News: Boudin bows out

Friday, August 5, 2022

Boudin bows out

Aug 05, 2022

By Jeremy B. White , Lara Korte and Sakura Cannestra

Presented by The California Environmental Justice Alliance Action

THE BUZZ: We know one of California's preeminent progressive prosecutors won't go back before voters this year. We'll see about the other.

Chesa Boudin announced yesterday he wouldn't try to regain the San Francisco district attorney's office he just lost in a recall vote. That defused months of speculation — fanned by a wink from Boudin — that San Francisco could see Boudin on the ballot for the third time in three years, reprising a contentious campaign that consumed the liberal city for months.

It may seem illogical to weigh running for a seat you just lost by 10 points. But Boudin was essentially running against himself, or against voters' perception of public safety. If he were to take another shot in 2022, he would go up against current SFDA Brooke Jenkins, who worked for Boudin and then quit and joined the recall campaign as a vociferous critic of his tenure. That lent the campaign credibility and won Jenkins the nod from San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Jenkins has articulated a very different policy vision from her predecessor. She disapproved of his ban on charging juveniles as adults and his use of pretrial diversion. After cleaning house by firing numerous Boudin deputies, she broke with his agenda this past week by clawing back formerly offered drug plea deals in an effort to crack down on fentanyl sales, winning an amen from Breed .

Chesa Boudin speaks during a news conference.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin speaks during a news conference on May 10, 2022 in San Francisco, Calif. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Campaigns thrive on contrast, and Jenkins versus Boudin would have been stark. "I am gravely concerned by what I've seen from the current, appointed District Attorney," Boudin tweeted yesterday . But he won't challenge her, which opens a clearer path for Jenkins (she'll have to get through at least Joe Alioto Veronese, who called Jenkins a "surrogate" for Breed ). Well, at least Boudin won't in 2022. Jenkins would be up for a full term in 2023 or 2024.

So we turn our eyes south, where Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón waits to see if he'll face voters' wrath ahead of schedule. The registrar has 12 more days max to sift through 715,833 signatures and determine enough are valid to trigger a recall election (proponents need a high-but-not-insurmountable 79 percent rate). Should it make the ballot — either for November or for a subsequent special — Gascón would be running against opponents, unlike Boudin, since an L.A. recall would ask voters to pick a replacement as well.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. The Legislature is out of session today, but officials are keeping an eye on Capitol Hill as congressional Democrats race to pass breakthrough legislation that would bolster California's climate agenda.

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: "As I've learned, the legislative process — you don't always know what people want. Very often, the legislators don't know what they want." Former Gov. Jerry Brown on making deals, via the LATimes .

TWEET OF THE DAY: Berkeley Mayor @ JesseArreguin nixes a meeting to debate suspending a tear gas ban as protests over People's Park continue: "I'm canceling the meeting. Our policy stands and shame on the Sheriff for threatening to not provide emergency support to Berkeley."

WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

A message from The California Environmental Justice Alliance Action:

Gov Newsom and the CA Legislature: With a $54 billion climate budget, Californians deserve investments that prioritize community resilience, not short-sighted spending on unreliable fossil fuels. California needs a community solar program to make clean energy accessible for low-income and disadvantaged communities. We can keep the lights on, lower bills and keep communities safe with: $1B for Community Solar and Storage, $1B for Healthy Home Upgrades & Equitable Building Decarbonization, and $1B for Community Resilience Centers.

TOP TALKERS

— " Force multipliers: How one donor network is pushing the envelope on California campaign money ," by CalMatter's Ben Christopher, Alexei Koseff and Jeremia Kimelman: "CalMatters reviewed the Govern For California website and other public explanations of its network, analyzed campaign finance records maintained by the Secretary of State's office, and spoke to people familiar with the organization to understand how it operates."

— " Mayor tells Fresno councilmember to 'f--- off,' but denies threats while making apology ," by the Fresno Bee's Brianna Vaccari: "The conversation occurred Monday afternoon after The Bee reported that [Fresno Mayor Jerry] Dyer withdrew the city from a proposed state pilot program that would have allowed some bars to remain open until 4 a.m. [Fresno City Councilmember Garry] Bredefeld, who opposed the pilot from the beginning, criticized Dyer in The Bee for supporting the program in the first place."

AND AWAY WE GO — " California county's secession measure will be on 2022 ballot ," by The Associated Press: "The county's Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on Wednesday to put the secession measure on the 2022 ballot, the Southern California News Group reported. One supervisor was absent."

CAMPAIGN MODE

— How the newest megadonor wants to change Washington , by POLITICO's Elena Schneider: "One of the biggest donors in Democratic politics this year isn't sure if he really wants to be a Democratic megadonor — at least not on the party's terms. But then, part of life as Sam Bankman-Fried is about embracing paradoxes."

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 .

