The Republican Party made dramatic gains across the country in Tuesday's mid-term elections. California bucked the national trend by overwhelmingly electing Democrats to state offices and returning Barbara Boxer to the U.S. Senate. Voters sent mixed messages on state propositions, rejecting the suspension of California's global warming laws while voting no on funds for state parks, eliminating the two-thirds majority needed to pass a budget while requiring a supermajority to enact fee hikes. Local races and measures reflected voter anxiety about the economy. Also this week, the sentencing of Johannes Mehserle, the BART officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant on a station platform in Oakland, is scheduled for Friday. And hundreds of thousands of adoring Giants fans paid tribute the World Series Champions in downtown San Francisco.