| | | | |  | | By Dustin Gardiner and Lara Korte | |  Palm Springs Councilmember Lisa Middleton, the first out transgender mayor in California, is running for the state Senate. | Gabriel Enamorado, courtesy of Lisa Middleton for State Senate | THE BUZZ: TRAIL BLAZING — Democrat Lisa Middleton could be the first transgender lawmaker elected to the California statehouse, but the potential to make history is just a footnote in her campaign. Middleton — a Palm Springs city council member and former mayor running for a swing seat held by GOP state Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh — is intentionally not emphasizing her identity as a trans woman. Instead, she’s focused on the message that she’s a “pragmatic” leader “with a track record of working with Republicans.” The only mention of the potentially historic nature of her candidacy on her website is at the bottom of the bio page. Middleton told Playbook that she’s proud of her life story as the first out trans mayor of a California city. But, she said, that’s not why she’s running to try to oust Ochoa Bogh. She said she would much rather talk with voters in the Inland Empire about improving roads, emergency-response systems and wildfire prevention — areas where she argues a Democrat could deliver more funding for the district than Ochoa Bogh. “One of the things I try to do is focus as much as possible on the issues that we [Democrats and Republicans] have in common,” Middleton said over coffee at a cafe in downtown Palm Springs earlier this year. “At the local level, and also at the statewide level, government's responsibility is largely around basic services.” Middleton's approach to campaigning reflects Democrats’ broader strategy to appeal to independents and centrist Republicans in the Inland Empire, a purple suburban region east of Los Angeles. The party has centered its messaging around public safety and local services — especially in districts like Middleton’s, which encompasses the progressive LGBTQ mecca of Palm Springs and deep-red pockets of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Abortion rights is one area where Middleton has evoked her gender as she contrasts herself with her opponent, arguing she knows how it feels to have to fight for care. She has emphasized Ochoa Bogh’s 0 percent rating from Planned Parenthood. Otherwise, the soft-spoken candidate rarely talks about her gender identity. “She’s not running to make history, she’s running to get things done,” said Samuel Garrett, a Democratic consultant who’s worked with Middleton for years. “That’s not new, it’s always been her approach.” By contrast, Ochoa Bogh, the first Republican Latina to serve in the state Senate, has argued that her story as the daughter of Mexican immigrants appeals to Republican-leaning Latinos who value “family, faith and work ethic,” she said in an interview with the LA Times. “I did not hear my voice as a conservative Latina being spoken,” she said. She didn’t respond to Playbook’s requests for comment. Ochoa Bogh’s path to reelection has been complicated by redistricting. She’s running for the first time in a new district that includes Palm Springs and other blue parts of the Coachella Valley. In the Senate, she has opposed pro-LGBTQ legislation, including bills to make California a sanctuary for trans people seeking gender-affirming health care. She has gotten emotional on the campaign trail when asked about her record on LGBTQ issues, telling the Times, “We all have family members of that nature.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. 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? Nothing official announced.
|  | SACTOWN | | SACTOWN SQUABBLES — A newly resurfaced video has reignited a feud between two of Sacramento’s feistiest political actors. Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, is lambasting longtime Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio over a three-year-old video that shows him jumping on and damaging a neighbor’s car. Footage of the 2021 incident shows Maviglio mounting the hood of a car in an attempt to film the driver, who is continuously honking. As she starts to drive, Maviglio holds onto the windshield wiper, which he rips off as he falls away. Parts of the video were posted last week by Sacramento political activist and journalist Dave Kempa — a frequent and vocal Maviglio critic. That quickly became fodder for Court, who has long publicly traded barbs with Maviglio, including over insurance policy issues. Maviglio is now working as a consultant for American Property Casualty Insurance Association, and insurance and consumer groups are sworn enemies in California. Court went so far as to send a letter to the insurance company alerting them to the video of Maviglio. “It’s ironic that APCIA, an association of insurance companies dedicated to protecting property, including vehicles, would employ a person who vandalized another’s car,” Court wrote. Maviglio declined to comment on the video or respond to Court’s accusations. Denni Ritter, APCIA Vice President for State Government Relations, said in a statement: “This is a personal issue between neighbors and not appropriate for us to comment.” Records in Sacramento County’s small claims court show Maviglio was made to pay $987 for car damages following the incident. Court records indicate that the neighbor, who declined to comment, has had run-ins with the legal system and has been the subject of frequent complaints and calls from neighbors. Court filings show that Maviglio, and, at one point, an unnamed Sacramento City Council member, had restraining orders against her — and police issued her a misdemeanor citation the day of the windshield wiper incident for allegedly violating a restraining order. According to the Sacramento Superior Court, she is also the defendant in three active criminal cases.
| | CAMPAIGN YEAR | | | | 
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | WEST COAST SWING — Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is barnstorming the West Coast for a series of fundraisers this week. The Minnesota governor made stops in San Diego, Montecito and Los Angeles on Sunday. Today, he’s expected to head north to attend events in Seattle. Walz will be back in California on Tuesday afternoon for a Sacramento-area fundraiser hosted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Other co-hosts include Rep. Doris Matsui and her husband, billionaire Roger Sant, as well as Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. Walz hasn’t spent much time in running mate Kamala Harris’ home state, one of the most prolific fundraising ATMs in the world. He did visit San Francisco for the first time this past summer and gushed about seeing its natural wonder on a run through the Presidio. “I’m leaving, and I’m like, ‘that is the most beautiful city I have ever been in,’” Walz said.
