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Politico
6 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Redistricting wars heat up
Presented by DRIVING THE DAY — Assembly and Senate Democrats each held all-caucus Zoom meetings Sunday night to discuss the rapidly moving battle over redistricting, according to several people familiar with the calls. The briefings came as the showdown over redistricting escalated sharply, with Democratic lawmakers in Texas fleeing the state in an effort to deny a quorum to Republican lawmakers seeking to redraw lines there. California Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, are pushing to respond in kind if Texas and other states proceed with their own redistricting. The presenters, including California Reps. Pete Aguilar and Zoe Lofgren, talked about the current state of play, including how the state's congressional district boundaries could change and a briefing on polling on how California voters would respond to lines being redrawn, according to one person familiar with the calls and granted anonymity to describe them. — With help from Jeremy B. White. RIP RECALL — The effort to recall Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass debuted with a bang five months ago. Today, it will die with barely a whimper. The campaign brimmed with potential … Bass was indisputably vulnerable following her handling of the January wildfires, and organizers were backed by the deep pockets of Silicon Valley philanthropist Nicole Shanahan. But slick launch videos and petitions don't translate to the arduous work of actually qualifying a measure for the ballot. The recall committee never filed for approval to start collecting signatures and in June preemptively stood down, stating that a recall is 'no longer our vehicle for change.' The Monday qualification deadline makes it official. The failure to qualify 'tells us that people didn't have the appetite for a recall, and they wanted the problems in the city to get fixed, whether it had to do with the fire, homelessness or crime,' said Doug Herman, a political strategist working with Bass. A spokesperson for the recall effort did not respond to a request for comment. Ironically, it was Bass' former (and potentially future) foe Rick Caruso who helped drive a stake into the recall, when he declared the effort was 'not a good idea' not long after the committee launched. Caruso, a centrist Democrat, would have lent a bipartisan sheen to the effort. Instead, Bass and her allies could paint the effort as a GOP-adjacent partisan attack that would have trouble catching on in deep-blue Los Angeles. More upside for Bass … She could raise unlimited donations to fend off the recall, scooping up checks far larger than the $1,800 maximum donations for her reelect campaign. Bass raised nearly $750,000 to the anti-recall account and put that money to use on consulting, polling, digital lists — basically, all the building blocks that will come in handy for her reelection campaign. She posted a far more meager sum in her 2026 account: less than $180,000 for the first six months of the year. While the figure drew some flak online, Bass' team said it was necessary for the anti-recall campaign to be the top fundraising priority at the time. 'It needed to be done because of the seriousness of the recall and the fact that it had financial backing,' Herman said. GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. MEA CULPA: Friday's edition of California Playbook mischaracterized how much money Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis has on hand. She has $4.6 million on hand in her governor's race account, with an additional $4.6 million stowed away in her lieutenant governor's account — most of which her campaign says can be transferred. It also misstated Chad Bianco's fundraising edge over Steve Hilton. Like what you're reading? Sign up to get California Playbook in your inbox, and forward it to a friend. You can also text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@ and bjones@ or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. Big News: On Wednesday, Aug. 27, POLITICO is hosting its inaugural California policy summit. At The California Agenda, some of the state's most prominent political figures will share the stage with influential voices in tech, energy, housing and other areas to chart the path forward for a state at the forefront of critical policy debates. The live and streamed event is free, but advanced registration is required. Request an invite here. KAMALA WATCH UNWELCOME OFFER — Kamala Harris said when she opted not to run for governor that she planned to help elect Democrats across the country. Many operatives within her party, still smarting from her 2024 defeat, would be glad if she didn't run again in 2028 — and don't want her help in 2026, Dustin, Melanie and three of our colleagues report. 'If she was gravity for our candidates running in center-right districts in 2024, then she will be gravity for them in 2026,' said Lauren Harper Pope, co-founder of WelcomePAC, which supports center-left candidates. 'So,' she added of Harris' pledge to campaign for Democrats, 'no thank you.' Across the country in Southern California, a Democratic strategist who was also granted anonymity to speak frankly said he would prefer Harris 'go away' because voters equate her with Biden. The greater Los Angeles area, similar to metro New York, could be central to Democrats' quest to take control of the House of Representatives. 'I wouldn't want her in my district,' the strategist said. CAMPAIGN YEAR(S) NEXT DOMINO — Without Harris in the field, the looming question in the governor's race is whether Caruso will run — staging a political comeback after losing to Bass. Harris' exit has, in many insiders' eyes, widened Caruso's path to the governor's mansion. Supporters lit up Caruso's phone after Harris made her announcement, according to a confidante, some urging him to run for governor, while others pushed the mayoral race. 