News: POLITICO California Playbook: 2022 ramps up — BERNIE in NEWSOM spot — COURT rejects RECALL challenge

Monday, August 30, 2021

POLITICO California Playbook: 2022 ramps up — BERNIE in NEWSOM spot — COURT rejects RECALL challenge — LA won’t pursue ELDER claims

Aug 30, 2021

By Jeremy B. White, Carla Marinucci and Camryn Dadey

THE BUZZ — NEVER TOO EARLY: Set aside the Newsom recall brawl for a moment and cast your thoughts further ahead. Because the 2022 ballot could be a doozy in its own right.

A raft of ballot initiatives floated in the last few weeks hint at a midterm vote replete with consequential proposals and suffused with special interest cash. We know it may seem premature to be looking to the next election with the vast majority of gubernatorial recall ballots yet to be returned. But initiative clocks are already running, with the Secretary of State's office suggesting campaigns get their ideas submitted by August 24 to have the maximum amount of time. Proponents are already gearing up to qualify proposals that would shape the contours of the next election and influence a year of Sacramento maneuvering.

Some of the 2022 ballot is already set. The tobacco industry has qualified a referendum to overturn California's flavored tobacco ban; doctors and lawyers are poised to clash again over medical malpractice insurance; Native American tribes will look to assert control over sports wagering; and recycling interests are backing a plastic waste overhaul after the Legislature couldn't get it done. But we could see more. Some high-profile ideas submitted in recent weeks:

— UNION BRAWLS: Venture capitalist Tim Draper, who you may remember from his quixotic quest to fragment California into six states, has submitted an initiative to abolish public employee unions. Draper has the resources to make a dent here (he recently gave the $32,400 to GOP recall frontrunner Larry Elder). And we could get a third consecutive fight over kidney dialysis, with SEIU-UHW getting behind another initiative after losing two costly battles with the industry.

— SCHOOL DAZE: There are now multiple proposed initiatives that seek to create more educational choice by channeling public dollars to school savings accounts tied to individual students. Notably, the more recent measure's proponents include former Trump official Richard Grenell, who launched a new initiative after deciding not to run in the recall and could activate a substantial fundraising network.

— HOUSING, WATER AND TAXES: Always among the most contentious subject areas, and all could go before voters. Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association – sworn to defend Proposition 13 and its antitax legacy – is backing an initiative to roll back the inherited property taxation changes that voters just authorized with Prop 19. A water-focused measure whose supporters represent water and ag interests would dedicate 2 percent of General Fund money every year to water storage projects. And a coalition of homeowners' advocates and local electeds are attempting to bar the state from dictating local land use after a similar measure fell short this year.

— GAMING GAUNTLET: First came the 2018 Supreme Court ruling permitting states to conduct sports wagering. Then followed the ongoing turf war over who gets a bite. Native American tribes have already spent millions to pass an initiative giving them control. A rival measure funded by non-Native card rooms would let them in on the action. Much of its language is identical to that in a constitutional amendment those groups unsuccessfully pursued in the Legislature over the Tribes' objections.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. It was another busy recall campaign weekend as Republican candidates traveled around southern California, with Caitlyn Jenner excoriating Larry Elder in her first town hall, per the LATimes' recap of the action.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit cmarinucci@politico.com or jwhite@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @cmarinucci and @jeremybwhite.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I was always that lucky one, too. Just the whole damn thing flipped on me." Gov. Gavin Newsom tells the Atlantic about his recall woes.

BONUS QOTD: "When you run for office in California, you know the people have the first and last word by virtue of initiatives passed 110 years ago. So if you don't like that, don't run for office in California. Go to some other state. I have no sympathy for people who are moaning and groaning now. They don't know their history." Former Gov. Gray Davis on the reality of recalls, via an interview with CalMatters.

