California Policy and Politics Wednesday

Calmatters Live California election results

Xavier Becerra makes history as California’s first elected Latino governor -- Xavier Becerra, who grew up in a 685-square-foot house with his parents and three sisters in working-class Sacramento before ascending to Stanford University, Congress and the White House Cabinet, will become California’s first directly elected Latino governor. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

California is getting a very different kind of governor in Xavier Becerra -- When California’s next governor arrived at the Capitol for a news conference this summer, the woman introducing him didn’t seem to realize he was there. “Xavier Becerra?” she said, looking to her left, then her right, searching. Then Becerra stepped out. “Oh, you’re right behind me!” she said, surprised. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/26

Billionaire tax ballot measure trails; California voters reject voter ID -- The fate of a controversial ballot measure to impose a new tax on California billionaires, proposed as a lifeline for the needy and castigated as a threat to the state’s fragile economy, appeared headed for defeat in early election results Tuesday night. Seema Mehta and Queenie Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Nithya Raman’s lead against Karen Bass continues to grow -- Nithya Raman’s lead against Karen Bass continued to grow overnight. Raman had 377,458 votes compared to 360,864 for Bass. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Barrera leads Shaw in early returns for state superintendent’s race -- Richard Barrera was leading Sonja Shaw in early returns Tuesday night in the race for state superintendent of public instruction. Barrera, the school board president of San Diego Unified, was the heavy favorite as the Democrat in the race, even though the office is listed as nonpartisan. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Scott Wiener leads in race to succeed Nancy Pelosi -- State Sen. Scott Wiener is leading San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in Congress, with votes left to be counted. Wiener had 55.42% of the vote in early returns Tuesday, to Chan’s 44.58%. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/26

Pan unseats Kiley in 6th Congressional District -- Democrat Richard Pan has defeated Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Rocklin) in the race for California’s 6th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. The race was one Democrats had targeted to flip following voter approval of Proposition 50, which split Kiley’s district into six pieces and prompted the congressman to switch from Republican to independent in an attempt to keep the seat. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Doris Matsui leads Mai Vang early in California’s 7th District race -- Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, has taken the early lead over Sacramento Councilmember Mai Vang for the Sacramento region’s 7th Congressional District seat. As of 9:28 p.m., Matsui had 58.6% of the vote while Vang had 41.4%. About 37% of the district’s expected votes have been counted, according to The Associated Press. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/26

Jones has narrow lead in Thompson in California’s 4th Congressional District -- Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, is slightly behind political newcomer and fellow Democrat Eric Jones in California’s 4th Congressional District race in results late Tuesday night. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/26

Progressive challenger Randy Villegas maintains lead over Rep. David Valadao -- Progressive challenger Randy Villegas has a lead over Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, for a critical House seat in the Central Valley. Villegas had captured 65.1% of the votes compared to Valadao’s 34.9%, as of 10:45 p.m. About 44% of the votes have been counted, according to the Associated Press. Mathew Miranda in the Fresno Bee -- 11/4/26

Voters reject Prop. 39 voter ID measure -- California voters rejected Proposition 39, a voter ID measure backed by Republicans and megadonors to President Trump. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Voters approve Prop. 1 housing bond -- Voters in California have approved Proposition 1, which allows the state to issue up to $11.25 billion in bonds to spend on building and maintaining housing low- and middle-income residents can afford. Audrey McGlinchy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Voters approve Prop. 2 letting state put more money into rainy day fund -- Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers presented the measure as a solution to the state budget’s dramatic and, at times, unpredictable revenue swings from year to year. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Voters approve Prop. 37, creating down-payment loan program for homebuyers -- If fully funded, the program could be among the largest down-payment assistance programs in the country. It faced little opposition in the run-up to the election, in part, because it comes at no direct cost to taxpayers. Audrey McGlinchy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Robert Luna reelected as L.A. County sheriff -- Los Angeles County voters have reelected incumbent Robert Luna for another term as sheriff, turning away a challenge from Alex Villanueva, according to the Associated Press. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Fiona Ma elected California lieutenant governor -- California voters have chosen state Treasurer Fiona Ma to become the state’s next lieutenant governor. Ma defeated Republican challenger Gloria Romero to succeed Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who was termed out. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Transit

