| | | | |  | | By Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner | PLAYBOOK PLEA: We know you’re used to us telling you what’s important — now it’s your turn. We want to hear from our California Playbook readers about the issues that matter to them. Please take a few minutes and fill out this survey. It’s a chance to shape the first thing you read every day.
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Rudy Salas, a Democratic congressional candidate and former Assembly member, asks questions during a 2019 hearing in Sacramento. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo | THE BUZZ: IN A BIND — Democrats are caught in an increasingly expensive pickle in California’s 22nd congressional district. Lara’s latest report, just published this morning, details how the Democratic establishment is making hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of last-minute ad buys in the Central Valley seat, frantically trying to prop up former Assemblymember Rudy Salas and neutralize fellow Democrat, state Sen. Melissa Hurtado. Tensions are running high. This is a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats as they try to win back the House, but if they’re unable to consolidate voters behind their preferred candidate in the next three weeks, their road to reclaiming CA-22 will end on March 5. The fear is that Hurtado’s presence on the ballot could siphon enough votes from Salas in the Republican-leaning primary to land him in third place after Valadao and his far-right challenger, Chris Mathys. That has Democrats scrambling. As of Wednesday, Democratic groups had spent more than $2 million on ad buys, saturating the relatively low-cost media market with ads boosting Salas amid behind-the-scenes finger pointing. The last-minute crunch has also exacerbated tensions with EMILYs List, a group that supports pro-abortion rights Democratic women, which played a significant role in Hurtado’s candidacy. Hurtado — who has faced pressure from Democrats to drop out of the race — has stated publicly that she did not plan on running until she received encouragement from the group. Tensions spilled out into the open this week as the Salas campaign attacked Hurtado with ads painting the fellow Democrat as “hostile to reproductive freedom.” Hurtado, in response, defended her record as an advocate for abortion rights and accused Salas of dishonesty. “Leave it to a man like Rudy Salas to lie about my record — a woman’s record — on reproductive freedom,” she said in a statement. “He should be ashamed.” One California Democratic strategist said there’s a huge concern that Democrats will get boxed out of one of the top pick-up opportunities in the country because of a primary challenge that could’ve been avoided with a few phone calls. “The good news is that the nightmare scenario is avoidable with enough resources,” said the strategist, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the party dynamics. “The bad news is that time is running out.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Now you can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. | | | | CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So, we have something cool for you: our California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now. | | | | | |  | CAMPAIGN YEAR | | | |  Democratic House candidate Tom Suozzi celebrates his victory in the special election to replace Republican Rep. George Santos. | Stephanie Keith/Getty Images | LONG ISLAND TO LONG BEACH — California Reps. Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu praised Democrats for their win this week in New York’s third district — and said Democrat Tom Suozzi’s victory (in a special election to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos) offered some lessons for California. Aguilar told POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy that Democrats need to “focus on the record” as they work to flip seats in the Central Valley and Southern California this year. “Focus on what we've done,” Aguilar said following the Wednesday press conference at the Capitol. “I think California voters are going to look to see where these members have voted on abortion. Have they supported a nationwide ban on abortion? Do their constituents have incredibly long commutes to work, and where did they vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill? I think these are just super important pieces of information.” As in some of California’s key swing seats, New York’s third district has a high Asian American population — which Lieu, whip of the Asian Pacific Americans Caucus, said showed up on Tuesday night. “One reason is because Donald Trump mocks Asian Americans,” Lieu said. “He mocks and disrespects Asian Americans, and Republicans remain silent, and the Asian American community notices. We'll see you in November.” SCHIFF STUMPS FOR CLIMATE — POLITICO obtained exclusive details of Adam Schiff's comprehensive climate plan for his U.S. Senate run. The plan touches on everything from ending federal subsidies for fossil fuel production to increasing federal funding for e-bikes.
