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Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | |  | | By Lara Korte, Jeremy B. White, Sakura Cannestra and Owen Tucker-Smith | THE BUZZ: Republican optimism around the midterms isn’t what it once was — and leaders are trying to rally the troops. Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel traveled to Orange County yesterday to drum up enthusiasm around a slate of California races — highlighting the county’s importance in helping the GOP gain control of Congress in just a few weeks. In what was once expected to be a certain shellacking for the left, Democrats are now polling stronger than expected in a number of key midterm races, due, in part, to the mobilization of voters around abortion rights. But the GOP still very much has the inside track, and only needs to flip five seats to gain control of the House and hand Rep. Kevin McCarthy the speaker’s gavel. Two of those seats could come from Orange County, where Republicans are looking to knock out Democratic Reps. Katie Porter in CA-47 and Mike Levin in CA-49 — both districts President Joe Biden won by more than 11 points. Capping off a day of campaigning in the county, McDaniel hosted a rally with Republican challengers Scott Baugh (CA-47) and Brian Maryott (CA-49). But that wasn’t before spending much of Monday with Republican Rep. Michelle Steel, who this year is on the defense to keep her seat from Democratic challenger Jay Chen in CA-45. McDaniel spoke to GOP supporters in Steel’s campaign headquarters in Buena Park before hitting the trail with Steel and California Republican Party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson. | 
GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel speaks during the Republican National Committee winter meeting Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Salt Lake City. | Rich Bowmer/AP Photo |
McDaniel also highlighted three Republicans running for state legislative races in Orange County districts: Senate District 36, where Assemblymember Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach) is up against Democratic Huntington Beach Councilmember Kim Carr; Assembly District 73, where two incumbent Assemblymembers, Steven Choi (R-Irvine) and Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) are facing off; and Assembly District 72, where it’s Republican Diane Dixon, a Newport City Council member, versus Democratic nonprofit leader Judie Mancuso.
BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors is re-opening their meeting to the public today for the first time since the onset of pandemic restrictions, although they’re capping it at 100 people and asking attendees to mask. People who can’t make it physically can still call in. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “By Nov. 8, you should all look like crap. You can sleep Nov. 9.” Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel speaking to GOP supporters in Orange County on Monday, via FOX LA’s Elex Michaelson. TWEET OF THE DAY
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Today's Tweet of the Day | Twitter | WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
| | | | HAPPENING 9/29 - POLITICO’S AI & TECH SUMMIT : Technology is constantly evolving and so are the politics and policies shaping and regulating it. Join POLITICO for the 2022 AI & Tech summit to get an insider look at the pressing policy and political issues shaping tech, and how Washington interacts with the tech sector. The summit will bring together lawmakers, federal regulators, tech executives, tech policy experts and consumer advocates to dig into the intersection of tech, politics, regulation and innovation, and identify opportunities, risks and challenges ahead. REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT HERE. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | CAMPUS HOUSING HOPELESSNESS — “UC housing crisis forces students into multiple jobs to pay rent, sleeping bags and stress,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Teresa Watanabe: “About 9,400 students systemwide were denied university housing this fall because of shortages — and some campuses are back to squeezing three students in a dorm room as a stopgap.” RACE — “Reparations task force: State could owe Black Californians hundreds of thousands of dollars ,” by CalMatters’ Lil Kalish: “Black Californians could be due hundreds of thousands of dollars for housing discrimination, incarceration, and health disparities alone, consultants said at reparations task force hearings.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — ABORTION ELECTION: It’s not just coastal California Democrats campaigning on abortion rights. Central Valley Assembly member Rudy Salas and the DCCC are out with the first abortion-focused spot in the CA-22 race, a piece that looks at GOP Rep. David Valadao co-sponsoring legislation that would create a right to life from the moment of fertilization. Take a look. LA MAYOR'S RACE: Millionaire Rick Caruso launched new ads on Monday highlighting Rep. Karen Bass’ connection to the Church of Scientology. The 30- and 60-second spots feature Bass speaking at an undated event praising the organization. In a statement, Sarah Leonard Sheahan , communications director for Bass’ campaign, called it a “misleading attack ad" and said, “Everybody knows Karen Bass condemns Scientology." MARK YOUR CALENDARS: NBC4 and Telemundo 52 will host the next debate in the Los Angeles’ mayoral race on Oct. 11. The debate, which is airing the day after ballots are set to start arriving in Angelenos’ mailboxes, will take place in the Brokaw News Center at Universal Studios. In case you missed the last debate, here’s a recap. POLLING — Pollsters fear they’re blowing it again in 2022, by POLITICO’s Steven Shepard: It’s not that pollsters haven’t tried to fix the issues that plagued them in recent elections. Whether they’re public firms conducting surveys for the media and academic instructions or private campaign consultants, they have spent the past two years tweaking their methods to avoid a 2020 repeat. — “Here’s how Bay Area homeless residents can vote in the