Who’s running, and who isn’t

From: POLITICO California Playbook - Friday Mar 11,2022 02:20 pm

Mar 11, 2022

By Jeremy B. White, Chris Ramirez, Juhi Doshi and Graph Massara

THE BUZZ — THE NOVEMBER LINEUP: In an extraordinarily fluid era of California politics, the midterm field is nearly cemented.

Today is the final day for candidates to file. The deadline caps a monthslong frenzy of campaign launches, shifts to new districts and retirements, after redistricting redrew California’s political boundaries. Here’s where things stand:

STATEWIDE STANDOFFS: Gov. Gavin Newsom is well-positioned to win a second term after crushing the recall in September. None of his recall foes are seeking a midterm election rematch. Newsom will face either Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle, GOP Navy veteran Shawn Collins or independent Michael Shellenberger, a vocal Newsom critic who launched on Thursday. Shellenberger finished a distant ninth in the 2018 gubernatorial primary but has since gained attention for his fiery documentation of San Francisco’s woes (includinga book slamming progressives’ rule there). Shellenberger said he was motivated to run by “the humanitarian homelessness disaster occuring on our streets.”

Crime concerns will be front and center as Attorney General Rob Bonta faces no-party-preference Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, GOP former U.S. Attorney Nathan Hochman or conservative lawyer Eric Early. In the controller’s race, Republicans are hopeful academic Lanhee Chen can finally win them a statewide office while the Democratic side includes state Democratic Party-endorsed Board of Equalization member Malia Cohen, L.A. Controller Ron Galperin, Monterey Park Council member Yvonne Yiu and late-launching moderate State Sen. Steve Glazer. Incumbent Democratic Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is trying to fend off Democratic Assemblymember Marc Levine. Republican Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do will try to deny Democratic Treasurer Fiona Ma another term.

HOUSE HUSTLE : California will again have a say in which party controls Congress. The DCCC just bestowed its blessing on Assemblymember Rudy Salas’ challenge to Rep. David Valadao, as well as veteran Jay Chen, who’s seeking to unseat Rep. Michelle Steel. Democratic former Assemblymember Christy Smith and veteran Quaye Quartey are looking to topple GOP Rep. Mike Garcia, who clung to his seat by a mere 333 votes in 2020. Rising star Rep. Katie Porter ’s primary opponent appears to be GOP former Assemblymember Scott Baugh. Democratic Rep. Josh Harder shifted to a new Central Valley district after Rep. Jerry McNerney retired, and he could face Republican San Joaquin Supervisor Tom Patti.

And then there are the intraparty standoffs. Republican state Sen. Melissa Melendez is trying to unseat GOP Rep. Ken Calvert, sensing weakness in his right flank (no-party-preference Assemblymember Chad Mayes may still jump in). Fresno Supervisor Nathan Magsig hopes to unseat fellow Republican Rep. Tom McClintock. Democrat Ajwang Rading is coming for Rep. Anna Eshoo. And Democrats are struggling for open House seats throughout the state: Assemblymember Adam Gray vs. 2020 candidate Phil Arballo in the Valley, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia vs. Assemblymember Cristina Garcia in LA, Assemblymember Kevin Mullin versus San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa on the SF Peninsula. On the GOP open House seat side, Assemblymember Kevin Kiley and Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones are squaring off.

SACRAMENTO SHUFFLE: Up to 35 state lawmakers who began the 2021-2022 session in the Legislature will be gone by next year. Assemblymember Tom Daly on Thursday said he wouldn’t seek another term — the latest Class of 2012 ally of Speaker Anthony Rendon to leave. Only a fraction of the departures were forced out by term limits. The bulk have either snagged appointments, abruptly resigned, decided not to seek reelection or set their sights on the House, statewide office or other posts. That’s around a quarter of the Legislature turning over.

