Latest news with #CaliforniaDemocrats
Fox News
2 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
California Dem doubts someone from their state could win presidency since they're thought of as 'crazy people'
California Democrats at their annual state convention had mix feelings about whether someone from their state could win on a national level after former Vice President Kamala Harris lost in 2024. Delegates convened over the weekend with guests to induct new members and plan for the 2026 election season. Although Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have both been seen as potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders, neither appeared at the convention, with Harris only addressing the convention via video. The convention largely avoided discussions about the 2028 election, with at least one delegate wondering if a liberal Californian could win on the national stage at all. "I don't know if a California Democrat can win a presidential election," delegate Jane Baulch-Enloe told the Los Angeles Times. "California is thought of as the crazy people... I don't mean that in a bad way — though I know some people do — but we do things differently here." Baulch-Enloe instead insisted California Democrats first need to "get people on our side and help them understand that we aren't just wacko liberals and teach people that it's okay to want things" like higher wages or universal healthcare. Other attendees, such as Asian American Pacific Islander caucus leader Aref Aziz, argued that Democrats need to have a clearer perspective and message on the economy if they want to win more elections. "When you look at a lot of our economies, California and New York, by all accounts, GDP, the numbers that you look at, they're doing great," Aziz said. "But when it comes to the cost that consumers are paying in these places, they're so high and so far above other countries that we end up diminishing whatever value there is in our GDP, because everything's so expensive." However, not all delegates believed California's liberal policies would be a hindrance to future elections. "People like to point a finger somewhere, and I think California is an easy target, but I disagree," delegate Melissa Taylor told the LA Times. "Because I think that California is standing up for values that the Democratic Party believes in, like we believe in labor, we believe in healthcare, we believe in women's rights, we believe in rights for LGBTQ people." Jodi Hicks, the president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, added that Harris' loss was prompted by multiple "unique" factors, including her short three-month campaign, rather than politics. However, she agreed Democrats need "to walk and chew gum at the same time" when it comes to promoting liberal policies and helping the economy. Fox News Digital reached out to the California Democratic Party for comment.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
California Democrats uncertain about Kamala Harris' potential run for governor
Some California Democrats are unsure about former Vice President Kamala Harris launching a gubernatorial bid in her home state following her loss to President Donald Trump, according to reports. "I think she'd be fine. I mean, she's already been a state leader, right?" Denise Robb, a Democratic Party delegate from Pasadena, told the Washington Post. "It's just that she lost the presidential race and she's been almost — gone. We don't hear from her. We don't see her." The Post and The New York Times reported on Sunday that activists and delegates within the party weren't all in on the former vice president, who has held statewide office in California before as attorney general and a U.S. senator. Harris delivered a 3-minute video speech at a gathering of thousands of California Democrats over the weekend, with other gubernatorial candidates in attendance. "I don't think she should get into the campaign for governor," Mark Gracyk, a delegate from San Diego, told the Times. "The working class would say, 'Oh there she is again, she has the support of the elites.'" The former vice president has made a handful of public appearances since her 2024 election loss, including a speech that criticized Trump's first 100 days in office in early May. Amanda Day, a delegate from Merced, told the Post that her support for Harris in the 2024 election didn't automatically mean she would support the former VP for governor, should she choose to run. Day also noted that Harris' past as a state attorney general might cause a problem for her. "I liked her as a presidential candidate, but it was a different job," Day said. "Coming back to California is a whole other story. She has history here." Ayo Banjo, a delegate from Santa Cruz, told the Times that she wanted to understand where Harris stands right now. "I wonder where her priorities are, and where she's at right now," Banjo said. "I do support her and think that she's great, but right now I have more questions than answers." Former Democratic lawmaker Katie Porter, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra are among the other Democrats who have launched a bid for California governor. Villaraigosa has charged that Harris and Becerra, who both served in the Biden administration, were involved in a cover-up of Biden's decline while in office, citing the new book, "Original Sin," which delves into the scandal. "Now, we have come to learn this cover-up includes two prominent California politicians who served as California Attorney General – one who is running for Governor and another who is thinking about running for Governor," he said in a statement. "Those who were complicit in the cover-up should take responsibility for the part they played in this debacle, hold themselves accountable, and apologize to the American people. I call on Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra to do just that – and make themselves available to voters and the free press because there's a lot of questions that need to be answered," Villaraigosa continued. Harris is set to decide her next move by the end of the summer. Former Vice President Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
With Harris on the sideline, top Democratic candidates for California governor woo party loyalists
