| | | | |  | | By Christopher Cadelago, Melanie Mason, Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner | | Presented by |  | | | |  Donald Trump is headed back to the White House. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | HOW SHE LOST: Vice President Kamala Harris refused to make a clean break from the last four years when voters indicated that’s what they wanted. Worse, she hesitated to draw any daylight between herself and her boss on President Joe Biden ’s biggest vulnerability — his stewardship over the economy — nor identify any specific way her presidency would be different beyond naming a Republican to her Cabinet, write POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago and Holly Otterbein. THE BUZZ: HERE COMES THE RESISTANCE — Are you on his enemies list? If not, there’s still time. California is bracing for all-out war with President-elect Donald Trump, reprising a familiar role as America’s beating heart of the resistance. Many of the liberal state’s leading Democrats who gathered last night in Los Angeles, Harris’s adopted hometown, were preparing for the fight. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas told our Melanie Mason that “California will do everything we can to protect America from Donald Trump.” And Attorney General Rob Bonta , like his predecessor Xavier Becerra did during Trump’s first term, pledged to turn to the courts to try to stymie the president’s agenda on abortion and gun control — to name a few policy areas. “We have gone down to the detail of what court do we file in,” Bonta told Playbook. Gov. Gavin Newsom , who now finds himself on the list of probable 2028 presidential contenders, made no comment on election night as Democrats were reeling from Harris’ resounding defeat and a red wave that swept much of the country. While the governor didn’t want to get ahead of Harris’ concession speech, he’s been busy preparing for the possibility of round two with Trump, as he said in a recent interview. "They're not going to wait to wind up. It's ready, fire, aim — not ready, aim fire," Newsom said. "And that is going to create a dynamic that will be profound in two senses — from a governing perspective and also from a political attack perspective." Trump has been persistently hostile to the country’s most populous state, threatening to withhold disaster aid , but also lobbing baseless accusations of voter fraud and issuing ominous threats to California luminaries such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator-elect Adam Schiff, whom he has branded “enemies from within.” Then there’s immigration. Rivas said the state would be ready to forcefully protect its immigrant population, which could face major upheaval under Trump’s proposed mass deportation program. “We'll do everything we can to ensure that people feel protected and they feel welcomed,” he said, though he declined to discuss specific preparations.
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Adam Schiff is heading to the Senate. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP | SENATOR SCHIFTY — Schiff will be California Democrats' next senator after he easily defeated Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey for an open seat. Schiff, who replaces appointee Laphonza Butler , is already a household name in American politics, known as a key Trump antagonist. Schiff’s stature makes him the latest in a long line of California senators — from Harris to the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein — who’ve been heavyweights on Capitol Hill. He did not mention Trump, his bitter adversary, by name in his victory speech, but he implicitly invoked the Republican standard-bearer by vowing to guard the country’s democratic institutions. Schiff said that, as senator, he will be “committed to taking on the big fights to protect our freedoms and protect our democracy.”
|  Progressive Los Angeles DA George Gascón loses reelection bid. | Mark J. Terrill/AP | REFORM RELAPSE — Between Proposition 36 and referendums on progressive district attorneys, criminal justice reform did not have a good night. Voters showed resounding support for Prop 36, the measure that would strengthen penalties for some theft- and drug-related crimes, delivering a rebuke to the progressive policies that had made the state a national leader on racial justice and rehabilitation, as our Emily Schultheis reported. In prosecutor races, moderate Nathan Hochman trounced liberal Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón by more than 20 points, and voters in Alameda County were poised to recall District Attorney Pamela Price — though that contest had yet to be called as of Wednesday morning. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was also on the brink of losing her job. MCO TAX, BOND MEASURES LEAD — Proposition 2 and Proposition 4, the $10 billion measures to fund school facilities and climate policies, were both leading as of the most recent count. Voters approved Proposition 35, which makes permanent a tax on managed-care organizations and directs its revenue to Medi-Cal according to a formula determined by the powerful health care interests. Proposition 33, the rent-control measure championed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and its leader Michael Weinstein , failed. Two prior Weinstein-backed iterations of rent control met a similar fate. And Proposition 34, the measure to counter AHF’s power, was ahead, but by a thin margin.
|  Rep. Ken Calvert. | Jose Luis Magana/AP | | BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE — One glimmer of hope for Democrats was the House of Representatives. The battle for control of the House is still underway, and at least six pivotal races in California are yet to be called. In the Inland Empire’s CA-41, Republican Rep. Ken Calvert pulled ahead of Democrat Will Rollins by just over 2,000 votes thanks to an early-morning batch of mail-in ballots that skewed Republican. The race is a rematch from 2022, and Calvert is especially vulnerable after Democrats poured many millions into Rollins’ campaign. In Orange County, Republican Rep. Michelle Steel was more than 11,000 votes ahead of Democrat Derek Tran in CA-45. Republican Scott Baugh had an exceedingly narrow lead over Democrat Dave Min in the race for outgoing Rep. Katie Porter’s. In the Central Valley, Republican Rep. John Duarte was slightly ahead of Democrat Adam Gray in CA-13, a rematch of their 2022 nail-biter race. But GOP Rep. David Valadao had a wider lead over Democrat Rudy Salas, another rematch from last cycle. Meanwhile in northern LA County, GOP Rep. Mike Garcia was clinging to a thin lead over Democrat George Whitesides in CA-27. The seat is one of Democrats’ top targets to flip given the purple makeup of the Santa-Clarita area district. SURPRISE SQUEAKERS? — Democratic Rep. Jim Costa was up just over 1,000 votes on Republican Michael Maher. Democratic Reps. Josh Harder and Mike Levin were in too-close-for comfort races.