But we won’t see any Democrat-on-Democrat incumbent clashes. The major fights have deliquesced, as Sen. Connie Leyva decided to run for San Bernardino supervisor rather than face Sen. Susan Rubio, Sen. Melissa Hurtado shifted districts to avoid matching up with Sen. Anna Caballero, and Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian bowed out of clashing with Assemblymember Laura Friedman, as Nazarian looks to the L.A. City Council race in 2024. But Democratic Sens. Henry Stern and the termed-out Bob Hertzberg are vying for the same L.A. supervisors’ seat; Assemblymember Richard Bloom dropped out of that race.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. We’re relieved to know we’ll have Major League Baseball games before people vote (go Nats). Speaking of people seeking new offices, we saw a dramatic turn yesterday in Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s quest to become America’s next ambassador to India. More below.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit jwhite@politico.com or follow me on Twitter @jeremybwhite.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Over the long run, if this continues, it will be a lot harder to get folks to stick around. People will retire maybe because they’re just ready to retire because they’ve been doing this for so dang long — or maybe because they feel that the risk is not worth it. But there will be more retirements.” Nevada County assistant county clerk-recorder Natalie Adona on stressed local elections officials, via POLITICO’s Zach Montellaro.

TWEET OF THE DAY: Assemblymember @Evan_Low gives a shoutout to states to which California bans official travel because of laws affecting LGBTQ people: “California continues to love our trans community. Sending extra love to you in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, & West Virginia.”

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

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Top Talkers

Photograph by Mamadi Doumbouya

CALIFORNIANS IN POWER — Our sister newsletter, POLITICO's The Recast, has debuted its inaugural Power List — a slate of 40 remarkable people shaking up power in Washington, the United States and beyond. Several California players made the list for their undeniable impact on the intersection of race, politics and policy: Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, GOP Reps. Michelle Steel and Young Kim, Stop AAPI Hate founders Cynthia Choi, Manjusha Kulkarni and Russell Jeung, poet Amanda Gorman and more. You can see the full list here.

DIGGING DEEPER — Grassley privately investigating Garcetti, wants nomination held , by POLITICO’s Megan Wilson and Christopher Cadelago: A top Senate Republican is seeking to delay Eric Garcetti’s nomination to serve as President Joe Biden’s ambassador to India, pending an investigation into whether the mayor of Los Angeles lied when he told a congressional panel he was unaware of sexual harassment and assault allegations against his closest adviser.

OUSTED — “ Lateefah Simon forced to vacate BART board after moving outside her district,” by the SF Chronicle’s Ricardo Cano and Rachel Swan: “At the time, Simon was receiving death threats and other harassing messages — some of them laced with racist and misogynistic slurs — including an incident in which she found urine on her doorstep in North Richmond.”

— “ Four days, 170 miles in bone-dry Death Valley: Could you survive this walk? He did,” by the LA Times’ Lila Seidman.

CAMPAIGN MODE

STUCK — “L.A. mayoral candidates want more cops. They’ll have to clear a hiring bottleneck first,” by the LA Times’ Kevin Rector and Benjamin Oreskes: “The bottleneck is so severe that each of the last four Police Academy classes had fewer than 40 recruits — down from an average of 50 to 60 — and the incoming class is closer to 30. And that’s despite the LAPD loaning 33 of its own staff to help clear the backlog.”

— “Woman linked to S.F. crime through rape-exam DNA speaks out: ‘If I can’t even trust the police, who can I trust?’ ” by the SF Chronicle’s Megan Cassidy: “The woman felt that police failed to protect her privacy, and didn’t treat her like ‘a citizen.’”

— “Silicon Valley residents say state ‘death tax’ should go, ” by the San Jose Spotlight’s Eli Wolfe: “An estimated 8,000 volunteers for the nonprofit Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association have been collecting signatures across California to put a measure on the November ballot to repeal part of Prop. 19.”

YIKES … “ Early proposed map redrawing San Francisco supervisor districts sparks backlash: ‘Laughable,’” by the SF Chronicle’s J.D. Morris: “Several supervisors offered a scathing appraisal of the map, with one saying it looked like a joke and another saying whoever came up with it appeared to be ‘on crack.’”

— “ Santa Clara County sheriff will not seek reelection,” by the San Jose Spotlight’s Eli Wolfe.

— “In L.A.’s election, Ukraine and the role of NATO emerge as campaign issues, ” by the LA Times’ David Zahniser: “Several candidates in the June 7 election have begun criticizing the Democratic Socialists of America, whose supporters in L.A. are looking to unseat at least two City Council members, over the group’s response to the overseas conflict.”

— “SF’s Asian community denounce Boudin recall funders for anti-Asian posters, ” by Mission Local’s Yujie Zhou: “The campaign materials they cited feature a faux-Chinese communist portrait of Chesa Boudin, reminiscent of propaganda during the Cultural Revolution. Under Boudin’s giant palm are depictions of tents and drug addicts.”