'The race has opened up a bit. Kamala had weaknesses and a ceiling, but she had support, too,' said the confidante, who was granted anonymity to discuss Caruso's view of the political playing field. 'Everything clicked up a notch, maybe two notches, as far as the excitement level. But in terms of a plan, it's going to be a while.' Read more from our Jeremy B. White. TOP READS BEHIND A PORTRAIT OF SUCCESS — The new CEO of Calexit, the organization campaigning for California's secession, projects opulence. He resides in a luxurious estate in Calabasas and claims to own lithium mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sir. Dr. Xavier Mitchell, Ph.D., however, appears 'to be an extremely prolific fraudster, with a civil and criminal record of financial swindling and deceit,' our Will McCarthy reports in a deep look at Mitchell's background. Mitchell has been accused of stealing a man's identity, applying for fraudulent business loans, forging documents, attempting grand theft and perjury. None of his companies appears on major exchanges, but rather on so-called OTC (over-the-counter) markets that have less stringent reporting requirements and allow securities (often penny stocks) to be traded directly between two parties. Although Mitchell does seem to have created a number of LLCs, at least one of them is currently suspended by the Franchise Tax Board, and the minuscule stock prices of others hardly denote grand wealth. CLIMATE AND ENERGY CALIFORNIA GOV & TEXAS TEA — Newsom spent the last four years provoking the big oil boogeyman. Now, it's haunting him, writes our Alex Nieves. Newsom's casting of Big Oil as the villain behind the state's perpetually high fuel prices signaled the industry's waning influence in Sacramento. But the plot took a dramatic turn for the governor and his party when two refineries in the state announced closure plans. 'Refineries all across the globe are struggling,' Newsom said last month in unveiling a suite of proposals to keep refineries solvent, including holding talks with potential buyers and offering incentives to boost in-state oil drilling. 'We've got some challenges, and so just require some new considerations.' The about-face, Alex writes, 'is emblematic of Democrats' course correction on cost-of-living issues in the wake of the presidential election — and provides a real-time demonstration of the political risks of pursuing an aggressive transition away from fossil fuels.' But, but, but … Chevron isn't ready to give state leaders kudos yet. Read Friday's California Climate to see why one of the company's top executives says he still has little faith that California will make long-term changes the industry thinks are needed. NUMBER OF THE DAY $16.90: What California's minimum wage will increase to at the start of next year. That's up from $16.50 thanks to adjustments for inflation. Top Talkers HUERTA ON FARM RAIDS — Storied California labor leader Dolores Huerta spoke with our colleague Samuel Benson about the Trump administration's arrest of farmworkers, and she's not optimistic about how coming harvest seasons will play out for crops or employees. 'It's an atrocity, what they've been doing to the immigrant community,' Huerta said. The longtime labor activist says the federal government's current approach is 'very, very different' from anything she's seen before. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM A FRIEND — San Francisco's progressive Democratic Sheriff Paul Miyamoto explained his surprising endorsement of Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in the governor's race last week. 'I honestly don't know what his stance is on every issue,' Miyamoto said Thursday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 'I'm looking at this as supporting a peer and a friend, someone who's doing the exact same job that I am.' AROUND THE STATE — The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night upheld a ruling against the Trump administration's 'roving' immigration patrols, a setback for the president's deportation agenda. (LA Times) — Financial disclosures show San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's campaign has spent unprecedented sums on consultants to polish his public image. (SF Standard) — Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes said a Navy fighter jet that crashed on his farm will cost him upland cotton crops. (CBS47/KSEE24) PLAYBOOKERS KEYNOTE — Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights arm who served as vice chair of the California Republican Party, will speak during a Saturday brunch at the party's fall convention. She'll go on at 11 a.m. on Sept. 6 in Orange County. PUT A RING ON IT — Christopher Mika, national security adviser for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and Sonja Packard got engaged on the Speaker's Balcony last Tuesday. STORK ALERT — Madailin Callahan Johnson was born in the wee hours of Aug. 2 to Jamie Callahan, deputy chief of staff to Newsom, and Mike Johnson (not the House speaker). Callahan will be on leave until January, and Rhys Williams will fill the deputy role until her return. BIRTHDAYS — former President Barack Obama … British royal Meghan Markle … actor Billy Bob Thornton … director Greta Gerwig … Claire Berry of Rep. Judy Chu's (D-Calif.) office ... Hector Escobar, property claims field adjuster, Mercury Insurance BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Sunday): Assemblymember Chris Ward (favorite cake: Black Forest cake) … Sydney Hilbush of Rep. John Garamendi's (D-Calif.) office ... (was Saturday): Vice President JD Vance … Mark Martin, Assembly budget consultant … David O'Brien at California Community Colleges … Chelsea Haines at the Association of California Water Agencies ... Gigi Sohn WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
Politico
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Politico