November 2022 election ,” by the Mercury News’ Katie Lauer: “While state and federal courts have defended homeless residents’ constitutional rights for decades, it’s still a common misconception that a physical address is required to cast a ballot. This confusion might be one of the reasons so few unhoused people ultimately participate in the political process.” JUMPING THE GUN — “ Column: Isn’t Karen Bass the victim? Why all the questions about her stolen guns?” opines the Los Angeles Times’ Erika D. Smith: “But I can’t help but wonder if that might change, now that the politics of race and gender have gotten mixed up with the toxic politics of guns.” | | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | CALIFORNIAN COVERAGE — “Health Plan Shake-Up Could Disrupt Coverage for Low-Income Californians,” by California Healthline’s Bernard J. Wolfson: “Almost 2 million of California’s poorest and most medically fragile residents may have to switch health insurers as a result of a new strategy by the state to improve care in its Medicaid program.” — “Stuck in place: How older adults end up trapped inside their own homes ,” by Anne Marshall-Chalmers for the San Francisco Chronicle: “Some data indicates that older Americans of color wind up in nursing homes at a higher rate than their white counterparts. And a large body of research shows that Black residents in nursing facilities are more often physically restrained and more likely to suffer from pressure ulcers.” — “ It just got harder in California to steal and then sell catalytic converters,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Hannah Wiley: “Scrap metal recyclers and junk dealers will have to document how they are buying catalytic converters and from whom, as a way to ensure they’re doing business only with owners and qualified sellers.” THE MORE YOU KNOW — “ State workers can double their pay through union apprenticeships. Newsom wants more of them,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Was Venteicher: “Working with state departments, SEIU Local 1000 has built apprentice programs outside the traditional trades — in nursing, financial services, cybersecurity and maintaining one of the state’s outdated computer systems.” — “California Ban on Private Prisons in State Held Unconstitutional,” by Bloomberg’s Bernie Pazanowski: “California legislation that bans all private prisons in the state impermissibly inserts the state into immigration regulation, which is the domain of the federal government, the en banc Ninth Circuit said Monday.” ON THE HOUSING FRONT — “Modular homes cost less and are used all over California. Why not in San Francisco?” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s J.K. Dineen: “Five years after opening, the Bay Area’s only modular housing factory has churned out 2,000 units in 17 projects. By the end of the year, that number will be up to 2,400 units and 20 developments.” | | | | DON’T MISS - MILKEN INSTITUTE ASIA SUMMIT : Go inside the 9th annual Milken Institute Asia Summit, taking place from September 28-30, with a special edition of POLITICO’s Global Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive coverage and insights from this important gathering. Stay up to speed with daily updates from the summit, which brings together more than 1,200 of the world’s most influential leaders from business, government, finance, technology, and academia. Don’t miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | — “TikTok Seen Moving Toward U.S. Security Deal, but Hurdles Remain,” by the New York Times’ Lauren Hirsch, David McCabe, Katie Benner and Glenn Thrush: “The two sides are still wrangling over the potential agreement. The Justice Department is leading the negotiations with TikTok, and its No. 2 official, Lisa Monaco, has concerns that the terms are not tough enough on China, two people with knowledge of the matter said.” — “California Rep. Katie Porter trashed Irvine police after they arrested man she lives with ,” by Fox News’ Houston Keene: “Julian Willis of La Jolla, California, made headlines in July after allegedly punching a protester at Porter’s first town hall since the COVID-19 pandemic took off and giving him a bloody nose.” PAYING THE PENALTIES — “ San Francisco’s archbishop and Nancy Pelosi agree on this contentious political issue,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sam Whiting: “San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone called for an immediate and widespread end to the death penalty in an editorial he published this month in the national Catholic magazine ‘America: the Jesuit Review.’” | | HOLLYWOODLAND | | TRUER CRIMES — “Netflix dropped a new Jeffrey Dahmer show, and a victim’s family says ‘it’s cruel’,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Alexandra Del Rosario: “From the late 70s to the early 90s, Dahmer killed 17 people, most of whom were people of color. “Monster,” however, isn’t the first or only entertainment project to follow Dahmer’s crimes.” | | MIXTAPE | | — “Kaiser strike heads into seventh week as mental health workers reject latest contract offer,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Cathie Anderson. — “This Oakland neighborhood used to be majority Black. Dramatic change is sparking tension,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’sSarah Ravani and Dan Kopf. RESETTLING IN — “ After fleeing Kabul, Afghan lawyers seek new life — and legal careers — in California,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Rector. — Russia gives citizenship to ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, by the Associated Press. PET PEEVES — “Newsom signs bill banning ‘barbaric’ toxicity testing on dogs and cats in California .” by the Sacramento Bee’s Andrew Sheeler. | | TRANSITIONS | | — Karen Breslau, who served for a decade as Newsweek’s San Francisco bureau chief, is now Bloomberg's new California bureau chief.
| | BIRTHDAYS | | Carl Woog of WhatsApp … WaPo’s Tony Romm … POLITICO’s Steven Overly CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this -only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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