| | | CITY BY THE BAY | | |  Initialized Capital co-founder Garry Tan, right, prepares to ring the Nasdaq closing bell from the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center on Auu. 15, 2018 in San Francisco. | Getty Images | | TUPAC MADE ME DO IT — No San Francisco politicians have returned political contributions from wealthy tech executive Garry Tan after he seemingly threatened seven members of the Board of Supervisors, tweeting that they should “die slow.” Tan’s rant, which he hinted was alcohol-fueled, was later deleted and he apologized in a social media post. But the episode struck a nerve with several groups in the city, including the progressive-leaning Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and SF League of Pissed Off Voters. The groups are promoting an online petition demanding, among other things, that politicians return any money they’ve accepted from Tan or donate it to charity. Among the candidates the petition singles out for taking Tan’s money are moderate-leaning Democrats including Mayor London Breed ($350 this cycle); and supervisorial candidates Trevor Chandler ($500) and Bilal Mahmood ($5,000 for his sister campaign for the county party central committee). Jeff Cretan, a spokesperson for Breed, brushed off the demand from progressive groups, noting that Tan apologized online. “We need to move on and focus on the bigger picture of what we need to do to move our city forward,” Cretan said. Mahmood and Chandler did not provide comment before deadline. Tan has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to San Francisco political causes in recent years, including the recall of progressive former District Attorney Chesa Boudin. He is also a prominent board member of GrowSF, one of the centrist, tech-funded advocacy groups that seeks to confront the city’s problems with homelessness, drug addiction and crime. Sam Singer, a spokesperson for Tan, said the effort to compel politicians to return Tan’s money “has gotten absolutely no traction.” He added that Tan apologized “after he quoted a rap lyric and applied it to the Board of Supervisors.” Tan said he was referring to a lyric, alluding to the late rapper Tupac Shakur’s infamous diss track “Hit ’Em Up.” Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, one of several supervisors who had a death threat mailed to their home after Tan’s tweet, called the rap lyric defense “hogwash” and said the refusal by Breed and others to return the money is a sad societal commentary. “The violent speech of Donald Trump and the MAGA right has normalized this behavior,” Peskin said.
| | | | CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | TOP TALKERS | | — A crypto-sponsored PAC accuses Senate candidate Rep. Katie Porter is taking money from big pharma, oil and banks despite her opposition to corporate campaign dollars. But the PAC’s assertions are mostly false. (The Sacramento Bee) — Thousands of workers at San Jose-based tech giant Cisco are getting the ax. (The San Diego Union-Tribune) — State Sen. Scott Wiener is no stranger to death threats or bomb threats, but he says Pro-Palestinian activists have crossed lines. (San Francisco Chronicle) — San Francisco is at the heart of the next global economic transformation, thanks to AI. (The Economist) — One of the world’s largest computer software producers is paying its women employees millions to settle a pay gap lawsuit. (San Francisco Chronicle)
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | OUR VERY OWN — POLITICO’s Melanie Mason and a team of her former colleagues from the Los Angeles Times have won the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress for their coverage of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, which the judges praised as tough yet sensitive. Melanie shares the award with reporters Benjamin Oreskes, Kevin Rector, Noah Bierman and Cameron Joseph. Congrats, all! TRANSITIONS — RUN TMC: Veteran strategists Brian Brokaw and Dan Newman and their joint venture, The Media Company, is ramping up with a slate of hires: Emily Matthews, Zoë Kleinfeld and Odua Isibor. The firm has its hands in many of the state’s biggest political storylines, with clients that include Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Gov. Jerry Brown, the California Forever project, Daniel Lurie’s super PAC for San Francisco mayor and the San Francisco 49ers. Matthews has worked with former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Biden campaign, Kleinfeld with East Bay House contender Lateefah Simon, and Isibor is handling the Brown assignment (he also was an outside linebacker for our beloved California Golden Bears). — CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner will step down March 5 from her role overseeing the state's recycling system. She'd served since Newsom appointed her in December 2020. More in POLITICO Pro. BIRTHDAYS — Maven Media Strategies’ Jennifer Wlach … (was Wednesday): Russell Goldsmith 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. | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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