California's Iranian diaspora at a crossroads
Presented by DRIVING THE DAY — A federal appeals court has blocked Gov. Gavin Newsom's effort to reclaim control of National Guard troops President Donald Trump deployed to Los Angeles following unrest after ICE raids. As our colleagues Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report, the unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel at the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Trump appeared to have acted within his broad presidential authority. But ... the court flatly rejected the Trump administration's claim that the courts had no role in reviewing his action. The ruling indefinitely sets aside an injunction from a lower court judge — who found Trump had illegally commandeered 4,000 of California's Guard troops. That said, the rulings only determine whether Trump can continue his deployment while the case proceeds in the courts, which still have not ruled on the broader merits of the case. Attorneys from both sides will be back in U.S. District Court today for the next round of arguments. 'The president is not a king and is not above the law,' Newsom said in a statement late Thursday night. 'We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump's authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens.' THE VIEW FROM TEHRANGELES — Earlier this week, the Iranian-American Democrats of California held an emergency meeting to discuss the organization's next steps as President Donald Trump weighs whether to join Israeli strikes against Iran. Leaders of the group had already hit the phones in the hours and days after Israel launched its first strikes on June 12, calling all the members of the state's congressional delegation, including California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, and urging them to prevent U.S. involvement in the attacks. For Southern California's Iranian diaspora, the nation's largest, the fast-moving conflict represents a critical moment for a politically and culturally diverse community that hasn't always gravitated to American political debates, or done so as a coherent bloc. It's also a potentially significant moment for Schiff and Padilla, who may be forced to weigh in on a deeply contentious foreign policy debate that could pit Democratic factions against one another. 'This is the time for the California politicians to speak up,' said Sudi Farokhnia, the Los Angeles-based president of the IADC. 'And not just speak up, but speak up fast and be very precise in making sure that they hold Trump to the rules and laws of this country.' More than one-third of the nearly 400,000 Iranian immigrants in the United States are in the L.A. area, and more than half live in California. Polling conducted by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans last year found Iranian-Americans nearly divided on the 2024 presidential election — 45 percent nationwide backed Kamala Harris, compared with 41 percent for Trump. In heavily Democratic California, Democratic-aligned members of the community are hoping to influence the state's Democratic elected officials. But a diverse set of backgrounds — from Muslims to Jews to Christians to Zoroastrians — and what some Iranian American activists describe as a hesitance to publicly engage in a deeply complex issue has left the community with a relatively subdued presence in politics. And the current situation puts Iranian Americans, many of whom fled Iran after the 1979 revolution, in a bind. They've been highly critical of the Iranian regime and would love to see it fall from power, but remain divided on what should be done to make that happen — namely, whether U.S. military involvement should be part of it. 'We are at a fall of the Berlin Wall moment in history,' said Sam Yebri, a former L.A. city council candidate who's been active in Iranian American and Jewish American organizations. 'We know that it is time for this regime to fall and for there to be a free and democratic Iranian government.' Others, including officials in the IADC, are pushing California officials to back Sen. Bernie Sanders' No War Against Iran Act, as well as legislation from Rep. Ro Khanna and other House members that would block the administration from engaging in 'unauthorized hostilities' with Iran. 'The Iranian diaspora across the globe, particularly here in Southern California, has been calling for democracy in Iran and the oppressive authoritarian government there,' said Alex Mohajer, vice president of the IADC and a former state Senate candidate. 'And yet also we don't want military intervention, and we don't want military strikes on our loved ones.' Speaking with CNN on Wednesday, Schiff reiterated his belief in Israel's right to defend itself but sharply criticized Trump for considering U.S. military action without authorization from Congress. A spokesperson for Padilla did not respond to a request for comment. For the Iranian American community in Southern California, the conflict between Iran and Israel may accelerate a shift toward more widespread political involvement. Mohajer said the Woman Life Freedom protests of 2022, which launched in Iran and worldwide in the wake of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death in the custody of Iran's morality police, 'really ignited the community, and you've seen a real, newfound sense of activism.' But if Amini's death served as something of a wake-up call for young Iranians in the diaspora, activists say, now that they are engaged, they are more likely to be vocal — and speak out more forcefully for government officials, academic institutions and other organizations to push back on the Iranian regime's human rights abuses. Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian, the first Iranian American woman to serve in that role, argued the Israeli strikes were important in preventing the 'grave danger' of a nuclear-armed Iran. But she also said the regime needs to be brought down from within Iran. 