California Policy and Politics Tuesday

Swalwell supporters scramble after he drops out of governor’s race. Who will benefit? -- Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire Tom Steyer appear positioned to benefit most, though they each have faced other critiques by Democratic voters. Nicole Nixon, Dakota Smith, Melody Gutierrez and Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ Jeanne Kuang Calmatters Grace Hase in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/13/26

Nexstar’s California TV stations will carry gubernatorial debate -- “Debate Night in California: The Race for Governor,” will air April 22 starting at 7 p.m. Pacific, the company announced Monday. The event will originate from TV station KRON in San Francisco and be carried on KTLA in Los Angeles, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento, KGET in Bakersfield and KSEE in Fresno. Stephen Battaglio in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

Negotiations to prevent a Tuesday LAUSD strike are still in progress Monday evening -- Two of three LAUSD unions reached tentative deals Sunday, but one union continues to negotiate. The strike will go on Tuesday unless all three unions settle. A shutdown would affect 390,000 students and 70,000 workers across Los Angeles Unified. Howard Blume and Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

Fraud allegations, fires, federal cuts: What’s in L.A. County’s $48.8-billion budget plan -- L.A. County officials said federal funding cuts will be a major factor in future spending. New spending will go to beef up the team investigating fraud in recent sex abuse litigation, among other programs. County officials say they’re staving off layoffs and program cuts. Rebecca Ellis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

Workplace

Hollywood stars line up against Paramount’s Warner Bros. acquisition -- A constellation of stars are lining up against Paramount’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, expressing fears the blockbuster merger would devastate the industry and shrink production jobs. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

California salmon fishing poised to finally reopen. Can the industry recover? -- The return comes with a catch: Regulators at the interstate Pacific Fishery Management Council will strictly constrain fishing dates and impose harvest limits for both commercial and recreational fishing to protect the threatened California Coastal Chinook. Rachel Becker Calmatters -- 4/13/26

San Diego city workers would get 10% raises but face furloughs in nod to budget crisis -- Tentative deal with white-collar employees comes just before mayor is scheduled to announce proposed budget including layoffs, variety of cuts. David Garrick in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 4/13/26

Salton Sea

California’s largest and most polluted lake gets a new conservancy -- California has launched the Salton Sea Conservancy, a new state agency to oversee restoration, manage habitat and improve air quality at the deteriorating inland lake. Deborah Brennan Calmatters -- 4/13/26

Also

Can medical malpractice lawsuits protect LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy? This California lawmaker thinks so -- The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, endangering California’s law. State lawmakers believe there is a “path forward” despite the court’s ruling. Kristen Hwang Calmatters -- 4/13/26

Lopez: Trump says his social media post depicted him as a doctor, not Jesus. A Catholic school alum weighs in -- The general consensus is that President Trump’s social media post of himself dressed in robes, after a busy weekend in which he blasted Pope Leo and attended a prizefight while an Iran peace plan fell apart, was an attempt to cast himself as a Jesus-like figure. But Trump says we have it wrong. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/13/26

POTUS 47

How an Image Depicting Trump as Christ Sparked a Backlash on the Religious Right -- President Trump’s decision to post an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure sparked outrage on the religious right, triggering the most significant pushback from his Catholic and evangelical Christian supporters since he returned to the White House. Philip Wegmann, Aaron Zitner and Marianne LeVine in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/13/26

Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate -- As the president threatens to wipe out Iran and attacks the pope, even some former allies and advisers are questioning whether he has grown increasingly unbalanced, describing him as “lunatic” and “clearly insane.” Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 4/13/26

U.S. Is Negotiating an Iran Deal That Would Buy Time, Again -- The United States proposed a 20-year “suspension” of all nuclear activity, even as President Trump demands assurances that Iran can never build a nuclear weapon. David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager in the New York Times$ -- 4/13/26

U.S. Oil Blockade Is Set to Boost American Exports—and Prices at the Pump -- President Trump is pitching a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as an opportunity for American oil-and-gas exporters. The squeeze on supplies is a bad omen for prices at the pump. Collin Eaton and Benoît Morenne in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/13/26

AI Is Finding Bugs That Hackers Can Exploit. Get Ready for Bugmageddon -- White House and industry leaders race to fix vulnerabilities, which AI models can discover with frightening speed. Robert McMillan and Chip Cutter in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/13/26