California Policy and Politics Saturday

‘Soul-hurting pain’: Victims’ families enraged at Newsom’s death row decision -- They’ve lived through the worst horrors a family can endure, and they were promised their murdered loved ones would receive justice through an execution. They suffered through years, if not decades, of appeals and hearings where they were forced to hear the stories of their loved ones’ violent deaths graphically retold again and again. Ryan Sabalow Calmatters -- 11/7/26

With death sentence clemency, Newsom takes another big political risk -- Amid a hum of speculation about how the mass commutation could help or hurt his presidential prospects in 2028, the Democratic politician sent a clear, defining message to Americans about where he stands and the type of leader they could expect. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

How talking to Polly Klaas’ sisters solidified Newsom’s death sentence decision -- After 12-year-old Polly Klaas was kidnapped from her Petaluma home and murdered in 1993, her case galvanized a national movement for harsher criminal penalties. And it was during a late October conversation with Klaas’ two sisters inside a former death row cell that Gov. Gavin Newsom decided to commute the sentence of her killer — along with California’s 547 other condemned prisoners — to life without parole. Hannah Wiley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/7/26

Prosecutors Vow to Keep Pursuing Death Penalty in California -- Unless the next governor, Xavier Becerra, keeps commuting sentences, California’s death row is likely to slowly repopulate in the coming years. Tim Arango and Laurel Rosenhall in the New York Times$ -- 11/7/26

 

As Stephen Miller rises, California hopes it can blunt his force with Democratic gains -- But this week’s sweeping Democratic victories are giving immigrant communities hope that control of Congress will give them more tools to fight Miller’s policies. Grace Toohey, Suhauna Hussain and Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

With wins in LA and DC, a new Left-YIMBY alliance in big-city politics takes center stage -- The revolution in American housing politics keeps picking up speed. This week’s victories by Nithya Raman and Janeese Lewis George in mayoral races in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., add to a growing cadre of elected officials pushing for both robust renter protections and more homebuilding. Liam Dillon Politico -- 11/7/26

California’s ‘billionaire tax’ is still undecided. Here’s where Proposition 40 stands -- Days after the midterm elections, Proposition 40 has yet to be decided. The ballot measure, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires to help fund healthcare, is failing by more than 8 percentage points. Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee and Vanessa Martínez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

‘Bullies lost’: Scott Wiener makes history as S.F.’s first openly gay congressperson -- San Francisco’s LGBTQ community has been an influential political constituency for more than half a century, but it has never sent one of its own members to represent the city in Congress. Until now. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/7/26

Feds move to dismiss case over 20,000 California ballots after Supreme Court denied appeal -- The U.S. Justice Department moved Friday to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit challenging the counting of 20,000 ballots in California, arguing the relief it sought is now impossible given Tuesday’s midterm election has concluded. Kevin Rector and Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

 

From Big Sur to Santa Cruz, California is fortifying its coast for El Niño winter -- From Santa Cruz to Big Sur to Pacifica, local leaders say they’re doing what they can to safeguard vulnerable infrastructure while heeding lessons from the past to improve their emergency response and better prepare residents for disaster. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/7/26

California says 6,500 homes near shuttered Exide plant are ‘clean.’ But soil samples raise questions -- The former Exide facility in Vernon spewed toxic dust for decades as it melted down lead-acid car batteries for recycling. Its operations released lead dust across Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Commerce and Maywood while the state allowed the plant to operate for decades with a temporary permit. Iris Kwok and Tony Briscoe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

POTUS 47

Trump Signals Combative Next Two Years With Elevation of Stephen Miller -- After a brutal election that gutted Republican power in Washington, President Trump has chosen one of his most loyal and divisive advisers as the new White House chief of staff, signaling a combative posture for the final two years of the Trump era. Michelle Hackman, Josh Dawsey, Alex Leary and Sadie Gurman in the Wall Street Journal$ Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Tyler Pager in the New York Times$ -- 11/7/26