|  Lateefah Simon is looking up. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images | PROGRESSIVE SUCCESSORS — Lateefah Simon appears poised to succeed longtime Oakland Rep. Barabara Lee, a progressive icon who was famously the lone vote against the war in Afghanistan. Simon, a member of BART’s board of directors, was Lee’s chosen successor to represent the ultra-liberal district. She held a wide lead over Democrat Jennifer Tran as of early this morning. Schiff’s safe blue House seat in northern LA County will be filled by Laura Friedman, a state lawmaker known for championing climate and transit-friendly bills. She has similar progressive leanings to Schiff and could be another rising star among the state’s delegation. DEM-ON-DEM BATTLE — Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo holds a sizable lead over Assemblymember Evan Low in the race to fill retiring Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo’s Silicon Valley seat. Liccardo led Low in polls leading up to Election Day, though Low received a late boost when Newsom endorsed him last month. IN THE CAPITOL — It looks like Democrats’ supermajority could be getting bigger. Republican Assemblymember Greg Wallis was trailing behind his Democrat opponent, Christy Holstege. The state Senate race between Republican Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh and Democrat Lisa Middleton was close, with Ochoa-Bogh leading by about 10,000 votes as of this morning.
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San Francisco Mayor London Breed. | Beth LaBerge/KQED | LONDON FALLS BEHIND — Daniel Lurie, an heir to the Levi’s fortune and nonprofit founder, was running ahead of incumbent Mayor London Breed in the race for San Francisco mayor. It could take days to finish counting votes, especially given the city’s complex ranked-choice voting system. An electrified crowd chanted his first name as he spoke during a party in the Mission District. Lurie stopped short of declaring victory, but projected confidence in the outcome as he declared San Francisco is a “city that will rise again,” standing in front of a banner of a phoenix rising from the ashes. Across town, Breed and her supporters gathered at a soul food restaurant near Oracle Park. She told supporters that the race “ain’t over till it’s over” and vowed a comeback in later returns. MAYOR MCCARTY? — Assemblymember Kevin McCarty maintained a double-digit lead over Flojaune “Flo” Cofer in the race for Sacramento mayor. GOOD MORNING. It’s the Wednesday after Election Day. 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.
| | | | A message from Uber: Uber Expands Safety Features For Drivers. Uber’s CEO met with drivers and couriers to unveil new updates to make their experience safer and fairer. Among them, Record My Ride lets drivers use their phones as a dashcam on trips. Uber also revamped its deactivation processes, enabling drivers to appeal decisions directly in the app. Learn more. | | | | | SAN FRANCISCO | | |  An election watch party at Manny's in San Francisco. | Noah Berger/AP Photo | CITY OF RESISTANCE — While Harris and Democrats were praying for a narrow path to victory, Democrats in her former hometown were bracing for Trump 2.0. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the liberal city is prepared to use the court system to fight the former president — again. “My work is going to change dramatically,” Chiu told reporters at Breed’s election night party, where several attendees wiped away tears. “We were part of the legal resistance (during Trump’s first term) and, if the worst comes to be, we'll be right there again.” Chiu, a close ally of Harris and a former Democratic state lawmaker, said his office will be at the forefront of defending undocumented immigrants and access to health care. He said another Trump administration would have fewer legal guardrails and be filled with “yes men to do his bidding on every front.”
| | | | A message from Uber:   | | | | | CLIMATE AND ENERGY | | CAN'T TOUCH THIS — California is as ready as it'll ever be to defend its climate policies against the incoming Trump administration. Read about how California has gotten its ducks in a row in last night's California Climate. | | Top Talkers | | RECALL LEADING — The effort to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao had a strong lead in early returns. If the margin holds, Thao would be the first mayor of Oakland to be recalled. Thao, a progressive, was dogged by complaints about crime and the city’s budget troubles. (San Francisco Chronicle) TRUMP TIME — Donald Trump promised to get revenge on a wide list of enemies, our POLITICO colleagues report from Washington. Here's who could be in his crosshairs.
| | | AROUND THE STATE | | |
— The owner of a large shelter on LA’s Skid Row has cut funding for security and janitorial services as residents say conditions deteriorate. (Los Angeles Times)
— San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres has been arrested, but the exact nature of the charges wasn’t immediately clear. (San Jose Spotlight) — Swift Santa Ana winds of up to 100 mph are expected to hit Southern California today, raising fire concerns for parts of LA and Ventura counties. (The Orange County Register)
| | | | A message from Uber: Uber’s Latest Updates Put Drivers First
At an in-person event with drivers, Uber’s CEO announced updates to give them more peace of mind. Uber has started flagging inappropriate rider behavior when drivers report it. The Record My Ride feature allows drivers to capture video and audio during trips, improving accountability and safety. Plus the app also got more hands-free with Siri voice commands, letting drivers focus on the road while staying connected. Learn more. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | BIRTHDAYS — Maria Shriver, author and former California first lady … Katie Rosborough … Crystal Sung of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office … Keaton Bedell … Alan Dechert … Eddie Escotó Alvarez of the LA/OC Building Trades … Gary Gartner with Kamala Harris for President … BELATED B-DAY WISHES — Owen Beal of Pelosi’s office … Nolan D. McCaskill … Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly 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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