| | | | | |  | | By Carla Marinucci, Jeremy B. White, Graph Massara and Mackenzie Hawkins | Presented by the Coca-Cola Company | THE BUZZ: One. More. Day. After four years of California-versus-Trump conflict that spawned scores of lawsuits; after ballot initiative campaigns breaking records as they spent hundreds of millions of dollars to sway voters; after the DCCC and the NRCC unleashed advertising blitzes to reclaim or protect California House seats that flipped blue in 2018; after the California Republican Party launched its much-litigated ballot collection boxes; after the California Democratic Party deployed its massive cash advantage seeking to further dominate the Legislature and protect its own from fellow Democrats; after Los Angeles Democrats abandoned their endangered, incumbent DA en masse; after so, so many tweets ... we're almost at the finish line. Mass mail voting has disrupted the usual campaign rhythms and diminished the final pre-Election Day weekend's usual importance. As of Sunday, nearly half of the electorate — some 10.5 million California voters — had already voted per Political Data Inc., reflecting both the state's decision to mail every active voter a ballot and peak motivation among Trump-abhorring California liberals that has powered an early blue surge. That soaring engagement is also evident in registrations surging past 22 million people to achieve a healthy 88 percent registration rate as 800,000 more people signed up in the last month. | 
People wait in line to vote in-person outside the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, an official Los Angeles County Vote Center, in Los Angeles, Saturday. In-person voting is starting for most counties across California. | AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes | But the methods have shifted, with last-minute door-knocking largely discarded during a pandemic. A dearth of physical contact meant California races were focusing on the phones — calling and texting voters — and reinforcing their messages with late TV, radio and social buys. Ballot initiative players campaigned from the safety of their cars. Elected officials and candidates were Zooming with volunteers or keeping their distance at sparse or contact-free events. It's not all remote: on the presidential level, California Democrats fanned out this weekend to boost their standard-bearers. Sen. Kamala Harris swung from Texas on Friday through the South, starting in the eternal battleground of Florida before moving on to the more recently contested territory of Georgia and North Carolina. Gov. Gavin Newsom was stumping for Biden-Harris in Nevada, where LA Mayor Eric Garcetti is set to sojourn today. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia was in Arizona with organized labor folks. BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. Have you seen anything noteworthy, unusual, startling or hilarious on the campaign trail (either physical or virtual) or voting hubs? Drop us a line at jwhite@politico.com or cmarinucci@politico.com. And please: Remember to breathe. QUOTE OF THE DAY: "His name is pronounced 'Jon.'" The often-mispronounced Harris on Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff, while campaigning in Georgia. TWEET OF THE DAY: Rep. Katie Porter @KatiePorterOC channels her inner Mean Girl from a ballotmobile: "Get in loser, we're going voting." (her opponent did not seem to get the reference.) BONUS TOTD: Scott W. Atlas @SWAtlasHoover of Stanford's Hoover Institute on talking to a Russian news outlet: "I recently did an interview with RT and was unaware they are a registered foreign agent. I regret doing the interview and apologize for allowing myself to be taken advantage of. I especially apologize to the national security community who is working hard to defend us." WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. | | | | A message from the Coca-Cola Company: The Coca-Cola Company believes all Americans should be given the opportunity to have their voices heard on Election Day. That's why we've given Election Day off to our full-time, U.S. employees to vote, volunteer or support elections in their local communities. Learn how we're using the power of our brands and our people to encourage everyone to vote. | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | BRACING FOR IMPACT — "Bay Area cities, restaurants boarding up — bracing for potential election-night unrest," by the SF Chronicle's Megan Cassidy, Janelle Bitker and Shwanika Narayan: "Bay Area governments and businesses are boarding up windows, drafting emergency plans and scrapping vacation days, bracing for what they fear could be a raucous night of protests after Tuesday's presidential