A San Francisco waiting game

From: POLITICO California Playbook - Thursday Jul 20,2023 01:07 pm
Presented by Connected Commerce Council: Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State
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POLITICO California Playbook

By Dustin Gardiner, Lara Korte and Sejal Govindarao

Presented by Connected Commerce Council

Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reacts after throwing out a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park.

Pelosi at the Washington Nationals’ annual Night Out game in June. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

DRIVING THE DAY: More uncomfortable headlines for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose daughter is suing the trust created by her late husband Richard C. Blum on her behalf, alleging that it refuses to pay her mother’s medical bills. Lawyers for the trust say they’ve never denied any disbursement.

PLUS: Big consequences for the film industry. The double whammy of striking writers and actors is hitting Hollywood hard.

Read more on Feinstein’s legal battle and entertainment companies’ bottom lines below.

THE BUZZ — THE FOG IS LIFTING: Nancy Pelosi’s future has been the subject of whispers in her hometown since the Democrats lost the House and she stepped down from leadership.

What everyone has wanted to know — but no one was eager to say out loud, for fear of offending the speaker emerita or merely out of respect and admiration for her — is whether she intends to keep her seat. And, if not, would she favor a chosen candidate — or throw it open to what could be a wide open primary in one of the most Democratic cities in the U.S.

At stake is not just the once-in-a-generation chance to be San Francisco’s sole representative in Congress — a post Pelosi has held since 1987. Her retirement, and the jockeying it would set off in state and local politics, would likely create open races for state Senate, Assembly and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Pelosi has been mum about her plans, and the evidence that has emerged so far is contradictory. The congresswoman has raised $3.5 million in the first six months of the year between her campaign and political action committees, a haul that suggests she could run for reelection in November 2024 if she wanted. At a minimum, it shows she still has clout, which could be one reason she has decided to leave people guessing.

At least three scenarios could play out in the coming months:

One more term: Pelosi sticks around to help Democrats raise money to fend off former President Donald Trump — assuming he’s the Republican nominee in 2024. She has helped lead the party through rocky times before, including to defend the Affordable Care Act and to impeach Trump twice. Pelosi must file her declaration of candidacy to seek reelection by Dec. 8, though she would likely announce much sooner given the party has a fall nomination deadline. Some analysts have said she could run to help the party through the 2024 election, only to resign later and trigger a special election.

Steps aside soon: Pelosi announces her decision to step out before the party’s nominating process closes to applicants this fall. This timeline would have the least disruption on the traditional election calendar. But the window for Pelosi to clear the way is getting narrower and narrower (The party’s nominating process formally opens in mid-August.).

Last-minute decision: Call it the total chaos scenario. Pelosi waits until the final minute to decide she won’t run. If she, as the incumbent, doesn’t file to seek reelection by Dec. 8, the filing deadline would be extended by five days. Waiting that late could limit the number of potential successor candidates and trigger a special party nominating conference.

All of this is why ambitious would-be candidates and consultants in San Francisco are anxiously awaiting her decision. But if any camps are growing frustrated, nobody is sharing it publicly.

“The rules of engagement for the average politician just do not apply to Nancy Pelosi,” said Todd David, a close friend and adviser of state Sen. Scott Wiener, a candidate to succeed Pelosi. “She has earned the right and the privilege to do things on her own timeline.”

Wiener formed an exploratory committee to run for the seat in March, though he stresses that he will only run if Pelosi retires and has showered the speaker emerita with praise. His exploratory committee said he’s raised $820,000, a formidable haul for a campaign that hasn’t officially started.

Two other major candidates could also be in the mix: Christine Pelosi, a longtime party organizer and the former speaker’s daughter, and Jane Kim, a former supervisor and California director of the ultra-progressive Working Families Party.

The younger Pelosi hasn’t said anything publicly about her intentions, and Kim will say only that she hasn’t ruled out a run.

From there, cue the musical chairs.

In Wiener’s state Senate District 11, Assemblymember Matt Haney is widely expected to run (though some insiders speculate his decision could be complicated because he’s a close ally to new Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas).

Several prominent Democrats are likely to run for Haney’s Assembly District 17 seat to represent San Francisco’s east side. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said he would run, though he said he’s also not pressuring Pelosi: “She gets to do what she wants.” Another potential contender is San Francisco Democratic Chair Honey Mahogany, Haney’s current district director.

Mandelman’s seat on the Board of Supervisors (District 8, The Castro and Glen Park neighborhoods), has several rumored contenders: Tom Temprano, a leader at Equality California, and Manny Yekutiel, owner of an eponymous cafe and watering hole for political types.

