News: Elon Musk just can’t quit California

Friday, October 4, 2024

Elon Musk just can’t quit California

Oct 04, 2024

Elon Musk sits with his hands together.

Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, on May 6, 2024, in Beverly Hills, California. | Apu Gomes/Getty Images

THE BUZZ: HOLD UP — Gov. Gavin Newsom is using Elon Musk's flip flopping on pulling his business interests out of California to call out an inconvenient truth.

The tech titan’s unfulfilled threats show how dependent he is on the Golden State and the prowess of its tech industry.

“California — the world’s 5th largest economy — is the global leader in innovation and technology thanks to our robust, global economy and diverse talent pool of creators and doers,” Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richardson said in a statement Thursday.

“We’re glad Elon agrees.”

The news this week that Musk is opening a new office in San Francisco — a city he has described as “the end of civilization” — renewed skepticism around his halfhearted ultimatums to move various company operations out of California. Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, will take over the space in the Mission District formerly occupied by competitor OpenAI.

That’s a marked difference from this summer, when Musk declared that California’s decision to ban school districts from outing trans kids was “the last straw” and announced he would move both social media platform X and rocket maker SpaceX to Texas.

Newsom’s office on Thursday pointed out that, rather than go to Austin, Musk has relocated San Francisco-based X employees about 30 miles south, to Palo Alto. SpaceX earlier this year doubled its footprint in the Port of Long Beach, and recently announced it would move its Dragon spacecraft splashdowns from the coast of Florida to the West Coast.

Since his latest threats to leave this summer, Musk has continued to lambast California and San Francisco, describing them as emblematic of how the left can ruin society and using them as a battering ram against the Harris/Walz campaign.

“The outcome of the woke mind virus is very clear if you walk around the streets of downtown San Francisco,” he said on a recent podcast.

Newsom has grown increasingly frustrated with the Tesla CEO, a longtime fixture in California’s green energy landscape and — dare we say — an occasional pal. Musk for years has sparred with state and local officials over Covid precautions and labor laws, but his rhetoric has grown remarkably more political and conspiratorial recently, especially following his takeover of Twitter.

Now, instead of just criticizing California’s laws, his behavior has become a source of inspiration for them.

Musk’s sharing of a viral deepfake ad of Kamala Harris led to Newsom signing a set of bills that would crack down on the use of AI-generated political material. That law was quickly challenged in court, and on Wednesday a judge temporarily blocked its enforcement.

As Musk’s pattern shows, his bold proclamations about moving all of his companies to Texas have often been hollow.

Newsom has responded to that trend more subtly in the past, as his GoBiz office touted Tesla factory openings and job creation. Now, as Musk embraces the role of right-wing provocateur, expect the governor to fact check him more publicly.

GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. 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? Holding a virtual press conference at 11 a.m. on homelessness encampments and accountability measures. You can livestream it on his YouTube channel.

CAMPAIGN YEAR

Sheng Thao speaks at a lectern.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao speaks during a news conference at Laney College in Oakland, California, on Nov. 28, 2023. | Jeff Chiu/AP

RECALL SEASON — The gloves are coming off in Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s fight against the effort to boot her from office.

Thao will kick off her campaign against the well-funded recall push with a Sunday morning rally at a BART station in North Oakland, according to an RSVP form from “Oaklanders Defending Democracy” shared with Playbook. The countermove is backed by a half-dozen allied groups including the Oakland firefighters’ union and the Alameda County Democratic Party; party chair Igor Tregub is slated to speak at the event.

The embattled mayor will address a city that both conservative and liberal onlookers have said is in crisis: marred by financial woes that forced the sale of a historic baseball stadium and reeling from a recent crime surge. Then there’s the ongoing federal probe into the politically powerful Duong family, which included an FBI raid of Thao’s home in June.

But Thao is casting Oakland in a different light. She argues the recall vote would destabilize local leadership right when the Town is getting “back on track.”

