California Policy and Politics Wednesday

California Prop 50 passes by wide margin in clear rebuke of Trump -- The win in California's special statewide election was one of many decisive victories for Democrats on Tuesday night, which cumulatively represented a stunning rebuke of Trump and the Republican Party, which controls the White House, Senate and House. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ Nicole Nixon and Stephen Hobbs in the Fresno Bee Grant Stringer, Grace Hase, Kyle Martin in the San Jose Mercury$ Jill Cowan and Shawn Hubler in the New York Times$ Maeve Reston in the Washington Post$ -- 11/05/25

Gavin Newsom to blue states: Follow my lead -- After championing California's successful gerrymander, the governor pushed fellow Democrats to do the same. Jeremy B. White and Tyler Katzenberger Politico -- 11/04/25

California Prop. 50 passage solidifies Gavin Newsom as national Democratic leader -- Prop. 50, which could net California Democrats another five House seats in next year’s midterms, has allowed Newsom to recast himself as the face of the “resistance 2.0” against the White House and firmly entrench himself on lists of 2028 presidential contenders. Lia Russell in the Sacramento Bee$ Jessica Garrison and Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ Adam Nagourney and Laurel Rosenhall in the New York Times$ -- 11/05/25

It started with a bad internal poll. How Newsom turned it around and beat Trump on redistricting -- The outlook was anything but certain when California Democrats jumped into the precarious and costly redistricting arms race. Melanie Mason and Jeremy B. White Politico -- 11/05/25

Garofoli: Trump has aggressively targeted California for months. His reward: Prop 50 passes easily -- Proposition 50 supporters should take a moment from celebrating their victory to say something heartfelt to President Donald Trump: Thanks! We couldn’t have won without you. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/04/25

Prop 50 map: Where are the Californians likely to lose Republican representation? -- More than 3 million voting-age adults in huge swaths of the state currently represented by a Republican are likely to get a Democratic representative, and about 150,000 in some smaller slices of the state that have a Democratic representative could get a Republican one. Hanna Zakharenko, Aseem Shukla, Sriharsha Devulapalli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ William Melhado in the Sacramento Bee$ Kellen Browning in the New York Times$ -- 11/05/25

Walters: Prop. 50 passage sets off a chain of political and legal maneuvers -- The first is a political scramble among politicians in both parties to determine who will run where in next year’s congressional elections. Ambitious Democrats are lining up to run in the newly gerrymandered districts, some of which have been tailored to favor particular candidates. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 11/05/25

Reps. Bera and Kiley will battle in a Sacramento-area showdown for House seat -- Rep. Ami Bera said Tuesday he’ll challenge Rep. Kevin Kiley in a Sacramento-area district whose lines are being redrawn to give Bera an advantage. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/05/25

Barabak: Proposition 50 is a short-term victory against Trump. But at what cost? -- California’s gerrymandering ballot measure could worsen the polarization that’s consumed Washington and the nation. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/05/25

Santa Clara’s Measure A, a tax increase billed as a Trump rebuke, leads in early returns -- Santa Clara’s Measure A, a tax increase pitched as a way to counter President Donald Trump’s health care cuts, was leading in early returns Tuesday. Sara DiNatale in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/04/25

 

The Backlash Has Arrived: 6 Takeaways From a Good Night for Democrats -- It was the wave election of 2025. Democrats, furious about President Trump’s remaking of American government and society, turned out in extraordinary numbers for an off-year election to sweep virtually every competitive election on the map. Reid J. Epstein in the New York Times$ -- 11/04/25

Democrats Dent Trump’s Coalition With Three Big Election Victories -- For Democrats, Tuesday brought more than three big election victories. It laid out a path to revival for a party that has been dispirited and disempowered under the dominance of President Trump. Aaron Zitner and Anthony DeBarros in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/04/25

7 election takeaways — from Trump the foil to post-cancellation politics -- And President Donald Trump’s maximalist revenge tour of a second term ran headlong into its first electoral pushback, as voters in crucial off-year races registered their staunch opposition to him. Adam Wren and Jessica Piper Politico -- 11/04/25

Five takeaways as Democrats sweep elections in New Jersey and Virginia -- Five takeaways as Democrats sweep elections in New Jersey and Virginia. Hannah Knowles in the Washington Post$ -- 11/05/25

 

Trump and Republicans admonish others for their Election Night losses -- It all added up to a night of finger-pointing and recriminations from Republicans, who sought to cast blame for their resounding losses in Virginia, New Jersey, California and several other statewide races in the first major election since Trump took office in January. Aaron Pellish, Dasha Burns and Alec Hernandez Politico -- 11/04/25

Republicans Reprise Unfounded Claims of Widespread Election Interference -- Prominent conservatives, including the president, sounded familiar alarms about voter suppression and other efforts to manipulate the vote on Election Day, without presenting evidence. Steven Lee Myers in the New York Times$ -- 11/04/25