 

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WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “That revolving door, frankly, is what people hate about Washington.” Rep. Adam Schiff talking about POLITICO’s recent report on Rep. Katie Porter’s corporate gig, via FOX 11’s Elex Michaelson.

 

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FRESH INK

Sen. Dianne Feinstein departs the Senate chambers.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein departs the Senate chambers during a nomination vote in the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 1, 2022. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

KNIVES OUT — As if California’s senior senator wasn’t under enough scrutiny, news broke Wednesday of a legal rift between family members over access to assets left by Feinstein’s late husband Richard C. Blum. 

Katherine Feinstein, acting as her mother’s power of attorney, alleged in a lawsuit filed Monday in San Francisco that the trust established for her mother by her stepfather in 1996 refuses to pay for the senator’s medical expenses.

The complaint says the senator, who was diagnosed with a serious case of shingles that kept her absent from the Senate for several months, this year, has incurred significant medical costs, and the trust has refused requests to reimburse medical expenses. Feinstein’s complaint also questions the authority of the trustees Michael Klein and Marc Scholvinck, pointing to a July 14 document in which the senator named her daughter as the successor trustee.

Lawyers representing Klein and Scholvinck seemed baffled. In a statement, attorney Steven P. Braccini said the trust has “never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein, let alone for medical expenses.” Braccini also said the trust has never seen evidence that Katherine Feinstein holds power of attorney for her mother.

“We all remain hopeful that this is simply a misunderstanding that can be quickly resolved, rather than a stepdaughter engaging in some kind of misguided attempt to gain control over trust assets to which she is not entitled,” Braccini said in a statement.

Katherine Feinstein, a former judge, filed another suit this year alleging that one of the trustees refused to sign a grant deed transferring a property at Stinson Beach to the senator so she could sell it. Sen. Feinstein’s office declined to comment, saying “this is a private legal matter.”

SHOWBIZ SLUMP — The work stoppages paralyzing Hollywood are having an immediate impact on Los Angeles’ signature industry, according to a pair of ominous data points released Wednesday by FilmLA, a not-for-profit group that serves as the city and county’s official film office.

First is the precipitous drop in on-location film and television production, which plummeted by 28 percent last quarter. Production in Los Angeles has fallen for six consecutive quarters, but the group noted the decline was accelerated by the writers’ strike. (The actors’ walkout began after the quarter’s end.).

Another sign of the industry’s freeze: Permits for film and TV shoots are down nearly 70 percent this week, compared to the same week in 2022. The group notes that typically at this time of year, there would be dozens of scripted television projects in production. This week, there are zero scripted TV series with permits to film.

“Before long, this sector’s shutdown will be felt in every corner of the regional economy,” said FilmLA President Paul Audley.

Those stark figures come on the heels of a report from Moody’s which said a long strike poses a major risk to movie theater companies, which already took a hit during the pandemic. Broadcast television and cable networks are also vulnerable. 

 — Melanie Mason

 

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INFLUENCERS

NAME DROP — Billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros has maxed out to Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis’ 2026 governor campaign, per a filing reported this week. Soros, a longtime proponent of Kounalakis, pitched in the legal maximum of $36,400 — his only contribution to a California campaign so far this year.

Soros, who has gained global notoriety for spreading his wealth around, has been dipping into California politics for years. He has bolstered both Kounalakis and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaigns in past cycles, including donating $1 million to help the governor fight off a recall attempt in 2021. Soros also helped fund various California criminal justice reform efforts through personal donations and the Open Society Foundations.

 

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WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY

— “L.A. investigating after Universal trims trees near writers' picket line,” by The Washington Post’s Daniel Wu: “The L.A. Department of Public Works will determine if the case warrants a citation or a hearing, a spokesperson told The Post on Wednesday.”

“RFK Jr. wants to make it easier for doctors to spread medical lies,” by Mother Jones’ Kiera Butler: “Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a case against a California law that was passed last year to prohibit physicians from spreading misinformation about Covid. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been a key figure in the fight against this law.”

“The studios thought they could handle a strike. They might end up sparking a revolution,” by Los Angeles Times columnist Mary McNamara: “Scenes of rich overlords sipping Champagne and acting irritated while the crowd howls for bread rarely end well for the Champagne sippers.”

BIRTHDAYS

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) … Meta’s Don Seymour … Sarah Guo … Julia Pyper

MEA CULPA — Wednesday, we misstated Elex Michaelson’s TV station. He works for FOX 11. We also included an incorrect spelling of the speaker’s new press secretary, Cynthia Moreno.

 

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