| | | | |  | | By Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte and Sakura Cannestra | THE BUZZ: By diverting a negligible share of his re-election fund to Florida, Gov. Gavin Newsom secured more attention than any California spot will achieve. Newsom's cameo on Floridians' July 4 Fox airwaves followed a simple political calculus. For the price of a fleeting TV buy that cost about a fortieth of his campaign warchest, the Democratic governor commanded national media coverage and stoked another round of feverish speculation about his presidential ambitions. In a way, the message was beside the point. The attention and the reaction drowned it out. That message — Florida is spiraling in the wrong direction, come to California instead — is unlikely to persuade many conservative media consumers to pack moving trucks and depart Florida for the Golden State. Republicans in Florida and beyond laughed it off, noting in near-unison how Florida has added residents in recent years while California has bled population (costing the state a House seat). But it fit perfectly into Newsom's ongoing quest to stake out a national role as the leader of a state whose progressive agenda provides a concrete alternative to former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a conservative Supreme Court or any other rightwing foil. Newsom has always thrived on assailing Republican leaders, trading constant blows with the Trump administration and going after Florida with particular relish . For both Newsom and counterpunching Republicans, it's all-upside politics that pleases the base with minimal risk. Recent Supreme Court decisions have upped the incentives. Landmark rulings on abortion, gun rights and the environment have deepened the cleavages between red and blue America. This November, Newsom is likely to be resoundingly elected for a third time (if you count the recall) to lead the largest Democratic state. And he is combatively highlighting the distinction. He announced he was signing gun restrictions on Friday with a tweeted video message directed not at his constituents but at his ideological foes: "To members of the United States Supreme Court, to right-wing Republicans all across this country: do you have no common decency?" As for the inevitable "he's running" declarations: we've covered before the reasons to believe Newsom's insistence that he has "subzero interest" in seeking the White House in 2024. Principally that he's no dummy. The governor and his team understand Newsom's potential path is narrow given that it would mean running through fellow Californian and Vice President Kamala Harris (should President Joe Biden choose not to seek another term). But Newsom needn't be seeking the presidency to see the benefits of some national profile-elevation. It's what he's always done. And with a likely cruise to a second term freeing him up politically, what's the downside? BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. We're now in a bit of a California politics lull: the Legislature is out on recess after cementing a budget, and the primary vote election results are effectively finalized (LA finally finished counting on Friday). It's a respite during which to get some rest and make time to reach out to your favorite California playbook reporters. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte. QUOTE OF THE DAY : "Freedom is under attack in your state … I urge all of you living in Florida to join us in the fight or join us in California." Gov. Gavin Newsom's message to Floridians in an ad that ran on Fox there. TWEET OF THE DAY: Former Obama adviser @DavidAxelrod on the most press $105,000 can buy: "Can you imagine how much fun @GavinNewsom's team had plotting out this one, knowing that it would get politicos talkig from coast-to-coast about what it means?!?" BONUS TOTD: The response to Newsom from DeSantis spox @ChristinaPushaw: "#1 U-Haul Salesman of 2021 increasingly desperate to communicate with Californians who fled his left-lib dystopia for Florida. Sorry, you aren't getting those U-Hauls back." WHERE'S GAVIN? Out of state with his family, leaving Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis in charge. | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | — Newsom repeals California's anti-loitering laws targeting sex work, by POLITICO's Sakura Cannestra: In a letter to the Senate explaining his decision, the Democratic governor echoed arguments that the laws have been used to disproportionately criminalize transgender, Black and brown people in public spaces, leading advocates to dub them "walking while trans" bans. But he also sounded a note of caution — and a caveat. ABORTION BORDER — " Rush to California: Out-of-state patients surge to abortion 'sanctuary state'," by the