election — no matter the outcome." — "As this year's contentious election cycle draws to a close, law enforcement officials throughout Southern California say they're ready for what may come on Nov. 3 and beyond, " by the LA Daily News's Emily Rasmussen, Alma Fausto and Brian Rokos. KHANNA TO TONY B — "Democratic congressman tells ex-Hunter Biden associate Bobulinski he'd defend him over 'partisan hack' claim," by Fox News's John Roberts and Brooke Singman: "Fox News obtained an email from Khanna on Friday Oct. 30, to Bobulinski, offering him well wishes and support -- while saying he isn't commenting specifically on his claims. A spokeswoman for Khanna confirmed the email to Bobulinski from the congressman is authentic." — "He was freed. Another man was charged. Why won't prosecutors stop accusing Michael Alexander of murder?" by the SF Chronicle's Matthias Gaffni: "Police and prosecutors didn't apologize, nor did they work to clear Alexander's name, affording him a fresh start. Instead, in a Sutter County courtroom on a recent afternoon, Assistant District Attorney Jana McClung stepped to a podium, took off her coronavirus mask and made a startling pitch to a jury now weighing a murder charge against Cuadras. | | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | BACK TO CLASS — Newsom sends his children back to school classrooms in California, by POLITICO's Mackenzie Mays: Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday his children have returned to in-person learning under a "phased-in approach" as many schools across the state remain shuttered due to Covid-19 — including nearly all public schools in Sacramento County where the governor lives. FALLOUT: San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer used the revelation to bolster his status as the anti-Newsom, tweeting this weekend that "The Governor has put families who can afford private schools over families in public schools with his decisions, and taken advantage for himself. I've been working with the county, district, and teachers to help schools reopen — because districts are left on their own." SF SLOWDOWN — " To avoid a surge, San Francisco halts reopening as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rise," by the SF Chronicle's Erin Allday: "Almost all activities that were scheduled to reopen or expand capacity on Tuesday are now delayed, city and public health officials said Friday. That includes indoor swimming pools, bowling alleys and gym locker rooms. Restaurants and places of worship must remain at 25% capacity instead of bumping up to 50%, as previously planned." — "Santa Clara County sues San Jose church to stop holding indoor services," by the Mercury News's Fiona Kelliher: "The county filed for an injunction Tuesday against Calvary Chapel San Jose, located on Hillsdale Avenue off of Almaden Expressway, on the grounds that the church has long violated social distancing protocols, 'trumpeted' its noncompliance through live-streams and refused to cooperate with the public health department — endangering the lives of members and the county's ability to reopen more parts of the economy." — " Stanford researchers blame Trump campaign rallies for an estimated 700 coronavirus deaths," by the SF Chronicle's Michael Cabanatuan. ELECTIONLAND: POLITICO is partnering with Electionland , a ProPublica project tracking problems that can prevent eligible voters from casting their ballots in California and around the country. We're part of a coalition of U.S. newsrooms that are investigating issues related to voter registration, pandemic-related changes to voting, the shift to vote-by-mail, cybersecurity, voter education, misinformation and more. Tell us here if you're having trouble voting. | | | | NEW EPISODES OF POLITICO'S GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS PODCAST: The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded in 2020. Are world leaders and political actors up to the task of solving them? Is the private sector? Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, unpacks the roadblocks to smart policy decisions and examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | | | | THE TRUMP ERA | | — Federal regulator looks to relax rules to boost affordable housing in LA, by POLITICO's Victoria Guida: Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks on Friday announced an effort to tackle the lack of affordable housing in Los Angeles, along with structural barriers that prevent lower-income people from accessing credit. SWAMP RAT STRUGGLE — "Nutria — they're big, buck-toothed and chew up California wetlands. Now feds add money to the fight," by the SF Chronicle's Kurtis Alexander: "Relief may be on the way. On