'True change in Iran,' she said in a statement, 'must come from its own people.' GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@ and bjones@ or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. THE SCOOP FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: HOMELESSNESS HAMMER — Turlock city officials who refused to allocate $1 for a homeless shelter are meeting Newsom's wrath. The state hit the Central Valley city with a notice this week, warning that its actions violate state housing law, the governor's office exclusively told Playbook. 'Turlock doesn't get an exemption from their moral or legal obligation to support the housing needs of vulnerable populations just because the mayor sent us a list of excuses,' spokesperson Tara Gallegos told Playbook. The notice of violation is a precursor to the attorney general's office suing the city. Turlock's housing plans have already been out of compliance with state law since late 2023 — a designation that forces the city to approve many types of affordable housing projects and allows the state to withhold homelessness and housing funds. Newsom's latest escalation comes as Turlock city officials have refused to walk back a vote that effectively blocked state funding from flowing to a nonprofit that operates a homeless shelter — despite Newsom's repeated warnings that they need to reverse course. The warning letter gives Turlock until July 3 to change course. Newsom has grown increasingly impatient with cities and counties that resist the construction of homeless shelters or affordable housing as the Golden State slips deeper into a worsening crisis, with more people living on the streets every year. He has cast Turlock as part of a 'larger, unacceptable trend' with so-called NIMBY local governments blocking projects. ON THE HILL OLD-SCHOOL APPROACH — Rep. Robert Garcia is campaigning hard to be the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. But Garcia, the 47-year-old former mayor of Long Beach, is taking an old-school approach to his campaign ahead of next week's caucus election — avoiding talk of the 'generational change' dynamic that has splintered the Democratic Party. As our colleagues Nicholas Wu and Hailey Fuchs report, Garcia has instead fashioned his candidacy around his experience as a big-city mayor and contributions on the Oversight panel, sidestepping the age and seniority question. 'The seniority system in Congress is not going to go away,' Garcia said in a recent interview, downplaying the notion that the race is a proxy battle in a larger war over the future of the party. 'I may not have the most time served in Congress, but I certainly would put my experience up against anybody's.' CLIMATE AND ENERGY DESERT MIRAGE — The Trump administration is endorsing a controversial California groundwater pumping project as it scours the West for water supplies to replace a dwindling Colorado River. Arizona might be interested — but can the project surmount decades of opposition within California? Read last night's California Climate for more on the latest chapter of Cadiz. TOP TALKERS FARMING FLIP-FLOP — Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League, decried Trump's latest flip-flop on immigration crackdowns targeting undocumented farmworkers, The Fresno Bee reports. The criticism follows a report from The Washington Post earlier this week that the Department of Homeland Security announced it was reversing guidance preventing agents from conducting raids at farms, hotels and restaurants — even after the Agriculture Secretary lobbied to block the crackdown. 'I am very disappointed, very disappointed,' Cunha said. 'Even the Secretary of Agriculture stood up for farmers and now we have this news. This is not good for anybody.' The United Farm Workers also criticized the move targeting migrant laborers: 'Farmworkers can't be left to the whims of Donald Trump and whoever spoke to him last,' UFW said in a statement. A DODGERS DENIAL — The Los Angeles Dodgers said it denied ICE agents' request to access its stadium parking lots Thursday, the organization wrote in a post on X. The move comes amid a recent wave of protests in the team's home city — and as the team has been silent about the crackdowns. DHS responded, less than an hour later, with its own post, saying that CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot 'very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.' ICE also replied later, claiming agents were never at the stadium: 'False. We were never there.' Those are some conflicting accounts, to say the least. AROUND THE STATE — CoreCivic, a private prison contractor, has entered an agreement with the federal government to convert its 2,560-bed California City facility into an ICE detention center. It will be the state's largest migrant detention center. (Los Angeles Times) — Renters in Southern California face steeper increases in the aftermath of the January wildfires. The region's 12-month average for rent inflation hit 5.1 percent last month, far above the national average of 3.8 percent. (The Orange County Register) — Gray whale fatalities in the Bay Area are at a 25-year high, with 19 deaths recorded in the region's waters since January. The spike comes as more whales appear to be feeding in the San Francisco Bay, where there's heavy ship traffic. (KQED) PLAYBOOKERS PEOPLE MOVES — Darius Kemp has joined Common Cause as its newest executive director. He was previously head of social equity and community change at Eaze Technologies. BIRTHDAYS — Tom Steel in the office of Assemblymember John Harabedian … Tom Zigo at the Motion Picture Association … Vic Grace … Lionel Richie … Nicole Kidman … BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Thursday): First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom … U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar … Sean Coffey at the California Policy Lab … Meisha Angelini at MGA Entertainment … Andrew Perlman at Recurrent Ventures … Jay Sanderson at American Jewish University … investment banker Kenneth Lipper … Tom Hoare … Kevin Schmidt at Axiom Advisors … (was Wednesday): Ryan Kenny at Clean Energy Fuels … (was Tuesday): Jacob McIntosh at TriNet CLARIFICATION — Adam Taylor is now Rep. Scott Peters' Washington DC-based chief of staff. MaryAnne Pintar, a longtime Peters aide, is the congressman's chief of staff. WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