Big win for Bay Area transit as voters approve regional measure and S.F. Muni tax -- Voters have passed Proposition RTM — the Regional Transit Measure — which seeks to raise $1 billion annually to bolster public transportation in five counties and serve as a crucial lifeline for BART, Muni, Caltrain and AC Transit. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/26

Workplace

Should state workers expect change under Xavier Becerra? -- While Becerra has received support from many state worker unions, he hasn’t made promises on the issues state workers say affect them the most. Corey Schmidt in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/26

AI

Disney has fought AI firms over copyright. Now it’s testing AI lyric videos -- Walt Disney Co. is experimenting with using artificial intelligence to test out different concepts for music videos showcasing the lyrics to its songs, starting with “Go the Distance” from its 1997 animated movie “Hercules.” Wendy Lee and Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

California accepts big broadband money from Trump — but not the terms and conditions -- The state of California has agreed to accept $1.4 billion in federal funding to bring broadband internet access to 270,000 people while simultaneously challenging conditions attached to the funding. Those conditions would stop the state from enforcing broadband laws that reduce costs and guarantee equal access for internet destinations. Khari Johnson Calmatters -- 11/4/26

Also

Walters: Governor-elect Becerra must quickly confront state budget mess Newsom left behind -- Xavier Becerra, the former attorney general who won the governorship Tuesday, must submit a new budget to the Legislature just days after his inauguration in January. Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom is leaving him with a fiscal mess. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 11/4/26

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‘Not a hit on me’: Trump faults candidates and Fox News, not himself, for Republican losses -- As the scale of the Republican Party’s losses came into focus late Tuesday, President Trump watched from the White House and went looking for someone to blame. Ana Ceballos in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Trump’s Whole Theory of Power Is in Ruins -- More than any American president, Trump has used fear as a central tool of policymaking. He doesn’t look so fearsome today. Alexander Burns Politico -- 11/4/26

Historic Midterm Rout Serves as a Sweeping Rebuke of Trump Era -- The electoral backlash extended even into deep red states and indicated that President Trump has lost his hold over the coalition that lifted him to the White House twice. Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 11/4/26

A Political Reckoning Shatters Trump’s Grip on Washington -- Rarely in American politics has a president traded away so much political support so quickly. Aaron Zitner in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/4/26

Trump Probes and Policy Fights: Here Is Democrats’ New Agenda -- President Trump will still have a veto pen for the next two years, limiting Democrats’ ability to enact laws that reverse his policies and setting up clashes that could be even more intense than the conflicts between Trump and Democrats when they controlled the House in 2019 and 2020. Richard Rubin and Lindsay Wise in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/4/26

Barabak: Trump, Democratic blowout is a stark personal repudiation -- For more than a decade, Donald Trump seemed to defy all the known laws of political physics. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Lopez: Trump, who so bitterly divided us, was awful enough to unite us. At least temporarily -- President Trump lost early, late and often Tuesday night in the midterm elections. In contests across the country — for governor, for Senate, for the House — he had told people to vote as if he was on the ballot. They did, and Democrats ran the table, taking the House and then the Senate. Trump lost big, inspected the wreckage, and claimed the problem was lousy candidates. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Trump touted his Reflecting Pool success. But new problems are visible -- Discoloration and inconsistencies were spotted immediately following the president’s speech. Maura Judkis and Meg Kelly in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/26

 

California Policy and Politics Tuesday

“Sí se puede!” said Governor-elect Xavier Becerra, packed crowd celebrates -- Governor-elect Xavier Becerra issued the “battle cry” of the late labor leader Dolores Huerta after he took the stage shortly after 8 p.m., introduced by his wife Carolina and joined by his three adult daughters. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ Jeremy B. White Politico -- 11/3/26

Arellano: What Becerra’s historic win says about Latino political power in California -- Mike Madrid was prepping to interview Xavier Becerra on Olvera Street last month when the immensity of the moment hit him. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

