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Powerful, wealthy interest groups keep tight grip on California proposition system -- California voters were first empowered to govern by ballot measure in 1911. But it took almost seven decades and the anti-tax crusade of a cantankerous, fist-shaking businessman to reveal the political strength of a direct democracy tool that has come to redefine the state’s politics ever since. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
George Gascón barely survived his primary. Now, he’s likely to be L.A. County’s district attorney -- Eight months ago, more than a few people were writing George Gascón’s political epitaph. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
S.F. voters passed new taxes. Will that hurt or help as city recovers from pandemic? -- San Francisco embraced several tax measures on the ballot Tuesday, despite the recession and the millions of dollars spent arguing that raising taxes during a pandemic would increase the city’s economic woes. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/20
California goes big on criminal justice reform, setting a more progressive path -- California voters expressed a clear appetite for criminal justice reform on election night, supporting a series of ambitious changes after a summer of mass protests sparked a painful reckoning around racial injustice and debate over the role of policing. Kevin Rector, Anita Chabria, James Queally, Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
This Gen Z gig worker ran for office. Now he’s California’s youngest legislator -- Four years ago, Alex Lee was student body president at UC Davis. On Tuesday, he overwhelmingly won a seat in the California Assembly, becoming the youngest state legislator to assume office in more than 80 years. Melody Gutierrez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Fake polling place or service to the community? Questions swirl around ‘ballot room’ in OC’s Little Saigon -- On Election Day, voters arrived at a strip mall in the Orange County enclave known as Little Saigon. “POLLING PLACE,” a large sign announced in Vietnamese. “Together, let’s vote.” Anh Do, Adam Elmahrek, Kiera Feldman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Facebook removes pro-Trump group for false election claims and some members calling for violence -- Facebook Inc on Thursday said it had taken down a rapidly growing group where supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump posted misinformation, violent rhetoric and organized protests against the baseless claim that Democrats were stealing the election. The group had ballooned to more than 365,000 members in one day. Elizabeth Culliford, Raphael Satter Reuters -- 11/5/20
Virus
L.A. County sees another big jump in daily coronavirus cases -- Los Angeles County officials on Wednesday reported the highest single daily case count of coronavirus infections not connected with a backlog since late August. The county confirmed 1,843 new cases and 22 additional COVID-19 deaths. Luke Money, Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
California Policy & Politics Thursday Morning
California Democrats could boost already overwhelming state Senate majority -- Democrats could further expand their control of the California Legislature by flipping as many as four Republican-held districts in the state Senate. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/20
Lyft plans next gig-work move: making peace with unions that opposed Proposition 22 -- Now the companies hope their victory will set a model to revamp the nation’s labor landscape, creating a third category of worker, neither employee nor freelancer — an independent contractor with some trappings of an employee. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/20
Prop. 22 passed, a major win for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash. What happens next? -- What are the consequences of carving out a new category of work to fit the form of the gig economy? What will the ripple effects be across the state and country? There’s still a lot to figure out. Suhauna Hussain, Johana Bhuiyan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
After gig companies’ Prop. 22 win, labor groups vow challenges -- A lopsided victory for the measure to keep Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart drivers classified as contractors with limited job benefits puts labor groups on defense. Lauren Hepler CalMatters -- 11/5/20
How the record-breaking Proposition 22 campaign raises the stakes for California’s big-money initiatives -- A little more than a week before Election Day, there were signs of trouble for Proposition 22, the measure to overturn new employment protections for gig workers. Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/5/20
Voters help big business override California lawmakers -- Jeff Clayton remembers the day, two years ago, when California passed a law that would put his industry out of business in the state. The ban on money bail — which Democrats advanced saying it would bring more fairness in the criminal justice system — would devastate companies in the American Bail Coalition that Clayton heads. Laurel Rosenhall CalMatters -- 11/5/20
California’s highest court could still curtail cash bail, upheld by the state’s voters -- Amid divisions among criminal justice reformers, voters have rejected a ballot measure to end cash bail in California, but the state’s highest court will probably have the final word. Maura Dolan, Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