Politico
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Politico
Gavin Newsom to Hollywood: Come back
Presented by DRIVING THE DAY — Elon Musk's escalating feud with President Donald Trump was catnip for California Democrats — who've long brooded over Musk's conservative pivot after California subsidies drove Tesla's early success. The rift threatens to blow up Republicans' megabill to fund Trump's domestic agenda. While some Democrats are weary about welcoming Musk back to their lunch table, Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna said the party should 'be in a dialogue' given their shared opposition to the megabill. 'We should ultimately be trying to convince him that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with,' Khanna told our colleagues in D.C. Meanwhile, Musk's Trump criticism hasn't opened the floodgates for other tech world elites to start bashing the president — yet, as our Chase DiFeliciantonio and Christine Mui write in this morning's California Decoded newsletter. LEADING MAN — Gov. Gavin Newsom and Hollywood's elite have always gone hand-in-hand, with wealthy donors from the industry helping fuel every stage of Newsom's rise up California's political ladder. Now the Democratic governor has made saving the Golden State's iconic industry a central mission of his final two years in office. Doubling the state's film tax credit is Newsom's No. 1 budget priority in Sacramento this legislative session, despite the state facing a $12 billion deficit. As our colleague Melanie Mason writes this morning, Newsom wants to lure back production companies that have fled in droves to other states and countries. THE STAKES … It's a gambit that could also help Newsom prepare for the next stage of his career as he eyes a potential 2028 White House bid — when he would surely need Hollywood's support. The governor is already competing with President Donald Trump to be Hollywood's savior. Trump, who regularly trades barbs with the governor, has chided Newsom's treatment of the film industry as 'grossly incompetent.' And if Newsom does run in 2028, he likely cannot afford to lose major swaths of the industry in his home state to any other Democratic primary contender. IT'S A TALL TASK FOR NEWSOM … Hollywood has been pummeled by a perfect storm of problems: Many production studios have already relocated due to more lucrative incentives in Georgia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Moreover, the pandemic, the dual writers' and actors' strikes in 2023 and the historic Los Angeles wildfires in January have jolted Tinseltown. 'The time for this discussion was 10, 15, 20 years ago,' Richard Rushfield, editorial director and columnist with The Ankler, an industry newsletter, told Melanie. He added, 'If he's going to run for president, this is gonna come up. And he's got to be able to say that he tried.' BUT HE HAS TINSELTOWN SWAGGER … Other Hollywood insiders said Newsom's proposal for a revamped $750 million tax break has been greeted with great enthusiasm. Some see it as a signal that Sacramento is becoming more attuned to the industry's needs — traditionally, the perception has been that the capital crowd cares little about one of the state's crown industries. 'My hope is we blow through this money, and we're gonna have to go back to the governor for even more next year, and we can show that it's an economic engine for the state as well,' said Scott Budnick, the film producer behind 'The Hangover' and other blockbusters. Don't miss Melanie's story out today about Newsom's quest to save the film industry. GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@ and bjones@ or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. NEWSOMLAND FIRST IN POLITICO: HOLLYWOOD HUDDLE — Newsom and Jon Voight, the actor-turned-show biz emissary for Trump, met privately Thursday afternoon in Century City, to discuss their shared interest in boosting Hollywood. As Melanie also reported, the pair talked about Voight's proposal to reshore the American film industry through a combination of federal tax credits and tax code changes, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting granted anonymity to discuss it. They also talked about Newsom's push to double California's film tax credit. 'They shared a commitment to working together to help to build up the film industry in the U.S. — particularly California and Los Angeles,' the person said, adding that Newsom expressed interest in working with Trump on the issue. ON THE HILL AFTER GRADUATION — Former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will serve on the advisory board of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, becoming the latest Biden administration official to dip his toes in California's policy world. Others include former Small Business Administration Secretary Isabel Casillas Guzman, who moved back to California and started a consulting firm after the election, and Newsom Cabinet Secretary Nani Coloretti, who was deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Cardona served throughout Biden's term, overseeing efforts to cancel student loan debt as well as the rocky rollout of the new FAFSA form. Before that, he was the top education official in Connecticut, a school administrator and a teacher. 