"We're launching this campaign to push back against the lies. Crime is down in Oakland. Foot traffic is up,” Thao said in a statement to Playbook. “One rich guy who doesn't live in Oakland shouldn't have this much power.”

That “rich guy” is Philip Dreyfuss, an investment manager who’s poured more than $1 million into efforts to recall Thao and Pamela Price, the progressive Alameda County District Attorney. Dreyfuss and others behind the recalls have said new leadership is needed to curb public safety issues and reverse a recent string of business closures, among other issues.

The Oakland NAACP and Oakland’s police union have both demanded Thao’s resignation, citing rampant crime and the FBI raid. — Tyler Katzenberger

FILE - Former San Diego Padres player Steve Garvey waves before a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 29, 2019, in San Diego. The candidacy for the U.S. Senate of former California baseball star Garvey has brought a splash of celebrity to the race that has alarmed his Democratic rivals and tugged at the state's political gravity. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

HOLA, ME LLAMO STEVE — With just 32 days to go, Republican Senate candidate Steve Garvey is launching his first statewide ad, going big on courting Latino voters.

The ad, which Garvey teased in a tweet yesterday, is entirely in Spanish. It focuses on crime, taxes and the cost of living. It also leans heavily into Garvey’s professional baseball career with sweeping skyline views of Dodger stadium.

“He led the LA Dodgers to victory,” a narrator says in Spanish. “And now, he’s ready to lead California to a better future.” (In San Diego markets, the ad will tout his career with the Padres).

Garvey faces a steep climb to victory against Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff. A recent poll from the University of Southern California put the Republican’s support among likely voters at 33.8 percent compared to Schiff’s 52.7 percent. Nearly 13 percent said they were undecided.

Garvey also fell behind when it came to Latino voter support — 34.4 percent to Schiff’s 48.9 percent.

CLIMATE AND ENERGY

BURNING UP — A rash of highway fires sparked by accidents involving trucks carrying or powered by lithium batteries — including an incident last week that shut down portions of the Port of LA for days — have put safety concerns with the critical technology back in the political spotlight. Read more in last night’s California Climate.

Top Talkers

LOW BLOW — A voting rights group filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint alleging Assemblymember Evan Low illegally used money from his state campaign account for his congressional bid against former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, the Mercury News reports. It’s the latest flashpoint in what’s been a bruising campaign between the two Democrats vying to succeed retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo.

Defend the Vote, which endorsed Liccardo, said Low’s Assembly campaign filed recent FEC reports detailing $35,000 in ad spending across the 16th congressional district. But Lam Nguyen, Low’s deputy campaign manager, accused Liccardo’s campaign of “put[ting] his endorser up to file false and meritless complaints to distract from Sam’s own ethical failings.”

OPEN FOR BUSINESS — A dockworkers strike that crippled shipping ports in the Eastern U.S. and threatened the American supply chain is over just days after it began, POLITICO’s Ry Rivard reports. The announcement defuses a political time bomb for Harris, who supported the union despite the risk of potential spikes in prices for some household goods weeks before the presidential election.

AROUND THE STATE

— Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is investigating new evidence that the Menendez brothers, who were sentenced to life in prison for killing their parents, were molested by their father. (Los Angeles Times)

— Newsom announced plans to demolish an outdated DMV office in San Francisco and reconstruct it with 372 affordable housing units. (San Francisco Chronicle)

— Berkeley’s school district has agreed to pay a $13.5 million settlement to former students who allege they were harassed and abused by a teacher for decades. (KQED)

— Cupertino will get to keep $56.5 million in sales taxes received from Apple thanks to a confidential settlement reached with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. (East Bay Times)

PLAYBOOKERS

BIRTHDAYS — Annu Subramanian … William von Meister

BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Wednesday): Tanisha Washington, exec assistant to Asmemblymember Jesse Gabriel.

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.

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