TWEET OF THE DAY: Assemblyman @KevinKileyCA mourns a slain California servicemember with a widely circulated image of her holding a baby: "One of the heroes we lost in Afghanistan was my constituent, 23-year-old Marine Sergeant Nicole Gee of Roseville. She'd just posted this photo of the evacuation with the words 'I love my job.'"

WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

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TOP TALKERS

ONWARD — "Judge rejects request to block or modify California recall," by POLITICO's Jeremy B. White: A federal judge on Friday rejected a request to either block California's ongoing recall election or allow Gov. Gavin Newsom to stand as a replacement candidate. … (Judge Michael) Fitzgerald wrote that the plaintiff's constitutional rights "simply are not violated." He noted that the plaintiff "seeks to halt an election that, in fact, has already begun," with millions of voters already returning mail ballots ahead of a Sept 14 election day, and said a sense of unfairness was not enough to halt the election.

PAROLE BOMBSHELL — Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. assassin Sirhan Sirhan won parole on Friday from a California parole panel, per the Associated Press. His ultimate fate will rest with whoever California's governor is after a 90-day review process. Notable: RFK is a personal hero of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who keeps an image of the former Democratic presidential candidate in his office.

ELDER SAGA — "L.A. prosecutors decline to pursue gun, domestic abuse claims against Larry Elder," by the LATimes' James Rainey: "With a one-year statute of limitations for misdemeanor cases, a spokesman for the district attorney said Friday that prosecutors were not in a position to prosecute the accusations made by Alexandra Datig, who split with Elder in 2015."

— "Fremont Afghan couple fears family members in Kabul may be targeted by Taliban," by Bay Area News Group's Joseph Geha: "'We risked our lives, we worked for the U.S. directly, or indirectly there, and now it is their responsibility to just help our people,' Azami said. 'They need to hear our voice and help us.'"

CAMPAIGN MODE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — BERNIE BOOST: Sen. Bernie Sanders is throwing his progressive star power behind the counter-recall campaign, appearing in an advertisement in which Sanders warns that as Democrats seek to tackle health care and immigration, "the last thing we need is to have a right wing Republican governor in California." You can watch the spot here. Given that Sanders outperformed the other Democratic presidential contenders in the 2020 presidential primary, his signal could help rally liberal voters to cast their ballots. Team Newsom is also out with an explainer ad breaking down exactly how to fill out ballots arriving in the mail.

NATIONAL BUCKS: The Democratic Governors Association channeled Newsom's recall defense another $3 million, bringing the national outfit's total outlay to $4.5 million so far and making the DGA one of the top contributors to Newsom's warchest. His longtime benefactor Gordon Getty also kicked in $100,000.

— "Commentary: Save Surf City from disinformation," by Ralph Bauer, Connie Boardman, Keith Bohr, Patrick Brenden, Debbbie Cook, Shirley Dettloff, John Erskine, Peter Green, Jill Hardy, Tom Harman, Vic Leipzig, Linda Moulton-Patterson and Grace Winchel, via LATimes: "These recalls are nothing more than a publicity stunt, haphazardly thrown together by a group of political opportunists seeking to politically profit at the expense of the Huntington Beach resident and taxpayer."

NEWSOM SITDOWN — "What California's Recall Election Says About America," by the Atlantic's Edward-Isaac Dovere: "...With less than a month to go before September's extra Election Day, Newsom told me he feels as though he's fighting not only for his own political existence, but for California's future and for the entire Democratic agenda."

— "'Mad moms' and mask mandates: Will they determine whether Newsom is recalled?" by LATimes' Seema Mehta: "Almost since its inception, the effort to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom has been inextricably tied to the pandemic's impact on schools...Leaders of the effort to remove Newsom for office are confident that women, exasperated by the effect of Newsom's policies on their children, are the reason they will prevail."

— "Trump-inspired conspiracies about voter fraud have infiltrated the California recall. And they may cost supporters votes," by SFChronicle's Kaylee Fagan: "The campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a conspiracy theory problem, and it just might siphon off votes that could aid its cause."