'Miguel's leadership on closing opportunity gaps and expanding access to quality education aligns perfectly with our mission to put people over politics and champion solutions that work,' former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. 'We both share a deep commitment to expanding access to quality after-school programs, which play a critical role in keeping kids safe and helping them reach their full potential.' STATE CAPITOL TUCK'S RENAISSANCE — Marshall Tuck was seen as a force for charter schools when he twice ran for state superintendent in the 2010s. But these days, he said, the schools seldom come up at his day job. The former charter system leader has since 2022 healmed the education nonprofit EdVoice, a group that historically fought on charters' behalf against teachers unions, most memorably in a major policy brawl in 2019. But after Newsom signed sweeping new rules for charters, the organization went dormant, before relaunching in 2023 newly under Tuck's leadership with a focus on closing achievement gaps. Not rejoining the charter wars. 'There was no being beholden to what the organization had done historically,' Tuck told Playbook. 'It was almost like a clean slate.' The organization has, since rebooting, focused primarily on literacy and teacher training legislation that has little to do with charters. 'We believe that there's too much emphasis on school governance and not enough emphasis on classroom instruction, student supports, more time for kids to learn,' Tuck said of the group's philosophy. 'We think charters are an important part of the public education system, but they're just a part.' The shift in focus was on display Thursday, when the Assembly passed a pair of major education bills. EdVoice was a central proponent of one — a landmark proposal to push schools to use evidence-based reading instruction. Meanwhile, the nonprofit didn't even take a position on a hotly contested bill that would place new rules on virtual charter schools. The organization hasn't to this point lobbied on that proposal, either, Tuck said Thursday. The organization's de-emphasizing of charter issues has seemingly paid dividends. The literacy proposal nabbed Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas' support, and Newsom included $200 million for training teachers on evidence-based literacy instruction in his latest budget proposal. Newsom also in 2023 signed EdVoice-backed legislation to mandate dyslexia risk screenings after similar efforts stalled repeatedly during his first term. CLIMATE AND ENERGY ESSAYLI STRIKES — The assemblymember-turned-U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned SoCal air regulators Thursday that he plans to sue over a pair of rules they're set to consider today restricting gas-powered space and water heaters, as POLITICO's Alex Nieves reports for subscribers. 'The President has directed us to take a strong stand against state and local policies that obstruct domestic energy production and usage,' Essayli said in a statement. 'My office is fully committed to upholding that directive and protecting our communities from these reckless measures.' The hot-button rules have drawn some 14,000 public comments ahead of today's hearing, including an op-ed this week from former Los Angeles mayor and gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa arguing the rules will be too expensive when added atop Trump's trade war. BLAME TESLA — Trump is laying his and Musk's shattered bromance at the feet of a disagreement over electric vehicles. Read last night's California Climate to see why Californians aren't buying it. TOP TALKERS THROWN UNDER THE BUS — Most of the job cuts proposed in San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's budget are in the Municipal Transportation Agency, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The agency is slated to lose about 300 jobs as the city looks to reduce its roughly $800 million two-year budget deficit. TORRANCE LOCKS ARMS — The story of a fourth-grader at Torrance Elementary School, who was detained by ICE and is set to be deported to Honduras with his father, has prompted his classmates' parents and the PTA to reach out to elected officials for support, the Los Angeles Times reports. 'When something like this happens, it shakes all of us in the community. There's not a child at our school that we don't treat as our own,' said Torrance Elementary PTA volunteer Ria Villanueva. AROUND THE STATE — Videos posted on Facebook appear to show Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain being detained by police outside of City Hall this week; he faces allegations of vote trading. (The San Diego Union-Tribune) — A jury found that Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer harassed former prosecutor Tracy Miller and awarded her $3 million in damages. (The Daily Pilot) — A California court ruled that state law prohibits you from holding your phone to look at a map while driving. (Los Angeles Times) — Longtime Democratic strategist Garry South opines that Newsom will be a 'hard act to follow' for the next governor. (Capitol Weekly) Compiled by Nicole Norman PLAYBOOKERS SPOTTED: HOLD THAT PLANE! — Several Republican lawmakers, including Assemblymembers Carl DeMaio, Tri Ta, Kate Sanchez and Diane Dixon, were seen sprinting through the Sacramento airport Thursday to catch their flight home to SoCal. PEOPLE MOVES — Adam Taylor is now chief of staff for Rep. Scott Peters. He was previously Peters' legislative director. Dillon Cooke is now legislative director for Peters. He was previously Peters' senior legislative assistant. BIRTHDAYS — director Abby Ginzberg … actor Jason Isaacs … Paul Giamatti BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Thursday): Dov Waxman … Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins (favorite cake: her grandmother's lemon cake recipe) WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
Politico
03-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Dems: Get off our lawn!