Merc's Lisa M. Krieger: "In the small, dusty town of Needles, the I-40 bridge links the haves and the have-nots.For women on the Arizona side, abortion care has vanished. On the California side, it is as accessible and low-risk as a tonsillectomy. — " Inflation grips L.A. taco vendors: Less meat? Raise prices? Absorb losses?" by the Los Angeles Times' Nathan Solis: "Rising food and fuel costs have forced some street vendors to ration their supplies or raise their prices on what some take for granted as convenient and affordable food. But for many entrepreneurs their livelihood is at stake amid soaring inflation." | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | BALLOT BREAKDOWN: Tens of millions of dollars and signatures later, the November ballot initiative slate is set. You can always check out and bookmark our handy ballot tracker, but here's a quick rundown: Proposition One: The Legislature's constitutional amendment inscribing abortion rights at the heart of California law. A budget bill bestowed the ballot-leading Prop One designation. Proposition 26: Native American tribes' measure allowing sports betting on tribal land. This is one part of a gambling standoff that will likely shatter spending records, along with Prop 27. Card rooms, Tribes' perennial nemeses, just added $3.2 million more to defeat this measure. Proposition 27: Platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings are spending big for the right to oversee online sports wagering, directing some of the proceeds to combating homelessness. With a couple of exceptions, tribes are going all-out to defeat what they perceive as an existential threat. Proposition 28: Former LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner has spent $3.8 million so far to direct general fund dollars to arts and music programming in schools. Proposition 29: It's an election year, which means voting on kidney dialysis. For the third time, SEIU-UHW is looking to regulate dialysis companies. DaVita and Fresenius won the first two rounds. Proposition 30: Environmentalists and Lyft teamed up — with Lyft providing most of the money — to fund zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and (to a lesser extent) wildfire prevention by raising rich people's income taxes. Proposition 31: The tobacco industry's referendum to dissolve a law banning flavored tobacco. R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris have already contributed $27 million to protect their bottom lines. Former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg is spending to defend the law. THE MISSES: — Legislative deals defused what would have been enormously expensive battles: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills to raise the medical malpractice payout cap, averting a doctors-versus lawyers battle, and, at the last possible moment, legislation to overhaul plastics use. Players in those fights had already channeled more than $40 million toward campaigns. — A few ran out of time. That included a measure to raise the minimum wage to $18 an hour, which missed the certification cutoff after Joe Sanberg spent nearly $11 million to get it on the ballot; an initiative to conduct pandemic detection by taxing the rich, supported by $14 million from the trading firm founded by crypto guru Sam Bankman-Fried and from philanthropist Cari Tuna (the Newsom administration conveyed to the campaign its disinclination); and a constitutional amendment to end involuntary servitude that failed on the Senate floor. — Others that didn't make it: business-backed measures to repeal the Private Attorney Generals Act and make it harder to raise taxes (both of which could go in 2024); tribes' online betting measure; recall reform, despite all the talk; venture capitalist Tim Draper's effort to crush public unions; two school choice measures; the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association's property tax tweak; Carl DeMaio's voter ID effort; general fund allocations for water supply; former Sen. Sam Blakeslee looking to transfer initiative title-and-summary power to the LAO. CHEN ON TRUMP — " Lanhee Chen comes clean on Trump, abortion," by CalMatters' Emily Hoeven: "The Republican candidate for California state controller, who will face off against Democrat Malia Cohen in the November general election, told me in an exclusive interview on Thursday that he did not vote for Donald Trump for president in either 2016 or 2020 — and doesn't plan to support Trump if he runs in 2024." LA REALITY —"With all ballots counted, L.A.'s left makes big gains; Bass is mayoral front-runner," by the Los Angeles Times' David Zahniser. EMPTY RENT — " San Francisco vacant homes tax headed to ballot, campaign says," by the San Francisco Chronicle's J.D. Morris.