— "California recall candidate Larry Elder says 'systemic racism is a lie.' Here's why," by SacBee's Lara Korte: "The leading Republican recall candidate says he's not African American. He's an American who is Black."

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CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

— "What we know about the four California servicemen killed in Kabul airport terrorist blast," by the LATimes' Gregory Yee, Andrew Dyer and John Wilkins: "Of the 13 U.S. military personnel killed in the Kabul airport blast, 10 were based at Camp Pendleton. And at least four had deep roots in California."

BALLPARK SAGA — "A's proposed ballpark in jeopardy after Alameda County delays vote on helping Oakland fund it," by the SF Chronicle's Sarah Ravani: "The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will not vote in September on the Oakland A's $12 billion plan to build a waterfront ballpark and development at Howard Terminal in Jack London Square — causing what the team says is a 'potentially insurmountable' financial gap in getting the project done in Oakland."

— "'Zombie apocalypse.' Tahoe economy slammed as California wildfire smoke blankets region," by SacBee's Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler: "Blanketed by smoke and ash — and facing the possibly of future evacuations — the encroaching Caldor Fire has turned the south shore of Tahoe into a ghost town."

REFORMIST RIPPLES — " San Francisco's jail population has plummeted. Is it because of Chesa Boudin?" by SFChronicle's Susie Neilson: "The data suggest that while the county was not alone in substantially reducing its jail population at the start of the pandemic, it has kept that population low for longer than most other California counties — and that's probably due, at least in part, to District Attorney Chesa Boudin, whose office had already prioritized reducing jail populations prior to the pandemic."

— "A Calif. elementary school teacher took off her mask for a read-aloud. Within days, half her class was positive for delta," by WaPo's Ariana Eunjung Cha: "The Marin County, Calif., elementary school had been conscientious about following covid-19 protocols. Masks were required indoors, desks were spaced six feet apart, and the students kept socially distant. But the delta variant found an opening anyway."

— "California's 'Cantaloupe Center' struggles to reign supreme as drought pummels agriculture across the West," by WaPo's Erica Werner and Laura Reiley.

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

— "Democrats rush to avert eviction calamity after ban is blocked," by POLITICO's Katy O'Donnell: Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House was considering "possible legislative remedies" as more than 60 House Democrats demanded that she and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer work to revive the national eviction moratorium.

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— "Chicago sues DoorDash and Grubhub over 'deceptive' practices," by Protocol's Issie Lapowsky: "The city is seeking more transparency from the companies and restitution for restaurants and customers, as well as civil penalties."

— "Silicon Valley pledged to become more diverse. A year later, has anything changed?" by SFChronicle's Jennifer Sor: "Among the more ambitious pledges last year, Google and Facebook vowed to increase underrepresented leadership by 30% over the next five years, with each earmarking over $100 million to support Black business owners and other groups in the Black community."

HOLLYWOODLAND

— "'We are counting on miracles': L.A.'s small theaters worry about hanging on," by LATimes' Jessica Gelt: "How much longer can these companies stay afloat financially? With pandemic funding drying up, 99-seat theaters are scrambling to stay on track with reopenings that were planned during better days."

MIXTAPE

— "10 Camp Pendleton troops among 13 killed in Kabul bombing," by the San Diego U-T's John Wilkens and Andrew Dyer.

— " Deadly West Nile virus found in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Gilroy," by SFChronicle's Nanette Asimov.

— "Happy Masks became a COVID must-have. That sparked a back-to-school frenzy," by LATimes' Daniel Miller.

— " Four injured in shooting in West Hollywood," by LATimes' Melissa Hernandez.

EVENTS

— "To Recall or Not? Assessing the Campaign to Recall Gavin Newsom,'' USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, Wednesday, Sept. 1, noon to 1 p.m., moderated by Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy, featuring POLITICO's Carla Marinucci, LA Times' Seema Mehta, Democratic consultant Roger Salazar, and USC' Jennifer Cryer.

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