The 2028 Election Map Just Broke Wide Open -- The wave election that gave Democrats control of Congress and a majority of governor’s offices is creating another big benefit for the party: new pathways for assembling the states needed to win the presidency in 2028. Aaron Zitner and John McCormick in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/7/26

How Elon Musk Frittered Away Nearly $500 Million on the Midterms -- Behind the scenes, the world’s richest person spent a record amount over two years to bend the country’s politics to his will. He couldn’t. Theodore Schleifer in the New York Times$ -- 11/7/26

 

California Policy and Politics Friday

Jane Kim declares victory in close California insurance commissioner race -- Though the race for California insurance commissioner has yet to be formally called, Kim holds a strong lead over her opponent, state Sen. Ben Allen of Santa Monica, with 52.7% of the vote as of midday Friday. Allen called Kim on Friday morning to congratulate her, according to both campaigns. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/6/26

What Gavin Newsom’s commutations mean for the death penalty in the U.S. -- The California Supreme Court must approve some of these commutations. If it does, Newsom’s action would be responsible for the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history. Maurice Chammah and Jill Castellano of the Marshall Project Calmatters -- 11/6/26

California’s contemplative governor-elect still mulling over how to lower prices, provide healthcare -- In his first news conference since being elected governor, Xavier Becerra remained noncommittal on taxes, energy and healthcare policy — even refusing to commit to reversing cuts to Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented immigrants, a campaign pledge. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/6/26

How Mayor-elect Raman will remake L.A. City Hall -- Bike lanes. Housing vouchers. A new police chief and many more new apartments, even in single-family neighborhoods. And above all, data to find out if City Hall programs are working. Mayor-elect Nithya Raman won’t represent a radical ideological break from her opponent, one-term incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. David Zahniser, Colleen Shalby and Itzel Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/6/26

These California lawmakers are positioned to reshape Washington’s climate agenda -- Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-San José) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) have served as the top Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and the House Natural Resources Committee, respectively, since Republicans took control of the chamber in January 2023. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/6/26

Midterm results could shape 2028 presidential dialogue -- Democrats are cautioning against overconfidence, and discussing how to translate their midterm success into more lasting power. For Republicans, the defeat set off something close to an existential crisis, and debate over how to regroup. Justine McDaniel, Ana Ceballos and Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/6/26

Garofoli: Run Ro? After the blue wave, a Khanna candidacy might not be as farfetched as you think -- Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, is a House member with little national name recognition outside of political cable TV shows and progressive circles. His fundraising is untested nationally. And he would be the longest of longshots in a 2028 presidential field that could include two dozen Democrats, including his fellow Californians, Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/6/26

Chan campaigned as the progressive candidate. The S.F. residents who voted for her were not -- Even an endorsement from California’s most distinguished politician wasn’t enough to get Supervisor Connie Chan over the finish line as San Francisco’s newest member of the House. Aseem Shukla in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/6/26

Walters: California’s congressional gerrymander worked. What happens after the next census? -- Last year, after Texas Republicans reconfigured their congressional districts to grab five more seats, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, and its Legislature countered with a gerrymander to shift five seats their way. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 11/6/26

How Big Tech Lost the Midterms -- The inside story of how AI went from a fantasy to a top issue for voters. Calder McHugh and Alec Hernandez Politico -- 11/6/26

 

San Francisco’s shuttered downtown mall could be torn down under new buyer’s plan -- New York investment firm Seven Equity Group, which has been selected to buy most of the San Francisco Centre, is considering demolishing and rebuilding the roughly six-acre property as one of several potential business plans, real estate insiders confirmed to the Chronicle. Aidin Vaziri, Laura Waxmann in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/6/26

Social media companies sue California over new law restricting use for children -- Technology companies Google, Meta and Tik Tok sued the state of California on Wednesday to block a new law that restricts companies from targeting children younger than 16 with “addictive” social media content that can keep them scrolling for hours. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/6/26