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

MONEY MOVES — “Newsom, unions eye $50k bonuses for juvenile prison workers,” by CalMatters’ Brhonda Lyons: “Under a draft plan obtained by CalMatters, direct care employees — youth prison guards, plumbers, teachers and chaplains — are among the hundreds of Division of Juvenile Justice employees who’d receive up to $50,000 in additional pay.”

— “S.F. homeless deaths more than doubled during the pandemic’s first year — but not because of COVID, ” by the SF Chronicle’s Lauren Hepler and Heather Knight: “Acute drug toxicity — in particular overdoses linked to the potent synthetic drug fentanyl — were the leading cause of death, the researchers found.”

BERKELEY BATTLES — “Berkeley vs. Berkeley Is a Fight Over the California Dream, ” by the NY Times’ Shawn Hubler, Conor Dougherty and Sophie Kasakove: “Housing has not kept up, for the students or for other Californians. The state’s median home price, at $800,000, is more than twice the national figure, the result of a housing shortage that dates to the 1970s.”

— “ Many California workers are eligible for COVID-19 paid sick leave. Is the law being enforced?” by the Sac Bee’s Melissa Montalvo: “Worker advocates also say they want to see better outreach about labor rights to rural farmworkers, as well as people who don’t speak English or Spanish, such as those who speak Punjabi, Hmong and Indigenous languages.”

MAKING SPACE — “ New restraining order bars California union president from SEIU Local 1000 headquarters,” by the Sac Bee’s Wes Venteicher: “The controversial union president has been feuding with other leaders of the union, including many members of its board of directors, since his election nine months ago.”

PRESSURES IN PIEDMONT — “ When a School Desegregates, Who Gets Left Behind?” by NYT’s Jay Caspian Kang: “Only 1.4 percent of the city’s residents were Black as of the 2020 census. This was the dream of the city’s founders: a pastoral, wealthy and exclusive municipality that still feels completely separated from Oakland.”

BILL WATCH — “ Support two bills in the Legislature to stop AAPI hate crimes,” opinion by Camille Serrano for CalMatters: “Passing laws like these will help restore trust in Asian American Pacific Islanders communities. It will show people that we can trust the country we live in to take care of us.”

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BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

HELP WANTED — “New Biden wildfire commission looking for prevention experts to shape federal policy,” by the Sac Bee’s Alex Roarty: “Members will include representatives of tribal and state and local governments, especially those from areas like California that are at a high risk of wildfires.”

DELAYED — Biden administration extends travel mask mandate through April 18 , by POLITICO’s Oriana Pawlyk and Adam Cancryn: The mask mandate goes hand-in-hand with the Federal Aviation Administration’s zero-tolerance policy. Under the FAA order released last year, as long as the TSA mask order remains in effect, zero-tolerance for unruly passengers — those who verbally or physically assault air crew — is also expected to stay in place.

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— “Facebook allows Ukraine war posts urging violence against invading Russians, Putin,” by Reuters’ Munsif Vengattil and Elizabeth Culliford: “The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to internal emails to its content moderators.”

HOLLYWOODLAND

— “Judge sentences ‘profoundly arrogant’ Jussie Smollett to 150 days in jail,” by the LA Times’ Nardine Saad: “The 39-year-old actor will be allowed to travel during his probation and will not be required to live in Illinois during that period. Linn will allow him to report for probation by phone.”

MIXTAPE

— “The father of the Ukrainian family photographed dead in the street speaks out: ‘I lost everyone and lost the meaning of life,’” by the SF Chronicle’s Carolyn Said.

— “2020 Census missed 18.8 million people, bureau estimates,” by WaPo’s Tara Bahrampour.

UPDATE — “ San Francisco opened a Bayview parking site for homeless people living in RVs. This is how it’s going,” by the SF Chronicle’s J.D. Morris.

— “ Russia Avenue has been (unofficially) renamed to support Ukraine in California city,” by the Sac Bee’s Vandana Ravikumar.

— “Former San Jose State trainer charged with touching female athletes, ” by the LA Times’ Richard Winton.

— “What’s happening in Joshua Tree is a ‘dream’ — and possibly a curse,” by the LA Times’ Christopher Reynolds.

BIRTHDAYS

Rupert Murdoch (91) … Nick Shapiro … Perri Peltz … Abby Rogers

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