Calmatters Live California election results

Mayor Karen Bass narrowly leads City Councilmember Nithya Raman in the L.A. mayor’s race -- The slight gap between the two candidates does not bode well for Bass, since Raman is expected to secure a larger portion of the late-arriving ballots in the coming days. Those ballots tend to be cast by the younger voters who serve as her base. David Zahniser and Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

S.F. House results: Scott Wiener leads in race to succeed Nancy Pelosi -- State Sen. Scott Wiener is leading San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in Congress, with votes left to be counted. Wiener had 57.13% of the vote in early returns Tuesday, to Chan’s 42.87%. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/26

California Prop 40: Latest election results for billionaire tax, competing props -- Proposition 40, the measure to enact a onetime billionaire tax, was trailing 57% to 43% Tuesday night, with votes left to be counted. Compounding the bleak outlook for the tax: One of two measures to effectively block the measure if it passes was leading in early returns. Kathryn Palmer in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/26

 

California officials brace for unprecedented election interference by Trump administration -- “California is dead serious about the security of [Tuesday’s] midterm elections. If Trump tries to meddle with California’s ballots, you can be sure as hell that we’ll prosecute those who help him,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. “Californians deserve a free and fair election, and that is exactly what we’ll deliver.” Kevin Rector and Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

Majority of California voters fear federal government may try to stop vote count, poll finds -- A new poll finds 63% of California voters worry the Trump administration may try to halt vote counting after election day. Election fears are sharply divided by party: 85% of Democrats believe the count could be stopped, compared with 22% of Republicans. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

Supreme Court declines to hear Trump’s California 20,000 ballot case -- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue an emergency ruling in the Trump Administration’s case to sequester 20,000 ballots. Here’s what to know about the ongoing, unprecedented legal attack on California’s elections. Ryan Sabalow and Sergio Olmos Calmatters Lindsay Whitehurst, Nicholas Riccardi Associated Press Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney Politico Abbie VanSickle in the New York Times$ Justin Jouvenal and Patrick Marley in the Washington Post$ -- 11/3/26

This is what it’s like to run California elections under Trump -- Election officials in three California counties describe trying to put on the midterms under threat from the federal government’s law enforcement agencies. Raheem Hosseini in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/26

We went to court to check on California illegal voting cases. Here’s what we learned -- Experts say the federal government must prove that noncitizens intentionally violated election law. Regardless, defendants may face dire immigration consequences. Marek Warszawski of KVPR; Eli Chavez of KCRW of Tyche Hendricks, KQED and Noah Abrams, KRCB Calmatters -- 11/3/26

Sacramento woman ‘mortified’ by voting charge as feds arrest dozens ahead of election -- Meryll Quirong Costi was mortified, her lawyer said, as she sat in federal court with her legs shackled together, wearing orange pants and a white T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Prisoner” across the back. Sharon Bernstein in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/3/26

 

Democrats dominate California but face challenges after election -- As polls show nearly 6 out of 10 Californians believe the state is going in the wrong direction and even more anticipate bad financial times ahead, the state’s new governor and legislators will have to confront some chronic problems, including a severe budget deficit, housing unaffordability, homelessness, and rising energy and insurance costs. Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

What’s at stake for California in this expected ‘blue wave’ election -- Perhaps no state has more on the line than California, where a handful of congressional contests could help determine which party controls Congress and where state leaders like Gov. Gavin Newsom have spent the last two years aggressively fighting Trump’s agenda. Hannah Wiley, Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/26

Will Democrats control Congress? Their path runs through California. Watch these races -- These are the most consequential U.S. House races in California, which could determine control of Congress as well as the future direction of the Democratic Party. Maya C. Miller Calmatters -- 11/3/26

The S.F. donors keeping these midterms on track to be the most expensive in history -- With control of Congress on the line, a number of San Francisco area’s wealthiest families are writing checks to these PACs to support candidates across the country, where districts are more up for grabs than in deep-blue California. Their spending is part of a years-long trend of out-of-state money fueling campaigns in federal elections. Hanna Zakharenko, Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/3/26

 