Friday, President Trump signed a bipartisan bill that offers a financial boost for California's fledgling effort to stop the invasion." | | | |   | | | | | PRESIDENTIAL PURSUIT | | — "They voted for Obama twice and now back Trump. Inside purple California," by the LA Times' Marisa Gerber: "As you pan north toward the high desert communities of Lancaster and Palmdale, the map looks more like an Impressionist painting with alternating splotches of red and blue. It's an area with true diversity of political thought, home to a mixed electorate that promotes dialogue among neighbors, but can also foster a certain wariness over how others down the block might react to bold displays of support." TECH BUCKS — " Silicon Valley is spending millions more for Joe Biden than it did for Hillary Clinton," by Recode's Theodore Schleifer and Rani Molla: "The exact amount depends on how you define Silicon Valley, but more money has been marshaled to back Joe Biden than was raised to back Clinton, no matter how you measure it." — "Kamala Harris knows things no vice president has ever known, " Monica Hesse writes for WaPo: "At some point in Kamala Harris's life, someone has instructed her to carry her keys like a weapon when she walks to her car. Someone has said, Get them out of your purse even before you leave the grocery store. Arrange them between your fingers, and if someone attacks you, aim for the face." | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | SEARCHING FOR FAIRNESS — Google algorithms blamed for giving California voters a biased look at ballot initiatives, by POLITICO's Katy Murphy : The California secretary of state's office confirmed Friday that it had resolved the issue after being made aware of it this week. A snippet no longer appears with voter guide links in proposition search results, said Sam Mahood, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Alex Padilla. But the changes come just days before the election and after at least 40 percent of registered California voters have already returned their mail-in ballots. — " Voters waited for hours in Riverside County; glitch has been fixed, officials say," by the LA Times' Alex Wigglesworth. PROP 16 DIVIDES — "Affirmative action divides Asian Americans, UC's largest overrepresented student group," by the LA Times' Teresa Watanabe and Jennifer Lu : "Angela Li and Vivrd Prasanna have achieved the pinnacle of a public university education — she a senior at UCLA, he a freshman at UC Berkeley. Both are children of immigrants, with Li's parents from China and Prasanna's from India." — "Column: Latino ambivalence about affirmative action could doom Prop. 16," Gustavo Arellano writes in the LA Times: "California is a vastly different place in no small part because these propositions rallied angry Latinos to the polls. Latinos are now the largest ethnic group in the state and make up a much larger portion of the electorate than in the '90s. And yet ... the polls and pundits say Prop. 16 is doomed." PROP 22 RIPPLES — "This Uber driver died of COVID-19. Proposition 22 will sway his family's fate," by the LA Times' Suhauna Hussain. — "Uber Engineer Quits Over Pressure to Support Proposition 22," by KQED's Sam Harnett. CA-25 REMATCH — "GOP fights to hold L.A.-area congressional seat that Katie Hill flipped blue in 2018," by the LA Times' Dakota Smith. | | GAVINLAND | | NEWSOM IN NEVADA — "Crossing state lines for the Democratic cause: Gavin Newsom stumps for Biden in Nevada," by the Sac Bee's Sophia Bollag: "In an election year when COVID-19 and record-breaking wildfires have limited the Democratic governor's ability to attend events in person, his four-hour trip across state lines was the highest profile campaign event he's done." | | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | UNEMPLOYED — California unemployment agency director will retire after year of pandemic snafus, by POLITICO's Katy Murphy: Employment Development Director Sharon Hilliard has in recent months weathered searing public criticism from state lawmakers and others as her department has struggled to handle an avalanche of pandemic-related claims, fraud threats and outdated technology. FEELIN' FINES: PG&E should be fined $166M for 2019 power shutoffs, PUC consumer advocates say, by POLITICO's Colby Bermel: The recommendation by the PUC's Public Advocates Office comes as the agency weighed punishments against PG&E for nearly a year over the forced outages, which rocked California and prompted a flurry of legislative and regulatory reforms — some successful, others not — around the practice. — "Attorneys seek to pull Garcetti deeper into aide's sexual harassment suit," by the LA Times' Dakota Smith, Kevin Rector and Richard