smaller and more skewed: 140 Democrats and only 82 Republicans, for a total of 222. In the Senate this year, 36 women ran, 19 Democrats and 17 Republicans, breaking the 1992 record of 29 candidates, 22 being Democrats.

This election featured more women candidates than ever before and while they can't all win, getting donors and voters used to GOP women candidates can only help us in the future.

In the end, I think the voters have given the GOP a chance and it's up to our newly-elected majority to come up with good government that we can afford. For California, we are definitely a step behind the rest of the nation, but I am optimistic that we will learn from our mistakes and vote smarter in the future. If not, we will end up with the government that we deserve.

By Sara Catalán