Presented by DRIVING THE DAY — President Donald Trump threatened late Monday night to punish California after a transgender student competed in the state high school track and field championship over the weekend. Trump's threat of fines came despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's support for last-minute rule changes by the California Interscholastic Federation that allowed any female athlete who finished behind the trans student to share the same medal. 'Large scale fines will be imposed!!!' Trump posted on Truth Social. Meanwhile, a U.S. District Court judge on Monday dismissed California's lawsuit over Trump's tariffs. But Newsom's office said late Monday that the state had already appealed the decision — separate from two rulings that struck down Trump's tariffs last week. Read more here NO SPRING CHICKENS — Party activists trying to force California Democrats to consider age limits for elected officials went to their statewide convention with high hopes the issue would gain traction — or at least spark a conversation. Instead, the state party's establishment told the activists, effectively, to get off their lawn. A resolution, sponsored by the San Francisco County Democratic Party, that called for potential age limits on state and local elected officials was shelved before it could be debated at the convention. Party officials said the resolution was 'postponed' and would be heard later, likely at the party Executive Board's meeting in August. But SF party officials behind the measure, as well as some activists with the young Democrats, said the tenor of talks on the convention floor wasn't favorable to them. 'There's a lot of deference to older office holders,' said San Francisco Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung, a moderate who co-authored the resolution. 'The party doesn't want to have a lot of conversations.' The disconnect between party activists in SF, long a bastion of Democratic power, and the party's statewide leaders comes as Democrats — as well as Republicans — struggle to navigate a national conversation about age and the rigors of public office. It's a reckoning that hit a fever pitch on the left in recent weeks amid questions about former President Joe Biden's mental acuity throughout the last two years of his presidency. SF party officials said Biden was just one example that inspired their resolution, also citing the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died while still serving at ages 87 and 90, respectively. And then there's Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, 83, who suffered several health challenges and announced in February that he would not seek reelection next year. State Party Chair Rusty Hicks declined an interview request on Monday. At the convention, he appeared to bristle at the resolution, which he said had not been properly submitted because it would have directed the party to take a specific action rather than to express general agreement on a matter of principle. Still, he said it would be debated another time. 'At the end of the day, whether you're 25 or 75, the question is, are you delivering for those that voted for you?' Hicks told reporters at the convention in Anaheim. Eric Kingsbury, an SF party official who co-wrote the proposal, said state party brass never told him that the resolution had not been properly submitted. He said he suspects they were hesitant to take up the issue given the state has a larger number of older officeholders. 'I didn't see a lot of introspection at the convention,' said Kingsbury, a veteran campaign consultant who joined the party's SF County Central Committee this year. 'It felt tired and not inspired, just a lot of 'we're going to drive forward doing what we did before.'' While the resolution explicitly spoke to a retirement cap on state and local electeds, it sparked a fiery debate in San Francisco, home of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. At 85, Pelosi hasn't said if she plans to run for another term in 2026. But she's leading an effort by Democrats to defend federal health care programs and help Democrats flip the House in the midterms. Pelosi's campaign declined to comment on the resolution or her plans for 2026, though her proxy to the SF county party voted against the proposal. Pelosi wasn't at the convention. Kingsbury and Tung have insisted their resolution has nothing to do with Pelosi. Tung added, 'People want to draw their own conclusions about it. This was not written with Nancy Pelosi in mind.' GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@ and bjones@ or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. ON THE AIRWAVES FIRST IN POLITICO: HITTING CLOSE TO HOME — Unions representing in-home caregivers are cranking up the heat on legislative leaders and Newsom by running broadcast and digital ads railing against cuts in the governor's May budget proposal. A new video spot, airing in the Sacramento market, blasts a proposal to cap overtime hours at 50 for in-home support service workers, who provide personal care including meal prep and house work for people who are over 65 or have disabilities. That change, combined with smaller cuts to the program, account for more than $1 billion of the reductions Newsom forwarded last month to address the state's $12 billion shortfall. Before launching the home care ad, SEIU California started running a broader spot urging generally against spending cuts. 