How L.A. County’s Measure J was winning: Voters wanted to meet the moment, officials say -- For years, Los Angeles County criminal justice reform advocates have called for “alternatives to incarceration” as a way of breaking cycles of violence, recidivism and racial disparity that fills the county’s massive jail system. Ryan Carter in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/5/20
Why affirmative action measure failed in California -- In a year in which the nation was confronted with racial injustice and a divisive presidential contest inflamed its partisan divide, advocates fighting to reinstate affirmative action programs in the deep-blue state of California saw the November election as their best opportunity in decades. Phil Willon, Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Questions for Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Democrats underperform in House races -- Democrats were expected to maintain their House majority after Tuesday’s election — but the surprising loss of several front-line Democrats in battleground seats raised questions for Speaker Nancy Pelosi about her leadership of the caucus. Tal Kopan and John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/5/20
Gavin Newsom made it easy for Kamala Harris to decide which higher office to pursue -- The rocket rise of Kamala Harris to the top tier of national politics is the latest pop in a political ride Harris wasn’t even sure she wanted to take. Phil Matier in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/20
Even if Biden wins, Bay Area Democrats are horrified 68 million voters backed Trump -- Instead, even as Biden’s electoral path to the White House improved Wednesday, Democrats remained shell shocked that President Trump didn’t just keep his base, he expanded it by nearly 5 million voters. Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/5/20
Lopez: In case of a Trump win, I’m weighing my options. Canada? Mexico? Secession? -- Like everyone else, I’m on the edge of my seat, waiting on Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania. But regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, we need to stop referring to our country as the United States of America. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Election
San Francisco voters approve first-in-the-nation CEO tax that targets income gap -- Measure L required a simple majority to pass and was approved by 65.18% of voters Tuesday night, making San Francisco the first U.S. city to move to tax both private and public businesses based on how “overpaid” their top executives are. Laurence Du Sault CalMatters -- 11/5/20
L.A. County makes history with all female Board of Supervisors -- Nicknamed the “five little kings,” the men who ruled the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for more than a century enjoyed massive power and the perks of a coveted job they kept for decades. Those days are over. Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
No return to lock ’em up — California voters stick with less punitive justice -- Over the last three decades, Californians have swung from “tough on crime” conservatism to a more lenient, less punitive approach to criminal justice. Based on the results of this year’s election, it doesn’t look like the pendulum is swinging back anytime soon. Byrhonda Lyons and Ben Christopher CalMatters -- 11/5/20
Social justice on ballot scores some victories, suffers some defeats -- California voters wrestled with ballots chock full of complicated social justice issues on Nov. 3, amid unprecedented racial reckoning and heightened awareness of historical wrongs. While election results are not yet final, voters appear to have delivered a very mixed bag of decisions. Teri Sforza in the Orange County Register -- 11/5/20
Why liberal California keeps saying no to rent control -- In one of the most liberal states in the country, California voters have twice had an opportunity to expand rent control statewide amid a historic housing affordability crisis. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
California GOP’s Issa leads in bid to return to Congress -- Former U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, once among the most powerful Republicans in Congress, was leading Wednesday in his comeback bid in a more conservative California district than the one he left two years ago. Julie Watson Associated Press -- 11/5/20
Devin Nunes wins 10th term in Congress, defeating California Democrat Arballo -- Nunes has held the area’s congressional seat for nearly two decades, consistently winning by 30 percentage points or more until 2018. Kate Irby in the Fresno Bee$ -- 11/5/20
Republicans may take back two congressional seats in key Orange County races -- In a rare bright spot for California’s beleaguered GOP, two Republican challengers are within striking distance of unseating two Orange County Democrats who were elected to Congress during the 2018 blue wave. Stephanie Lai in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
San Diego ‘blue wave’ continues with Democrats taking mayor’s seat, two more council seats -- San Diego’s city government continued its sharp shift to the left in Tuesday’s election, with Democrats flipping two previously Republican City Council seats and Democrat Todd Gloria replacing Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/5/20