California's most loyal Democrats got a good look this weekend at the wide field of gubernatorial candidates jockeying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom at the state Democratic Party's annual convention in Anaheim, with a few chiding former vice president and potential rival Kamala Harris. The Democrats running for governor in 2026 hurried among caucus meetings, floor speeches and after-parties, telling their personal stories and talking up their bona fides for tackling some of California's most entrenched problems, including housing affordability and the rising cost of living. All the hand-shaking and selfies were done in the absence of Harris, who would be the most prominent candidate in the race, and who has not said whether she'll run for governor in 2026 or seek the White House again in 2028. The most visible candidates at the convention were former state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, businessman Stephen J. Cloobeck, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and former state Controller Betty Yee, with former Rep. Katie Porter, state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa taking less prominent roles. With the primary still a year away, the gubernatorial race is still in limbo. Two prominent Republicans are also in the race: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton. Read more: Villaraigosa blasts Harris and Becerra for not speaking out about Biden's decline Many Democratic activists, donors and elected officials said they were waiting to make up their minds until Harris makes up hers, because her entry into the governor's race could push some candidates off the ballot or into other statewide races. "People are kind of waiting to see what she's going to do," said Matt Savage, a delegate from San Jose, as attendees ate chia seed pudding and breakfast burritos at a breakfast hosted by Yee. "She needs to decide soon." Yee told the crowd: "Regardless of who gets in the race, we're staying in." Surrounded by canvassers who chanted his name as he talked, Cloobeck, a political newcomer, scolded Harris for not coming to the gathering of Democrats after her loss to President Trump in the November presidential election. "If she decides to get in this race, shame on her for not showing up for the most important people in the party, which is the people who are here today," Cloobeck said. "And if she doesn't have the IQ to show up, she's tone deaf once again." In a three-minute recorded video, Harris told Democrats that with Republicans working to cut taxes for the rich and dismantle efforts to fight climate change, "things are probably going to get worse before they get better." "But that is not reason to throw up our hands," Harris said. "It's a reason to roll up our sleeves." Polling shows that if Harris were to run for governor, she would have a major advantage: A November survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, found that about 72% of Democrats would be very likely or somewhat likely to consider voting for her. Read more: Who is running for California governor in 2026? Meet the candidates Cloobeck said his campaign had spent "probably a couple hundred thousand dollars" on the canvassers, who wore royal blue shirts emblazoned with his name and distributed glossy invitations to a comedy night with "Roastmaster General" comedian Jeff Ross. One canvasser said he was paid $25 an hour and found the job on Craigslist. At the party's LGBTQ caucus meeting, Atkins, the only well-known gay candidate in the race, told the cheering crowd that she dreamed of making California work for others the way it had worked for her. Atkins, 62, was raised in southwest Virginia by a coal miner and a garment worker and moved to San Diego in her 20s. "California has given me every opportunity," Atkins said. "I want that promise to be true for everyone." At the Latino caucus, Villaraigosa said that the Democratic Party needs to focus on the affordability crisis facing working-class Californians, many of whom are Latinos, by tackling high gas prices, home prices, utility costs and other day-to-day cost of living challenges. Villaraigosa, 72, has been out of elected office for more than a decade. He last ran for for governor in 2018, placing a distant third in the primary behind Newsom and Republican businessman John Cox. He noted that he also lost the 2001 mayor's race before winning in 2005. "Sometimes it takes two times," Villaraigosa said to the caucus. "We're ready, we're not invisible. We're going to stand up for working people and our communities." Thurmond told the crowd during the party's general session on Friday afternoon that education is "the centerpiece of our democracy." It brought his grandparents to the U.S. and saved his life after his mother died when he was 6, he said. "We must continue to be the resistance against Donald Trump's misguided policies," he said. "We will ensure that every student in this state has access to good quality education. And while we're at it, we will not allow for ICE to be on any of our school campuses.' Read more: Trump threatens to strip federal funds to California over transgender youth athletes Four candidates made brief appearances before the party's powerful organized labor caucus, trying to make the case that they would be the best choice for the state's more than 2.4 million union members. In a 45-second speech, Cloobeck told the union members that he used union labor in his hotel development projects and promised that if he were elected, he would support workers getting "full pay, full wages" if they went on strike. Yee said she'd "protect and advance your precious pension funds." She took a passing shot at Newsom's now-infamous dinner at the French Laundry in Napa Valley during the COVID-19 pandemic. Newsom attended a lobbyist's birthday party at the upscale restaurant after he had pleaded with Californians to stay home and avoid multifamily gatherings. "I'm not about gimmicks," Yee said. "I'm the least flashy person. Hell, I've not even stepped foot in the French Laundry — but I can tell you, I grew up in a Chinese laundry." Kounalakis told the party's labor meeting that her father immigrated to the U.S. at