Winton: "In a court motion filed Friday, the attorneys are demanding Garcetti give sworn testimony about the former aide, Rick Jacobs. They also want Garcetti to answer questions about a second alleged incident involving the mayor they say is relevant to the case, according to documents filed with the motion." BACKLASH — "Comcast, San Jose Sharks among members ditching Silicon Valley Organization in droves after racist ad," by the Mercury News's Maggie Angst: "As of Friday, at least a fifth of its 80 board members confirmed to The Mercury News they have resigned and a broad coalition of many nonprofits and businesses reportedly have withdrawn their membership from the Silicon Valley Organization, a business advocacy group that represents more than 1,200 businesses across the region." — "Irvine fire was a recipe for disaster. It became a rare victory for firefighters in grim year," by the LA Times' Joseph Serna: "Had this week's Silverado fire began anywhere else, and at any other time, firefighters said it could have been the latest disaster in California's busiest fire year on record — a time when firefighting resources have been stretched perilously thin. But this latest fire started on the outskirts of master-planned Orange County, where the roads are smooth and wide, communities were built under the state's most recent fire code and the largest regional firefighting force in the world was at the ready and just a phone call away." POLITICO'S CALIFORNIA BALLOT TRACKER: No state does ballot initiatives quite like California, and interest groups are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to sway voters. It's all here in POLITICO's guide to California's 2020 ballot initiatives. | | | | A message from the Coca-Cola Company: Election day 2020 is unlike any other. At The Coca-Cola Company, we think it's important for all voices to be heard on Election Day. That's why we are joining with non-partisan organizations, election officials, civic leaders, and other companies to help ensure free and fair elections across the country. We've made Election Day a paid holiday for all full-time, U.S. based Coca-Cola Company employees to provide extra time to vote, volunteer and support elections in their communities. Learn how we're using the power of our brands and our people to encourage everyone to vote. | | | | | HOLLYWOODLAND | | — "How Unions Are Pushing Hollywood Workers to the Polls," by the Hollywood Reporter's Katie Kilkenny: "With just days before Election Day, Hollywood unions are making the last-minute case to their members to get out and vote — and, in some cases, touting the appeal of pro-labor 2020 candidates in the process." | | MIXTAPE | | — "Rescue operations underway in the San Gabriel Mountains for rare species marooned by wildfire," by the LA Times' Louis Sahagun. — " Nevada County DA clears cops who killed Grass Valley man who made 'deliberate choice'," by the Sac Bee's Vincent Moleski. — "African-inspired 'Black Panther' salute gallops into Sunnydale," by the SF Chronicle's Tony Bravo. — " Bay Bridge traffic creeping back to near normal, but public transit patronage stays low," by the SF Chronicle's Steve Rubinstein. — "Study: 1 to 2 million tons of US plastic trash go astray," by the AP's Seth Borenstein. — Google goes on the offensive against EU platform rules, by POLITICO's Laura Kayali. | | | | SPEND ELECTION NIGHT WITH POLITICO FOUR SQUARE: People have been voting for weeks, but Election Day is finally upon us! Join us for a special election night episode of POLITICO "Four Square," where host Eugene Daniels will break down the latest developments from across the country with Chief Political Correspondent Tim Alberta, Chief Washington Correspondent Ryan Lizza, and one of our top political reporters and CNN contributor Laura Barrón-López. Joined by colleagues from across the newsroom throughout the show, expect the group to share the latest exit poll readouts, analyze the closing Trump and Biden campaign strategies, and to share their favorite moments of this long and winding election. Tune in at 9:00 p.m. EST here. | | | | | | | BIRTHDAYS | | Makan Delrahim is 51 … Melanie Tiano, director of cybersecurity and privacy at CTIA … John Sampson, managing director of government affairs for Microsoft Azure … Caitlin Heising SUNDAY: Angela Hart ... Apple CEO Tim Cook turned 6-0 … Glover Park Group's Alex Byers … Caitlin Dowling … Larry Flynt turned 78 … Mitch Kapor turned 7-0 … Joseph Ciccone SATURDAY: Piper Perabo … Lauren Vrazilek … Marc Berman turned 4-0 … Sabir Muhammad ... Laura Robinson Oatman ... LGBTQ activist Gloria Nieto CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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