California Policy and Politics Tuesday

New accuser alleges Eric Swalwell drugged and raped her -- A Southern California woman said Tuesday that Rep. Eric Swalwell drugged and raped her in 2018, joining several other women who have come forward in recent days with allegations of sexual misconduct by the East Bay Democrat. Anna Bauman, Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Rebecca Ellis and Melody Gutierrez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/14/26

LAUSD strike is off, schools to open Tuesday with tentative union deals in place -- The Los Angeles Unified School District strike has been called off after LAUSD reached a tentative agreement early Tuesday morning with Local 99 of Service Employees International Union. Schools will be open as usual on Tuesday. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ Teresa Liu in the LA Daily News Paul Kiernan and Roshan Fernandez in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/14/26

 

Here’s who Eric Swalwell’s supporters in the governor’s race are likely to back now -- Rep. Eric Swalwell’s departure from the California governor’s race — and his resignation Monday from Congress — has scattered donors, supporters and endorsers to his former opponents, triggering a new round of chaos in the volatile California governor race. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Nicole Nixon, Dakota Smith, Melody Gutierrez and Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ Jeanne Kuang Calmatters Grace Hase in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/13/26

Chabria: Barabak: Chaos is the leader in California’s hot mess of a governor’s race -- Eric Swalwell is out — of the California gubernatorial race and Congress, spending time with family, as they say, after allegations of rape and sexual misconduct. That could be considered good news for the slew of Democrats who remain in the running, and even the two Republicans currently polling near the top. Anita Chabria and Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/14/26

Nexstar’s California TV stations will carry gubernatorial debate -- “Debate Night in California: The Race for Governor,” will air April 22 starting at 7 p.m. Pacific, the company announced Monday. The event will originate from TV station KRON in San Francisco and be carried on KTLA in Los Angeles, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento, KGET in Bakersfield and KSEE in Fresno. Stephen Battaglio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

Hilton and Steyer top Union-Tribune poll of San Diegans for wide-open governor race -- The poll was conducted largely before the gubernatorial race was scrambled by U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell’s withdrawal. Lucas Robinson in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 4/14/26

 

Fraud allegations, fires, federal cuts: What’s in L.A. County’s $48.8-billion budget plan -- L.A. County officials said federal funding cuts will be a major factor in future spending. New spending will go to beef up the team investigating fraud in recent sex abuse litigation, among other programs. County officials say they’re staving off layoffs and program cuts. Rebecca Ellis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

Workplace

Hollywood stars line up against Paramount’s Warner Bros. acquisition -- A constellation of stars are lining up against Paramount’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, expressing fears the blockbuster merger would devastate the industry and shrink production jobs. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

California salmon fishing poised to finally reopen. Can the industry recover? -- The return comes with a catch: Regulators at the interstate Pacific Fishery Management Council will strictly constrain fishing dates and impose harvest limits for both commercial and recreational fishing to protect the threatened California Coastal Chinook. Rachel Becker Calmatters -- 4/13/26

San Diego city workers would get 10% raises but face furloughs in nod to budget crisis -- Tentative deal with white-collar employees comes just before mayor is scheduled to announce proposed budget including layoffs, variety of cuts. David Garrick in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 4/13/26

Salton Sea

California’s largest and most polluted lake gets a new conservancy -- California has launched the Salton Sea Conservancy, a new state agency to oversee restoration, manage habitat and improve air quality at the deteriorating inland lake. Deborah Brennan Calmatters -- 4/13/26

Also

How California bungled $1 million in a collaboration with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library -- Lawmakers put millions toward a state library program aimed at bringing Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to California children. Now the state library and a California nonprofit are under fire for how they spent some of the money. Adam Echelman Calmatters -- 4/14/26

Can medical malpractice lawsuits protect LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy? This California lawmaker thinks so -- The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, endangering California’s law. State lawmakers believe there is a “path forward” despite the court’s ruling. Kristen Hwang Calmatters -- 4/13/26

Lopez: Trump says his social media post depicted him as a doctor, not Jesus. A Catholic school alum weighs in -- The general consensus is that President Trump’s social media post of himself dressed in robes, after a busy weekend in which he blasted Pope Leo and attended a prizefight while an Iran peace plan fell apart, was an attempt to cast himself as a Jesus-like figure. But Trump says we have it wrong. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

POTUS 47

U.S. Is Negotiating an Iran Deal That Would Buy Time, Again -- The United States proposed a 20-year “suspension” of all nuclear activity, even as President Trump demands assurances that Iran can never build a nuclear weapon. David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager and Farnaz Fassihi in the New York Times$ -- 4/14/26

How an Image Depicting Trump as Christ Sparked a Backlash on the Religious Right -- President Trump’s decision to post an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure sparked outrage on the religious right, triggering the most significant pushback from his Catholic and evangelical Christian supporters since he returned to the White House. Philip Wegmann, Aaron Zitner and Marianne LeVine in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/13/26

Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate -- As the president threatens to wipe out Iran and attacks the pope, even some former allies and advisers are questioning whether he has grown increasingly unbalanced, describing him as “lunatic” and “clearly insane.” Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 4/13/26

U.S. Oil Blockade Is Set to Boost American Exports—and Prices at the Pump -- President Trump is pitching a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as an opportunity for American oil-and-gas exporters. The squeeze on supplies is a bad omen for prices at the pump. Collin Eaton and Benoît Morenne in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/13/26

Immigrants Are Scared to File Taxes. It Could Cost the U.S. Billions -- Fears that the I.R.S. could share their data with ICE have turned tax season into a gamble for people who are in the country illegally. Miriam Jordan and Andrew Duehren in the New York Times$ -- 4/14/26

AI Is Finding Bugs That Hackers Can Exploit. Get Ready for Bugmageddon -- White House and industry leaders race to fix vulnerabilities, which AI models can discover with frightening speed. Robert McMillan and Chip Cutter in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/13/26