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | INTERESTING TIMES — "Rare vortex of economic troubles descends on Bay Area residents, businesses," by the Mercury News' Ethan Baron and Tammer BagDasarian: "What may be most surprising, though, is the wide variety of economic afflictions that are causing the pain – you might escape one problem, but there's another one around the corner waiting for you." — "Commentary: Reagan embraced gun control in response to political extremism. This Supreme Court didn't, " opines The Los Angeles Times' Laurel Rosenthal: "Fifty-five years before the Supreme Court's conservative majority made it easier for people to carry guns in public, a Republican governor in California signed a law making it harder to do exactly that." — " Why are cops leaving the San Diego Police Department? City sees biggest exodus since 2009," by the San Diego Union Tribune's Lyndsay Winkley: "In fiscal year 2022, which ended in July, more than 230 San Diego police officers left the department — a 52% increase compared with the previous year. It's the highest separation total the department has seen in more than a decade, police officials say." — " Sacramento's 'No. 1 problem': American River homeless camps test Democrats' compassion," by the Sacramento Bee's Benjy Egel and Lindsey Holden: "Months earlier, law enforcement and city officials tried to convince agitated Rancho Cordova residents that the parkway was safe following the brutal sexual assault and slaying of 20-year-old Emma Roark in January, allegedly at the hands of a homeless man living along the river." — "How to find out if your child's classes have teachers with proper credentials. Many don't," by the Los Angeles Times' Mackenzie Mays: "The new data shed light on the number of classrooms with instructors who are fully trained in the subject they are assigned to teach. It also shows how many classrooms are led by teachers who are working while awaiting full credentialing. SUSTAINABLE AND THE SEA — "Will California's offshore wind farms damage underwater life? Here's what scientists are finding ," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Tara Duggan: "Yet some conservation and fishing groups still have concerns about the possible consequences that could come from placing scores of floating turbines in a deep-sea environment." — "Gavin Newsom signs new gun safety laws targeting illegal weapons, marketing to kids ," by the Sacramento Bee's Rosalio Ahumada: "The governor signed Assembly Bill 1621 to further restrict privately manufactured firearms, commonly known as ghost guns, in California. The firearms are intentionally made untraceable, along with the parts used to build them." — " Newsom grants clemency to 33, including sex crimes victim who fatally shot her abuser, trafficker," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "Sara Kruzan was 16 when she shot and killed the man who had been sexually trafficking her since she was 11." — " Anaheim Chamber CEO Todd Ament Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges, Could Face Decades in Federal Prison," by the Voice of Orange County's Brandon Pho: "That's two counts of wire fraud, one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, and one count of a false tax return." — " Editorial: San Francisco's plan to end single-family zoning is a cheap lie," opines the San Francisco Chronicle's Editorial Board: "Undeterred, white property owners searched for legal end-arounds. And they found one in single-family zoning." | | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | — Google says it will delete users' location history at abortion clinics, other 'personal' data, by POLITICO's Olivia Olander: Additionally, the company will soon add a feature for users to delete multiple menstruation logs at once on Google Fit and Fitbit apps, Fitzpatrick wrote. MODERATING THE MODERATION? — Push to rein in social media sweeps the states, by POLITICO's Rebecca Kern : State legislators have introduced more than 100 bills in the past year aiming to regulate how social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter handle their users' posts, according to POLITICO's analysis of data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. — "Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom ," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Roland Li: "Jobs, who revolutionized the world 15 years ago this week when the first iPhone went on sale, will be honored along with 16 other Americans for their contributions to the country." — "Tesla hit by new lawsuit alleging racial abuse against Black workers ," by Reuters' Hyunjoo Jin: "The workers said they were subjected to offensive racist comments and behavior by colleagues, managers and human resources employees on a regular basis, according to the lawsuit filed in a California state court." | | MIXTAPE | | — "Caviar kingpins of Contra Costa? Major law enforcement operation exposes black market for California delicacy," by the Mercury News' Nate Gartrell. — "The Open House Hunters Who Targeted LA's Rich and Famous," by Bloomberg's Claire Martin. — " Woodland bar stormed by hateful protesters after violent threats cancel LGBTQ event," by the Sacramento Bee's Lucy Hodgman. — " Ripping out his lawn made him a native plant fanatic," by the Los Angeles Times' Jeanette Marantos. — "'Zoombombing' Derails Fresno Roads Tax Discussion," by the GV Wire's David Taub. | | TRANSITIONS | | — Newsom names new budget chief to replace Keely Bosler, by POLITICO's Blake Jones. | | BIRTHDAYS | | TUESDAY: Alexandra de Rienzo MONDAY: Former Rep. Sam Farr … Lanhee Chen … Ripple's Susan Hendrick … Amazon's Dustin Todd SUNDAY: POLITICO's Heidi Vogt … SATURDAY: AP's Graph Massara … Rep. Doug LaMalfa … The Verge's Brooke Minters … … Ethan Oberman … Katherine Lehr … TikTok's Brooke Oberwetter 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 amongst 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.
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