Californians vote on nation’s first wealth tax on billionaires -- Some of the state’s wealthiest residents have spent hundreds of millions to defeat Prop. 40, the “billionaire tax.” Supporters say billionaires should pay their “fair share” and help fund social services. Kristen Hwang Calmatters -- 11/3/26

What the voter records of California’s billionaires reveal -- According to Politico's analysis, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans among the billionaires we identified to the California voter file, despite the number of industrial titans who have visited the White House and extended olive branches to President Donald Trump. Will McCarthy, Jessie Blaeser and Jeremy B. White Politico -- 11/3/26

 

L.A.’s next mayor faces high expectations, little room for error -- Homeless encampments line the streets. Buying a home — or even finding an affordable place to rent — is increasingly out of reach. Roads are riddled with potholes, tens of thousands of streetlights are out, and water and power bills are surging. For many Angelenos, morale is poor and quality of life in the city is slipping. Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

 

California chooses next insurance commissioner: Jane Kim or Ben Allen -- Two Democrats are competing for the position for the first time. Jane Kim, the former San Francisco supervisor, wants to create a public disaster insurance program. State Sen. Ben Allen says a comprehensive wildfire-mitigation plan is the way to fix what ails insurance in California: availability, especially in areas of high fire risk; and affordability, as insurers raise premiums, citing increasing disaster risk and rising replacement costs. Levi Sumagaysay Calmatters -- 11/3/26

California voters could reshape the state’s landmark environmental law with Prop. 45 -- Backed by business groups and opposed by environmentalists, Prop. 45 would put deadlines on environmental reviews and lawsuits for housing, water, broadband and transit projects. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde Calmatters -- 11/3/26

California decides on housing bonds with Prop. 1 and Prop. 37 -- The two borrowing measures — Propositions 1 and 37 — tackle the state’s affordable housing crisis in very different ways and by targeting very different constituencies. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 11/3/26

California’s legislative races put tech-backed Democrats and Republican gains to the test -- California voters are deciding whether Republicans will hold onto seats they flipped in 2024 and whether business-backed groups can help elect more moderate Democrats. Kate Wolffe Calmatters -- 11/3/26

Wildfire

Utilities lobby for shield from wildfire costs -- California’s largest investor-owned utilities are seeking a permanent cap on shareholder liability for catastrophic wildfires, as a criminal investigation into Southern California Edison’s role in the deadly Eaton fire continues. Melody Petersen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

ICE

Congressman, senator are turned away from Central Valley ICE facility -- Senator Alex Padilla and Congressman Jim Costa visited McFarland for a drop-in visit to the Golden State Annex, an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainment facility, but they never made it inside. Nick Fenley in the Fresno Bee -- 11/3/26

Workplace

Newsom proposes $1-billion cap for film and TV tax incentive -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday called for a significant expansion of the state’s film and TV tax incentives in the face of mounting evidence that producers are fleeing California in search of cheaper locales. Cerys Davies and Stacy Perman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

Also

Gavin Newsom is almost out of office. Will he empty California’s death row first? -- Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has signaled he is weighing a move that would eliminate a quarter of the country’s death sentences. Katie Mettler in the Washington Post$ -- 11/3/26

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Trump Says U.S. Plans to Cut Off Military Aid to Israel by End of Year -- U.S. and Israel have discussed phasing out grants, but president’s comments suggest it could occur much faster than expected. Marianne LeVine, Lara Seligman and Vera Bergengruen in the Wall Street Journal$ David E. Sanger in the New York Times$ -- 11/3/26

Trump’s closing message to American voters highlights repairs to Reflecting Pool -- After spending a month asking voters to treat the midterms as a vote on him, President Trump closed his monthlong campaign sprint on Monday sounding like a man bracing for defeat. “For some reason, the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms,” Trump said. “But we gave this a very strong shot.” Ana Ceballos in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26

Trump’s aura of invincibility faces one more test -- Trump suggests he is expecting a wave, telling the New York Post he will ‘become Mr. Veto’ if Democrats sweep control. Democratic congressional leaders may face internal party calls to pursue a third impeachment of the president. Michael Wilner in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/3/26