age 14 and worked his way through college as a waiter at the governor's mansion before building a successful development company in Sacramento. Her vision of California's future, she said, is massive investment in water infrastructure, clean energy infrastructure, roadway infrastructure and housing: 'We're going to build the future of this state, and we're going to do it with union labor." At the party's senior caucus meeting, Becerra told Democrats that he was raised by working-class, immigrant parents who bought their own home in Sacramento, then questioned whether a couple without college degrees could do the same today. He touted his experience fighting GOP efforts to cut Social Security Disability Insurance as a member of Congress and work lowering drug costs as President Biden's health chief. "We're going to fight for you," Becerra said. At the women's caucus, Porter, who left Congress in January after losing a run for Senate, said she was concerned that Trump's budget cuts and policies will have a disproportionate impact on mothers, children and the LGBTQ+ community. "That s— is not happening on my watch," Porter said. Ann McKeown, 66, president of the Acton-Agua Dulce Democratic Club in Los Angeles County's High Desert, said she had wanted Harris to be the president "so badly," but Porter is her top choice for governor. "Kamala is nicer than Katie Porter," McKeown said, "and we don't need nice right now." Delegate Jane Baulch-Enloe of Contra Costa County and her daughter spread the contents of their bag of Democratic Party swag across a table, taking stock of the flyers and campaign memorabilia, including a Becerra for Governor button, a clear plastic coin purse from Yee and a blue Thurmond bookmark that read, "Ban fascism, not books." Baulch-Enloe, who teaches middle school English and history, said she originally thought she'd support Thurmond because he understands education. "But now that there's so many people in the race, I'm not sure," Baulch-Enloe said. Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
As Kamala Harris weighs a run for governor, some Dems are moving on
ANAHEIM, Calif. — As hundreds of California Democrats gathered at their party's convention this weekend, a half-dozen gubernatorial candidates hustled from room to room courting them. The main potential contender who could upend the race — Kamala Harris — was nowhere to be seen. Since returning home to California, Harris has kept a low profile as she weighs whether she will enter a crowded field of contenders vying to succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026. She may also be positioning herself to seek the Democratic presidential nomination again in 2028. The former vice president has flown so far below the radar that she was almost an afterthought for many delegates at this gathering of party insiders.
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Booker slammed for alleged 'Nazi salute' to Cali Dems just months after Musk was dragged for same gesture
Conservatives are mocking Sen. Cory Booker for delivering an alleged "Nazi salute" to California Democrats, while quipping the New Jersey Democrat won't get the same scrutiny Elon Musk did when he raised his arm to MAGA supporters in January. "NEW: Democrat Senator Cory Booker appears to do a 'Nazi' salute in front of a large crowd of Democrats. I'm looking forward to the wall to wall coverage from the 'honest' and totally not biased media," Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg posted to X, accompanied by footage of the gesture. "If Elon Musk is a Nazi for doing this gesture… Cory Booker is one too. Sorry, I don't make the rules," X user Angela Belcamino posted. Booker traveled to the Los Angeles area on Saturday, where he addressed the California Democratic Party's convention, calling on supporters to "stand up" to President Donald Trump and repeating a handful of messages he delivered during his marathon 25-hour speech on the Senate floor in March railing against Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency, and the Trump administration for its alleged attacks on "Americans' safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy." "Real change does not come from Washington. It comes from communities. It comes from the streets. It comes from the people who's standing up and have shown over and over again – against the powerful, against the elected, against the rich – that the power of the people is greater than the people in power," Booker said on Saturday to the California Democrats. He capped off his roughly 15-minute speech with a gesture where he placed his right hand on his chest before raising it to the crowd. Musk delivered a similar gesture in January on Trump's inauguration day, which yielded dozens of headlines from mainstream media outlets that Musk delivered a "Nazi-style salute" to Trump supporters. Liberals and critics frequently attacked Trump while he was on the campaign trail by calling him a Hitler-esque fascist, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, who compared Trump to the German dictator during a town hall in October. Conservatives and others pounced on the footage of Booker, asking if media outlets would accuse the New Jersey Democrat of gesturing like a Nazi. "Will Corey Booker be plastered all over msm with headlines claiming he's a 'Nazi'?" The Post Millennial's X account posted, accompanied by footage of the gesture. "Here's a list of all the news networks who have not covered Cory Booker's salute: – NYTimes – CNN – Washington Post – MSNBC – NPR – USA Today – Reuters – Axios – ABC News Every single one of them wrote stories on Elon Musk's 'salute'… …do you get it yet?" former government scientist Matt van Swol posted to X. Musk responded to van Swol: "Legacy media is one big psy op." "Cory Booker is a straight up NAZI! WOW," conservative X user Gunther Eagleman posted. Fox News Digital reached out to Booker's office for comment on the matter, but did not immediately receive a reply. Booker did not appear to join fellow liberals in comparing Musk's wave to a Nazi salute in January, although he has previously slammed Trump as "worse than a racist," accusing him in 2019 of using "racist tropes" as "a weapon to divide our nation against itself."
