| | | | |  | | By Dustin Gardiner, Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte | | Presented by |  | | | |  Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is one of several progressive DAs on the West Coast who've faced headwinds due to voter frustration over crime and other urban challenges. | Mark J. Terrill/AP | THE BUZZ: PENDULUM SWING — Progressive prosecutors are under siege all along the West Coast, as voters in deep-blue metro areas express their frustration with more lenient approaches to crime. The trend started with the 2022 recall ouster of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, which criminal justice reformers once labeled a pandemic-induced anomaly unlikely to repeat in other liberal-leaning bastions. But this week’s district attorney election in the ultra-liberal Portland area made it clear the sentiment isn’t a one-off. Progressive DA Mike Schmidt was defeated by tough-on-crime challenger Nathan Vasquez, a prosecutor in Schmidt’s own office and an independent who was previously a Republican. Similar voter frustration has emerged in California, with Alameda’s DA Pamela Price facing a recal l, and Los Angeles’ George Gascón fighting for reelection. Altogether, the hurdles facing progressive prosecutors on the “left coast” illustrate a backswing in public sentiment and perceptions of crime since the 2020 killing of George Floyd prompted a national reckoning on racism and conversation around the costs of tough-on-crime politics. Voters in urban centers like San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles and Oakland now appear to have grown impatient with aspects of the progressive mantra about restorative justice. And California progressives are taking note of Oregon’s vote. “Multnomah County and LA County are 600 miles apart and worlds different,” said political strategist Jim Ross, who worked on Boudin’s anti-recall campaign, adding though that the Portland outcome “is an indication, I think, that Gascón is going to have a really tough race.” The 180-degree shift comes as major cities have, to varying degrees, struggled with similar issues: sprawling homeless tent encampments, surging fentanyl overdose deaths and concerns about brazen theft. But reformers like Cristine Soto DeBerry accuse critics of seizing on post-pandemic challenges nationwide to “scapegoat” progressives on public safety. “Unfortunately, these efforts are taking advantages of the destabilizing effect of the pandemic and the reality of the economy and inflation and challenges well outside of any local prosecutor’s control,” said Soto DeBerry, director of the progressive Prosecutors Alliance of California, who previously was chief of staff to Boudin and Gascón (during his earlier stint as San Francisco DA). There are also limits to what Portland voters can tell us about Oaklanders or Angelenos. The electorate in Oregon’s lower-turnout May primary was almost certainly less Democratic than the one that will decide Price and Gascón’s fates in November. Schmidt’s Multnomah County is also smaller and less diverse than LA. Party loyalty could be key for Gascón, who is running against Nathan Hochman, a former Republican — and Gascón is working to make sure voters know it. He has retained endorsements from Democratic mainstays like the county party and labor federation. “It’ll be a much stronger Democratic turnout and more polarized” than in Multnomah, said Jeff Millman, who worked for Gascón’s Democratic primary challenger Jeff Chemerinsky. “Gascón is obviously hoping for that.” Still, Millman argued that relying on Democratic allegiance will only go so far. “A lot of people will vote along the lines of their party,” Millman said, “but when you vote for a district attorney, it’s different from voting for a member of Congress, where you just vote for your team.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Back from his trip to Europe.