ICE

ICE investigated how dozens of detainees died. The findings are ‘damning’ -- The failures that preceded the deaths of these three immigrant detainees are described not in civil lawsuits but in scathing and blunt reports written by ICE’s internal investigators. St. John Barned-Smith, Ko Lyn Cheang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/6/26

Climate

This is where a SoCal railway is about to fall into the sea. What is being done to save it -- A major sand replenishment is headed to the San Clemente beach along the long-imperiled railway line, part of a large shoreline work package aimed at fortifying the vulnerable railroad while also protecting the area’s shrinking beaches. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/6/26

Court rules against California’s first carbon capture project, a key piece of state climate plans -- A judge found the TerraVault project’s environmental review ignored industries that would supply its CO2. Carbon injections continue for now as the company vows to fight and a new review could take years. Emma Foehringer Merchant Calmatters -- 11/6/26

Workplace

Not Even Tech’s Safest Jobs Look So Safe Anymore -- As Microsoft pours billions into artificial intelligence, the company has offered buyouts to about 60,000 employees. The work force was already on edge. Emmy Martin in the New York Times$ -- 11/6/26

Also

Trump vows to fight on as clock ticks on permanent daylight saving time bill -- As the clock ticks down for the Senate to pass the so-called Sunshine Protection Act to mandate year-round daylight saving time in most of the United States, President Trump on Wednesday said he planned to “keep fighting” for the change. Iris Kwok in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/6/26

Nvidia shipment worth millions disappears on route from Oakland to Texas -- An $11.4 million shipment of Nvidia hardware was stolen after leaving Oakland, according to authorities, in a cargo theft that investigators are still trying to piece together. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/6/26

POTUS 47

Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff -- The surprise move came just days after Republicans faced a humiliating midterms defeat at the hands of Democrats, who flipped control of the House and Senate and made significant inroads into some deep red states, including Texas. Megan Messerly and Sophia Cai Politico -- 11/6/26

Democrats Are Hatching a Plan to Reverse Trump’s Canada Tariffs -- Democrats are eyeing President Trump’s trade war with Canada as the first target in a campaign to roll back his administration’s tariff agenda, according to the party’s senior trade lawmaker in the Senate. Gavin Bade in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/6/26

The GOP needs to move on from Trump. That’s easier said than done -- The president has full control of the Republican Party with two years left in office, and he’s not letting go anytime soon. Peter Jamison in the Washington Post$ -- 11/6/26

Trump to keep fundraising, hoping to retain political muscle -- President Trump has told advisers that he plans to keep raising money for his political operation — a move aimed at salvaging his clout after the GOP's midterm debacle. Alex Isenstadt Axios -- 11/6/26

Trump makes the Oval Office a national monument. But future presidents can still redecorate -- President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a proclamation that he says will preserve the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as a national monument, his first official action after his party was swept aside in midterm elections on Tuesday. Collin Binkley, Darlene Superville Associated Press -- 11/6/26

Judge blocks Trump’s arch after panel approves construction -- The arch, which won approval earlier in the day from the National Capital Planning Association — a panel stocked with the president’s allies — has drawn fierce opposition from local officials, preservation organizations and a group of veterans who visit the cemetery to honor their fallen friends. Kyle Cheney and Heather Richards Politico -- 11/6/26

Why a Merciless Supreme Court Rebuke on Election Eve Matters -- On the day before the midterm elections that would transform American government, the Supreme Court also did something extraordinary. In the space of about seven hours on Monday, it evaluated and rejected an emergency request from the Trump administration to let it meddle in how ballots were counted in California. Adam Liptak in the New York Times$ -- 11/6/26

Corporate America courted Trump. Now a blitz of investigations is coming -- Democrats are laying the groundwork to investigate some of the country’s largest companies, setting off a scramble among executives who courted the president. Pranshu Verma in the Washington Post$ -- 11/6/26