'The May Revise budget proposal reads like a corporate CEO's wishlist instead of a defense of California's working class, who are already under attack from the Trump Administration and don't need the State of California to pile on,' Arnulfo De La Cruz, president of SEIU Local 2015 and an executive board member of SEIU California, said in a statement. Leaders of SEIU 2015 and UDW/AFSCME Local 393 issued similar calls at a rally attended by state lawmakers outside the California Democratic Party convention on Saturday. They pushed the governor and legislative leaders to reject the cuts during the final stages of inter-house budget negotiations, advocated for increasing taxes on large corporations (without specifics) and pushed a bill from Assemblymember Matt Haney that would allow IHSS workers to engage in statewide bargaining. Attendees included Assemblymembers Haney, Damon Connolly, Sade Elhawary, Joaquin Arambula, Ash Kalra, Patrick Ahrens, Mike Fong, Tina McKinnor, José Solache and Sens. Josh Becker, Lena Gonzalez, María Elena Durazo, Sasha Renée Pérez, Lola Smallwood-Cuevas and likely others Playbook missed. RELATED SPOTTED: BUDGET HUDDLE? — Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Budget Chair Scott Wiener entering Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas' office for a meeting Monday evening amid late-state spending negotiations. Six pizzas arrived shortly after. (h/t Rachel Bluth) STATE CAPITOL ICE MELT — Gonzalez, who is chair of the Latino Caucus and Senate majority leader, got her bill to limit federal immigration agents' access to schools through the Senate before Friday's House of Origin deadline. SB 48 seeks to stop schools from giving federal authorities access to private areas in school sites to the extent they're able. In a statement, Gonzalez called the proposal's advancement a 'powerful signal of hope and reassurance.' CLIMATE AND ENERGY THE OTHER CLIMATE LAW — New York lawmakers are looking for alternatives after Republicans voted to kill California's — and by extension their — electric vehicle mandate. Read last night's California Climate to see what controversial California climate program Albany Democrats are considering instead. TOP TALKERS SAVED BY THE BILL — Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Trevor Kirk, who was convicted in February of using excessive force in 2023, was sentenced to four months in prison Monday after a judge granted prosecutors' request to dismiss his felony charge. Newly appointed U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli took credit for the reduction in his charges: 'Law enforcement officers are not above the law and should be held accountable for their actions, but given the facts of the incident and the deputy's actions as recorded on a contemporaneous video, I determined that Deputy Kirk's actions do not rise to the level of a felony,' he wrote on X. CHOPPY WATERS — Rep. Maxine Waters' congressional campaign agreed to pay a $68,000 fine after a FEC investigation found it violated campaign finance laws, Dave Levinthal writes at OpenSecrets. Waters' 2020 campaign committee understated contributions and expenditures by hundreds of thousands of dollars, per the FEC's findings. AROUND THE STATE — Fresno County's next sheriff and district attorney will be elected in 2028 instead of 2026 after a judge ruled that their elections must be on the same year as a presidential primary. (GV Wire) — Newsom will decide whether to reverse the decision to grant parole for Manson family member Patricia Krenwinkel. (Los Angeles Times) — CalTrans says that it will not finish upgrading Highway 50 until summer 2026 because of crashes and weather delays. (KCRA) PLAYBOOKERS WEDDING BELLS — Maryam Ahmed, an Adam Schiff for Senate alum who now works at Edelman, and Jacob Burman, senior adviser to LA city council member Traci Park, wed last weekend in San Clemente. The couple met on Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign. PEOPLE MOVES — Bruce Kelson has joined Buchalter as shareholder in their San Francisco office. He was previously a partner at Duane Morris. — Deepa Sharma was elected as the first vice chair of the California Democratic Party at the convention over the weekend. BIRTHDAYS — Sen. Dave Cortese (favorite cake: coconut) … Rabbi Steve Leder … Eric Schmeltzer … Lauren Mekhael … Marty Wilson WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