| | | | A message from Safety Runs First: ADVANCING EQUINE SAFETY IN HORSERACING: Thoroughbred racing is applying unprecedented resources to protect the wellbeing of our horses. For the first time ever, all horses now run under the same safety and anti-doping rules, overseen by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Advanced diagnostic technologies and big data add a new layer of protection. Combining uniform rules and hands-on care with the latest technologies ensures safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com. | | | |  | ON CAMPUS | | |  UCLA administrators have come under intense scrutiny over their response to antisemitism during campus protests in response to the war in Gaza. | Jae C. Hong/AP | PRESSURE POINT — The Republican-led House education committee will this morning press UCLA Chancellor Gene Block over his handling of campus antisemitism. In defending his leadership, Block plans to draw special attention to something that sets UCLA apart from past targets of the panel: its public status. “As a public university, UCLA is subject to a dual legal mandate: we have a legal obligation under the First Amendment to protect free speech on campus, as well as a legal obligation under federal law to protect students from discrimination and harassment,” Block wrote in his prepared opening remarks, obtained by POLITICO. “This balance is not always easy to achieve. And it has been especially difficult since October 7th.” UCLA was roiled earlier this month by a violent attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus — and a delayed police response to the melee — just hours after the committee summoned Block to the Hill. Police cleared tents the next day and arrested pro-Palestinian protesters en masse. Block will join the president of Rutgers University during the 6:45 a.m. PT hearing as the first leaders of public institutions to be questioned by the committee since the war in Gaza began. The leader of Northwestern University will join them, following past grilling of other private university leaders from Penn, Harvard, MIT and Columbia. Those hearings have turned tense and contributed to the resignations of Penn President Liz Magill and Harvard President Claudine Gay. The UC has also circulated a legal memo in advance of Block’s appearance, making the case that the Los Angeles campus has been forced to operate within stricter constitutional confines as a state school. “Public universities, as state entities, have a special duty to strike the right balance between protecting students and permitting constitutionally-protected speech,” UC General Counsel and Senior Vice President Charles F. Robinsonwrote in the memo, which was shared with POLITICO. — Blake Jones
| | | | NEW! AN EXCLUSIVE CALIFORNIA BALLOT-MEASURES COVERAGE TEAM: The impact that ballot measures have on California residents, industries, and Legislature is enormous. From settling broad cultural questions to changing obscure governance rules, ballot measures in essence, have become the fourth branch of government in the most influential state capital in the U.S. As your go-to source for reporting on Golden State politics, policy, power, POLITICO has formed a new ballot measure team in California that will deliver in-depth insights into the strategies, policy ideas, personalities, money and influence driving ballot measures. LEARN MORE. | | | | | | | STATE CAPITOL | | COUNTDOWN: BILL ORIGIN DEADLINE — There will be no committee hearings this week as each chamber races against Friday’s House of Origin deadline to vote on bills. Both houses will hold floor sessions this morning. DISPATCH FROM THE FLOOR — A handful of assemblymembers were out sick yesterday, which meant the body occasionally had to scramble to get to 41 votes on a few bills. At 3 p.m., a masked Jesse Gabriel waltzed in after being absent all week, just in time to vote for the Assembly’s public safety package. Was he feeling better? Not really, he indicated. But he was well enough to push the green button. By 6:30 p.m., it wasn’t illness but hunger that delayed proceedings. Without a dinner break, a few members were distracted by Blanca Rubio’s roaming bag of candy and nearly missed voting on a bill to regulate deep fakes in election ads. A few members of the press might have indulged too. Speaking of sweet, the Assembly gave Reggie Jones-Sawyer a standing ovation when his last bill passed. “Don’t worry Reggie, there’s still concurrence,” Buffy Wicks said. — Rachel Bluth
| | | | A message from Safety Runs First:   | | | | | SAN FRANCISCO | | |  Mayoral candidate Mark Farrell has a plan to require San Francisco to digitize city services. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: CITY HALL ON ANALOG — Mark Farrell has a plan to help San Francisco confront one of its more paradoxical challenges: City Hall still conducts much of its business on paper, despite being in the heart of digital innovation in the tech world. Farrell, a candidate for mayor in the November election, exclusively shared his proposal to modernize City Hall’s IT operations with Playbook. His “digital by default” plan would require San Francisco to make every constituent-facing service digital within two years, including all building permit applications, bill payments and service requests. He said those services often aren’t online or, if they are digital, aren’t provided in a mobile-friendly format. “Our digital infrastructure in City Hall is so antiquated,” Farrell, a former city supervisor and interim mayor, told Playbook. “Frankly, it’s embarrassing. San Francisco government feels analog to most residents.” His campaign is getting help from Jay Nath, San Francisco’s former chief innovation officer under the late Mayor Ed Lee. Nath told Playbook he left City Hall because he was frustrated by the approach of Mayor London Breed, whom Farrell is challenging in the election. Since we’re on the subject, Farrell raised more than $525,000 in the first 100 days of his mayoral campaign. He’s now set to receive about $830,000 in matching funds from the city’s public financing campaign system, his camp said. Farrell, a venture capitalist with the support of many mega donors, has outpaced the other candidates — including Breed, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and nonprofit executive Daniel Lurie — with his speed of fundraising.