Angry voters, higher turnout, Hollywood money: How Nithya Raman gained an edge in L.A. -- When urban planner Nithya Raman launched her bid for Los Angeles City Council last year, she was best known in her neighborhood for helping homeless residents get meals, showers and other aid. David Zahniser, Dakota Smith, Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
How the Bay Area voted on key races vs. the rest of California -- But when looking at the unofficial results so far for the presidential election and some key ballot measures, it appears the Bay Area tends to do its own thing compared to the rest of the state. Kellie Hwang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/20
Charter Schools
Split results in two L.A. school board races suggest a pro-charter school tilt -- The titans of Los Angeles school politics — charter-school advocates and the teachers union — have fought to an expensive draw in Tuesday’s school board races, with a winner expected from each side and a board majority that could tilt in favor of charters. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
School Tax
LAUSD Measure RR ends dry spell in raising taxes for schools -- Los Angeles school officials on Tuesday revived an irresistible formula from the past in winning passage of Measure RR, a $7-billion bond to modernize campuses in California’s largest school system. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Virus
California’s COVID-19 efforts fare better than national average, but hospitalizations are rising -- As states throughout the country experience severe spikes in coronavirus infections, California’s case count remains mild by comparison. But as transmission and hospitalizations again increase, officials are returning to a cautionary refrain. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Bay Area counties hold steady in state’s latest coronavirus tier assignments -- For the first time since California introduced its tier assignment system for reopening the state’s economy during the coronavirus pandemic, no Bay Area counties showed any movement. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/5/20
Elevated case rate pushes San Diego County ever so close to the purple tier -- An out-of-bounds score in the state’s weekly reopening report creates the possibility that San Diego County could fall to the most-restrictive tier in the COVID-19 ranking system next week. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/5/20
Orange County holds out in red tier as coronavirus case rate climbs -- Two weeks of growing rates of coronavirus cases have shunted Orange County off track from advancing to the less-restrictive orange tier of the state’s pandemic tracking system. Instead, the county is backpedaling toward the most-restrictive purple tier, according to state health department data released Wednesday, Nov. 4. Ian Wheeler in the Orange County Register -- 11/5/20
Los Angeles remains in purple, or widespread, coronavirus tier -- Los Angeles County remains mired in the most restrictive tier of the state’s coronavirus reopening plan thanks to an uptick in cases, with the county on Wednesday, Nov. 4, reporting the highest daily number of new COVID-19 infections in more than two months. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/5/20
Report: More Orange County children facing hunger during pandemic -- Though the lives of Orange County’s children are improving in many ways, the county’s youngest residents continue to struggle with obesity, poverty, housing and getting enough to eat — issues that COVID-19 appears to be worsening — according to newly released data. Theresa Walker in the Orange County Register -- 11/5/20
Coronavirus cases are rising in the Sacramento region. Business closings may be coming -- With coronavirus cases again on the rise, Sacramento County’s top public health chief put out a plea Wednesday for families to think twice before gathering in groups for Thanksgiving, holiday dinners or other celebrations. Michael McGough and Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/5/20
L.A. City Council allows businesses to turn away patrons without masks -- The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to authorize businesses to refuse to admit or serve patrons not wearing a face covering. The proposal was first introduced by Councilman Herb Wesson in July. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Street
Bay Area demands ‘count every vote’ after Trump falsely declares victory -- With the election still too close to call, and President Donald Trump claiming that yet-to-be counted ballots are fraudulent, people rallied around the Bay Area on Wednesday with one message: Count all the votes. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/5/20
Protesters denounce Trump and Biden, march in San Diego for ‘all Black and brown lives’ -- Protesters marched Wednesday evening through downtown San Diego in a demonstration against police, the country’s political system and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Alex Riggins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/5/20
San Diego Measure B architects look forward to crafting new police commission ordinance -- The individuals who led the effort to overhaul police oversight in San Diego worked for years to get their proposal in front of voters. Now that Measure B looks set to pass by an overwhelming margin, those same architects of the effort are looking forward to the work ahead. Alex Riggins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/5/20
Also . . .