|  Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. | Jeff Chiu/AP | | OUT ON THE TOWN — Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao launched her campaign Sunday against a recall effort seeking to oust her from office by pitching the November vote as “pettiness” from “wealthy outsiders and opportunists” looking to disrupt progressive power. Thao, speaking from a BART station in North Oakland, acknowledged the city has battled public safety and budget issues. But she argued Oakland was “making tremendous progress,” citing decreases in violent crime, a new chief of police, recent homeless encampment sweeps and increased foot traffic on city streets as signs the city has turned a corner. The recall effort, bankrolled by investment manager Philip Dreyfuss, puts Oakland “on the verge of going backwards,” she argued. Dreyfuss has poured more than $1 million into efforts to recall Thao and Pamela Price, the progressive Alameda County District Attorney. He and others behind the recalls have said new leadership is needed to curb public safety issues and reverse a recent string of business closures. “[He] is using his wealth to divide us, to distract us, and to turn back the clock to the days when the only people who had a thing in our city were the rich and the connected,” Thao said of Dreyfuss. As for the June FBI raid on her home, Thao maintains she is innocent of any crimes and that she is not the focus of an investigation. She questioned the timing of the federal probe, comparing it to former FBI Director James Comey’s 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, announced just days before the presidential election. “This overreach of the FBI is undoubtedly putting a finger on the scale influencing this election,” she said. Thao told reporters after the rally that she “did not imply” the investigation was politically motivated. — Tyler Katzenberger
| | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | DIGITAL DEMOCRACY — Our California Ballot Measures Editor Sasha Issenberg is interviewing author Bradley Tusk about his new book “VOTE WITH YOUR PHONE!” at Zibby’s Books Shop in Santa Monica on Wednesday. Tusk lays out a bold proposition in the book: Mobile voting can (and must) save democracy by pulling politics away from the current extremes and toward the middle by vastly increasing turnout. “I would argue — and I done think it’s overly dramatic — that I don’t think we’re even one country necessarily in 25 years if we keep going at this pace. We’re tearing each other apart,” Tusk told Playbook. He proposes solving security concerns with the kind of authentication that we already use every day in airports, on our phones and our inboxes: biometric screening, encryption and Fedex-style tracking of your ballot. He plans to start small, running legislation for mobile voting in a half dozen red and blue cities next year for municipal elections (think school board votes and city council elections) and build out from there. Get tickets for the Santa Monica event here. Tusk will be at Manny’s in the Mission in San Francisco Thursday night in conversation with Manny Yekutiel. Reserve your spot for the SF book talk here. — Julia Marsh
| | CLIMATE AND ENERGY | | MURATSUCHI IN THE MIDDLE — With three oil refineries in his district and a strong environmental streak, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi is one of the most interesting votes to watch on Newsom's special-session oil refinery bill. We caught up with him ahead of today's Senate session — read more in Friday's California Climate.
| | TOP TALKERS | | | | 
Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, right, with business partner Marc Andreessen. | AP Photo/Paul Sakuma | HEDGING BETS — Venture capitalists Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, giants in AI development, jolted the political world when they endorsed former President Donald Trump back in early July. Now, Horowitz said he plans to make a “significant” contribution to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Horowitz announced the move in an email to Andreessen Horowitz employees on Friday. It’s another example of Harris’ close ties with Silicon Valley helping the Democratic ticket shore up support from big tech. (Axios) PIPELINE TO POWER — San Francisco has a long history of producing some of the most powerful women in modern American politics, such as Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer. Harris could cement that legacy by becoming the nation’s first female president. How has a city of just over 800,000 people produced so much female firepower? San Francisco has a strong base of local activism and a political machine that’s more welcoming to women candidates, though its politics can be especially cutthroat. (Los Angeles Times)
| | AROUND THE STATE | | — Fresno-area voters are set to vote on a host of local school bond measures totalling $1.9 billion. Contractors and building industry firms are bankrolling the campaigns in support of those bonds. (GV Wire) — San Francisco Mayor London Breed had a rough upbringing in the city’s Western Addition neighborhood, which she said prepared her to lead the city in tough times. (San Francisco Chronicle) — Longtime San Diego County official Michael Vu has filed a claim alleging that two members of the board of supervisors passed him over for the job of chief administrative officer because he’s Asian and not Black or Latino. (Voice of San Diego)
| | | PLAYBOOKERS | | | PEOPLE MOVES — LA-based consultant Kevin Liao is now the communications director for Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz as she hits the campaign trail. BIRTHDAYS — USTelecom’s Allison Remsen … Hanson Smith BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Sunday): lobbyist Samantha Corbin … Veronica Smith Wong of Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) office … (was Saturday): Erin Gabel with the Assembly budget team … Alexandra Pelosi … Jonathan Wilcox of Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) office … Google’s Peter Schottenfels … James Hamblin 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 | | | | 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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