| | | | A message from Safety Runs First: BRINGING RACING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: Three years ago, Congress created the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to enhance the safety and integrity of Thoroughbred racing. Under HISA, for the first time in the sport’s 200-year history, every horse across the country is now running under the same safety and anti-doping rules. In addition, HISA is partnering with leading technology providers, including AWS and Palantir, to create new data-enabled tools to assist veterinary screenings. These tools add a new layer of protection by helping identify at-risk horses before they reach the starting gate.
The industry is also investing in the latest technologies for diagnostic imaging and wearable biometric devices. Combining enhanced, uniform rules, data analytics and cutting-edge technologies is improving safety outcomes and enhancing the ecosystems of care at every track nationwide, ensuring safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com. | | | | | CLIMATE AND ENERGY | | |  Former President Donald Trump, shown here inspecting an electric pickup at the White House in 2020, may have gained a new tool to block California’s clean car regulations. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images | TICK TOCK — The Biden administration may have just missed a key deadline to grant California permission to implement some of its biggest climate and air pollution rules. The start of the Congressional Review Act period gives former President Donald Trump another tool with which to attack California’s clean car standards. Read more in last night’s California Climate newsletter.
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF DEFENSE POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like defense, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other. Our defense reporting team—including Lara Seligman, Joe Gould, Paul McCleary, Connor O’Brien and Lee Hudson—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of defense policy and the defense industry. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | | | TOP TALKERS | | |  Actress Scarlett Johansson has accused OpenAI of copying her voice for ChatGPT. | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images | — There’s another layer to the brouhaha over ChatGPT using a human voice that sounds identical to actress Scarlett Johansson. Another actress was reportedly hired for the job months before OpenAI CEO Sam Altman contacted Johansson to try to license her voice. (The Washington Post) — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration wants to give venture capital firms another year to comply with a new California law that requires them to report data about the diversity of startups they bankroll. (Bloomberg Law) — There’s likely a record number of Mexican citizens living in California who are eligible to cast ballots in that country’s presidential election. Could those voters help elect its first female president? (KQED)
| | | AROUND THE STATE | | | — Chinese seniors in San Francisco are becoming increasingly visible on the campaign trail. (The San Francisco Standard) — The city of Oakland will relinquish its ownership of the Coliseum — the long-time home of the A’s and one of the most notable pieces of real estate in the East Bay. The sale is the latest move to address the city’s ongoing budget crisis. (East Bay Times) — A 33-year-old squatter ransacked the mansion of former ABC president Steve McPherson — allegedly selling his furniture and initially paying $55,000 per month to live there. (Los Angeles Magazine) — with help from Ariel Gans
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | MEDIA MOVES — Teddy Schleifer will join The New York Times as a correspondent on the politics team. He currently covers the intersection of tech and politics for Puck. Schleifer posted that he looks forward to covering “politics and billionaires and campaign finance.” — Priya Anand will be the new tech culture reporter at the San Francisco Standard. She starts in June and has previously covered tech for Bloomberg, The Information and BuzzFeed. PEOPLE MOVES — Erin Evans-Fudem has been named as Santa Clara County’s new legislative deputy county counsel. She joins the Office of the County Counsel and Office of Intergovernmental Relations as an attorney and registered lobbyist. BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Wednesday): David Schenkein … (was Tuesday): Judith Gutierrez, comms director for Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form. Disclaimer: All information will be verified. 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 Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@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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