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

— " Gavin Newsom is a staunch opponent of the death penalty. So why hasn't he commuted any death sentences? " by the San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "The court set no public criteria for considering clemency until 2018, when the seven justices announced that they would deny a governor's request only if it represented "an abuse of (clemency) power," a seemingly permissive standard."

— " Push to block L.A.'s healthcare wage hike has been misleading, union alleges ," by The Los Angeles Times' Emily Alpert Reyes: "But representatives of SEIU-UHW, the healthcare workers union that pushed for the wage increase, allege that signature gatherers for the referendum have been misleading Angelenos, telling them that their signatures are needed 'to pay workers more' and 'to raise the healthcare workers' wages,' according to incident reports gathered by the union."

DIRT SECRETS — " California Quietly Stored 500,000 Pounds of Contaminated Soil in Jurupa Valley. Then Residents Found Out. " By Capital and Main's Minerva Canto: "Distrust of state officials circulates anew these days on the streets of Glen Avon, the community closest to Stringfellow, a predominantly Latino neighborhood of modest homes in Riverside County's Jurupa Valley. That's because DTSC did not notify Jurupa Valley's mayor about the Exide materials at Stringfellow."

— " Income Limits for Subsidized Preschool in California Are Going Up. Will It Be Enough to Help Families? " by KQED'sDaisy Nguyen: "California trails behind other states in offering subsidized preschool, serving just a fraction of the three- and four-year-olds eligible for a program meant to lift their early learning and narrow education disparities."

— " City to Launch Formal Probe of Alleged Abusive Behavior by Supervisor Walton ," by the San Francisco Standard's Josh Koehn: "An initial review of the incident by the city's Department of Human Resources (DHR) found that all parties were satisfied that the "improper conduct has been timely and appropriately addressed." But the sheriff's cadet—Emare Butler, a 43-year-old Black man who has worked for the Sheriff's Department for six years—clearly disagreed."

A message from The California Environmental Justice Alliance Action:

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

— Biden administration declares monkeypox a public health emergency , by POLITICO's Erin Banco, Betsy Woodruff Swan, Adam Cancryn and David Lim: "White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator Robert Fenton described the virus as fast-moving and said it is spreading 'faster than previous outbreaks.'"

S.O.S. — " Opinion: Here's how the Save Our Sequoias Act will hurt California's beloved trees ," opines Lisa Ross for the San Diego Tribune: "Dozens of environmental groups — when legislation claiming to do so is not only redundant but at the service of weakening environmental protections on behalf of a panoply of special interests hoping to bring more commercial development into our national forests."

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— Schumer's office says he plans to hold vote on tech antitrust bill , by POLITICO's Brendan Bordelon and Josh Sisco: The statement is the strongest indication so far that Schumer expects to hold a vote on the tech antitrust bill. As recently as last week, Schumer had appeared reticent to bring the bill to the floor, privately telling donors he did not believe there were enough votes to break a filibuster in the Senate.

— " Musk Says Twitter Committed Fraud in Dispute Over Fake Accounts ," by The New York Times' Kate Conger: "Such accounts made up at least 10 percent of Twitter's daily active users who see ads, Mr. Musk's legal team asserted, reiterating worries that he expressed shortly after signing the deal in April. Twitter has maintained that the figure is less than 5 percent."

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 .

MIXTAPE

WE'RE CRYING WOLF — " California welcomes 11 new pups to wolf pack families ," by the Los Angeles Times' Alexandra E. Petri.

— " Richmond officer charged with felony, fired, for striking man with Taser during arrest ," by the Mercury News' Nate Gartrell.

— " The Standard Top 10: San Francisco's Most Expensive Home Sales of 2022 ," by the San Francisco Standard's Jiyun Tsai and Maryann Jones Thompson.

— " Journeyman NBA guard says Warriors' Steph Curry is 'one-dimensional' ," by SFGate's Zach Zafran.

BIRTHDAYS

Meta's Monique Dorsainvil ... Pete Snyder … Mark Brunner of Primer.ai

A message from The California Environmental Justice Alliance Action:

Governor Newsom and the CA Legislature:

California is a solar leader, but is falling behind Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Washington, D.C on developing community solar programs that prioritizes clean energy investments in disadvantaged communities, lowers energy bills, and increases grid reliability.

Instead, California has committed part of the $54 billion climate budget to prolong the life of coastal fossil fuel gas plants.

There is a better way to meet power demand, one that is equitable, cuts pollution, and increases grid resiliency.

Gov. Newsom and the CA Legislature: make things right by investing in community-based climate solutions like community solar and storage, energy efficiency, and home upgrades that target low-income customers and renters.

Keep the lights on and communities safe with:

• $1B for Community Solar and Storage
• $1B for Healthy Home Upgrades & Equitable Building Decarbonization
• $1B for Community Resilience Centers

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 .