ICE

Armed agents drive off with child after detaining her father, a U.S. citizen accused of assault -- Federal immigration agents detained a man in Cypress Park on Tuesday whose toddler was strapped into the back seat of his vehicle, according to video shared with The Times. After two agents climbed into his car — along with their weapons — they drove off with the child as onlookers protested. Brittny Mejia and Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/04/25

Privacy

Why a new California law could change the way all Americans browse the internet -- The privacy changes web browsers will be required to make under a new California law could set the de facto standard for the entire country, changing how Americans control their data when using the internet, according to experts. Colin Lecher Calmatters -- 11/05/25

Quake monitoring

Trump cuts earthquake monitoring in ‘breeding ground for tsunamis.’ Here's how it could impact S.F. -- A major earthquake off the coast of Alaska could trigger a tsunami large enough to flood San Francisco’s Embarcadero and the Oakland airport. But later this month, the main earthquake sensors designed to provide warnings for such a worst-case tsunami will go dark after Trump administration funding cuts. Tara Duggan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/04/25

Bird Flu

State agriculture dept. is hiding bird flu information, legal aid group alleges in lawsuit -- More than half of the 70 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu infection in the United States in the last year and a half have been in California dairy workers. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/05/25

Wildfire

LAPD report says confusion, miscommunication hampered Palisades fire response -- The LAPD’s report on the Palisades fire found breakdowns in communications, sloppy record-keeping and poor coordination with the city’s Fire Department. Libor Jany in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/05/25

Street

Disturbing video shows LAPD officer fatally striking skateboarder with vehicle -- Los Angeles police have released video of a disturbing incident in which one of their officers fatally struck a skateboarder riding in the middle of the road in Highland Park. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/04/25

Homeless

Mayor Bass lifts state of emergency on homelessness. But ‘the crisis remains’ -- On Tuesday, nearly three years after she took the helm, and with homelessness trending down two years in a row for the first time in recent years, the mayor announced that she will lift the state of emergency on Nov. 18. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/04/25

Also

SkyStar wheel to extend stay after drawing crowds and cash to S.F.’s Fisherman’s Wharf -- The SkyStar observation wheel has been such a hit on Fisherman’s Wharf that it will spin on for an extra 18 months there, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday. Sam Whiting in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/04/25

POTUS 47

After GOP losses, Trump urges Republicans to end shutdown, filibuster -- Trump told a group of GOP leaders gathered at the White House on Wednesday that if Republicans end the Senate filibuster, “it’ll be impossible to beat us.” Cleve R. Wootson Jr. in the Washington Post$ -- 11/05/25

Administration hints furloughed workers may not be paid after shutdown -- Agencies are sending messages indicating that workers who are on the job will be paid when the government reopens — with no mention of those on furlough, despite a 2019 law protecting their wages. Hannah Natanson, Jacob Bogage and Riley Beggin in the Washington Post$ -- 11/04/25

Shutdown Becomes Longest in History, as Trump Officials Threaten Pain Could Worsen -- Even as the government shutdown stretched into Wednesday and surpassed the record for the longest in American history, President Trump showed no interest in negotiating with Democrats. Luke Broadwater in the New York Times$ -- 11/04/25

The tariff case puts the Supreme Court’s conservatives in a bind -- The high court’s conservative majority largely blesses broad executive power, but some justices are also wary of it in the economic realm. Josh Gerstein Politico -- 11/04/25

What’s at Stake as Trump’s Tariffs Go Before the Supreme Court -- When the Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday over President Trump’s unilateral decision to impose sweeping global tariffs, the justices will be weighing questions about presidential authority, in a case that is central to Trump’s agenda. Also at stake: trillions of dollars. Louise Radnofsky and Gavin Bade in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/04/25

Judge rules Trump administration can’t tie transportation funding to immigration -- The Trump administration cannot withhold billions of dollars in transportation funding to states that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled Tuesday. Alex Nieves Politico -- 11/04/25

Some Republicans Honor Dick Cheney, While Trump Remains Silent -- The late vice president had called President Trump “a coward” and a “threat to our republic” and supported Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Minho Kim in the New York Times$ -- 11/04/25

Right-Wing Chatbots Turbocharge America’s Political and Cultural Wars -- Once pitched as dispassionate tools to answer your questions, A.I. chatbots are now programmed to reflect the biases of their creators. Steven Lee Myers and Stuart A. Thompson in the New York Times$ -- 11/05/25

‘There Should Be Flashing Red Lights’: Steve Bannon on Mamdani’s Win -- Trump’s former White House strategist has a warning for Republicans gloating about Zohran Mamdani’s election. Megan Messerly Politico -- 11/05/25