California officials order delay in Bay Area’s Dungeness crab season -- For the second consecutive year, California officials are delaying the commercial Dungeness crab season to decrease the chances of whales currently off the coast getting ensnarled by fishing lines. The season, scheduled to start Nov. 15, will be postponed until at least Dec. 1, when the next assessment will take place. Linda Zavoral in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/5/20
POTUS 45
Trump launches a legal barrage in an effort to block a Biden victory -- Facing a fast-shrinking path to a second term, President Trump baselessly accused his opponents of fraud Wednesday as he launched an aggressive legal effort to reverse or stop vote counts in four battleground states that could clinch the race for Joe Biden. Chris Megerian, Noah Bierman, Eli Stokols in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/5/20
Trump and his allies boost bogus conspiracy theories in a bid to undermine vote count -- President Trump, his son and top members of his campaign on Wednesday advanced a set of unfounded conspiracy theories about the vote-tallying process to claim that Democrats were rigging the final count. Isaac Stanley-Becker, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Drew Harwell in the Washington Post$ -- 11/5/20
Beltway
Biden rebuilding ‘blue wall’ in race for the White House -- Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan, and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path. Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller, Jill Colvin and Alexandra Jaffe Associated Press -- 11/5/20
-- Wednesday Updates
Uber, Lyft gain $10 billion in value following passage of Proposition 22 gig-work measure -- Proposition 22 turned out to be a good investment. Carolyn Said and Owen Thomas in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/20
Voters allow several Bay Area school districts to increase property taxes -- Bay Area voters largely agreed Tuesday to increase their property taxes to pay to build better school facilities and would pass parcel taxes to cover costs for art, music, libraries, salaries and other purposes. Jill Tucker and Tatiana Sanchez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/20
From George Gascón to jail diversion, criminal justice reform got a big boost in California -- The racial reckoning in America this summer brought protests to the streets of California and a major push for criminal justice reform. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/20
Affirmative action ballot measure fails, but these students are still fighting to diversify their universities -- Proposition 16 failed, but students at public colleges and universities in California have been trying to increase minority representation at their campuses for years and will continue their efforts. Kayleen Carter CalMatters -- 11/4/20
GOP hopes for California House comeback rest on tight races -- A handful of U.S. House contests in California appeared headed for close finishes as Republicans sought to gain ground after losing a string of seats to Democrats in a 2018 rout. Michael R. Blood Associated Press -- 11/4/20
Walters: California voters like Biden, unions not so much -- Voters in blue California are favoring Joe Biden and other Democrats but unions are faring poorly vis-a-vis corporations. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 11/4/20
Fox: Unions Struggle with Ballot Measures -- As often noted by political observers, public and private sector unions are strong political forces in California. While they may have once again supported candidates to their liking up and down the ballot, as this is written they have not been as successful wielding their influence on voters through ballot measures. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 11/4/20
Federal judge slams USPS for failing to complete sweep of missing mail-in ballots -- A federal judge harshly criticized the U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday, saying that the agency had failed to comply with his order to sweep postal facilities for leftover mail-in ballots in battleground states where election officials continue to count votes. Maya Lau, Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/20
Darrell Issa leading in the race to take over the 50th congressional district -- Republican Darrell Issa has claimed a nearly 11,700-vote lead over Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar in the race for the 50th congressional district after initially trailing in the first set of unofficial returns released Tuesday night by the California secretary of state. Charles T. Clark in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/4/20
Kevin McCarthy gears up to run for Speaker in 2022 -- Surprising GOP gains in House races Tuesday and the addition of women to their caucus appears to have cleared the field of challengers to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House leadership sources tell Axios. Alayna Treene Axios -- 11/4/20
Virus
California’s seven-day averages for new COVID-19 cases nudging higher -- The number of new COVID-19 cases in California continued to tick slightly higher in the latest reporting numbers for the past seven days, and hospitals are gradually becoming more crowded, too. Rick Hurd in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/4/20
San Jose’s new outdoor dining program will last until Summer with late-night hours -- In an effort to help businesses ride the ebbs and flows of the pandemic, San Jose is extending a new program allowing businesses to operate in public and private outdoor spaces through next spring and summer. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/4/20
Sludge isn’t freight — that means shippers have to pay property tax in California -- Shippers in California waters are exempt from property taxes on their boats if they’re carrying freight or passengers. But sludge isn’t freight, a state appeals court says, so a construction company will have to pay taxes to Contra Costa County on its barges, tugs and scows. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/20