California Policy and Politics Sunday

No, Newsom’s death penalty change won’t set murderers loose -- Prosecutors, police groups and conservatives are proclaiming that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s grant of clemency to all 548 prisoners sentenced to death in California shattered all legal limits on his authority and will release some convicted killers to the streets. They’re wrong, at least under current law. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/8/26

Raman, L.A. leaders join in condemnation after ICE officers reportedly detain two near Boyle Heights hospital -- Federal immigration agents reportedly detained two people late Friday night near an anti-ICE demonstration at a Boyle Heights hospital. Video shared on social media shows officers pinning one person, accused of “assaulting a federal agent,” onto the sidewalk. Alexandra Del Rosario and Genaro Molina in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

 

Inside Nithya Raman’s improbable campaign for L.A. mayor -- The first volunteers gathered in the back house of Nithya Raman’s Silver Lake home with little besides a whiteboard counting down the number of days until the June 2 primary election. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

New York has Mamdani. L.A. now has Raman. What path will this democratic socialist mayor take? -- Six months after Zohran Mamdani took office as mayor of New York, he said that New Yorkers no longer had to imagine what life looks like if a socialist wins. Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

Bass ran on her strong relationship skills. So why did pivotal allies turn on her? -- It wasn’t that long ago that campaign strategist Estevan Montemayor was an enthusiastic booster for Karen Bass. David Zahniser and Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

California home insurance is poised for a drastic overhaul under Jane Kim. These are her plans -- San Francisco progressive Jane Kim, who appears poised to become the next state insurance commissioner, has pledged to pull no punches on the industry she’s about to regulate. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/8/26

 

Billionaire tax continues to trail as many Californians vote to spare the state’s ultra-rich stars -- Despite a nationwide blue wave in the midterm election, the much-debated billionaire tax didn’t get the support many expected in one of the country’s most liberal states. Queenie Wong and Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

Ballot measure to streamline environmental permitting for building projects fails -- California voters have rejected Proposition 45, a bid by the California Chamber of Commerce, home-builder consortiums and some affordable housing advocates to streamline the permitting process for certain building projects through the California Environmental Quality Act. Andrew Graham in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/8/26

 

As Stephen Miller rises, California hopes it can blunt his force with Democratic gains -- President Trump’s appointment of Stephen Miller — the architect of the administration’s extreme crackdown on immigration — to White House chief of staff is sparking alarm among immigrant advocates and politicians across California. Grace Toohey, Suhauna Hussain and Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

Lopez: L.A. mayors have long promised to end homelessness. Can Raman break the cycle of failure? -- More than 40,000 people are currently homeless in the city of Los Angeles. Raman wants to end Bass’ Inside Safe program and use short-term rental vouchers she claims will be far less expensive and more effective. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

Arellano: Forget Ohio as a bellwether. Look to Latinos to understand how Americans vote -- Latinos expect more from this country than just kvetching and corruption, blind loyalty and excuses. If we can still believe in this crazy democracy, then others should follow. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

Barabak: This sheriff crossed a line pandering to Trump. He should pay, from his own pocket -- For a time, Chad Bianco was one of the front-runners in the race for California governor — or at least as front-runnery as a Republican can get in this cobalt-blue state. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

Hoeven: Looks like the worst California ballot measure is going to pass. Here’s who to blame and shame -- The catch: Half of the money, $4.2 billion in taxpayer funds, will go to just one research center — the untested, yet-to-be-built California Institute for Immunology & Immunotherapy. It was founded by the same group of billionaires that put Prop 38 on the ballot, including the Trump-pardoned “junk bond king” Michael Milken. Emily Hoeven in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/8/26

Marketplace

How One Winery Is Fighting an Industry Slump -- Changing consumer tastes and high tariffs are hitting vineyards hard. Here’s how one California winery is responding. Elizabeth Garone in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/8/26

Also

A UC Riverside scientist skied deep into the Sierra to track microplastics in snow -- Storm events spread microplastics across the environment, even to places that are nearly unreachable. A UC Riverside scientist skied into wilderness far off the beaten path, and found the polluting particles everywhere she looked. Susanne Rust in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/8/26

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Unfazed by Midterm Rebuke, Miller Is Poised to Push the Limits of Trump’s Power -- The president’s new chief of staff has already demonstrated his intention to forge ahead with an agenda that many voters rejected. Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz in the New York Times$ Cat Zakrzewski and Katherine Doyle in the Washington Post$ -- 11/8/26

Stephen Miller’s promotion angers industries reeling from immigration enforcement -- President Donald Trump’s naming of deportation architect as his chief of staff unleashed anger, fear and astonishment among leaders of industries that depend on immigrant labor. Lauren Kaori Gurley in the Washington Post$ -- 11/8/26

Trump’s D.C. Construction Blitz May Be About to Get Tougher -- The president has bulldozed through obstacles as he has sought to remake the face of Washington. But newly empowered Democrats and angry judges are setting up a high-stakes showdown. Luke Broadwater and Emily Badger in the New York Times$ -- 11/8/26

Hegseth Mounts Aggressive Campaign to Fight Pending Impeachment -- With a vote on his impeachment looming next week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is digging in his heels and vowing to stay at his Pentagon post for the rest of the Trump administration. Michael R. Gordon, Lara Seligman and Lindsay Wise in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/8/26

The New Stars and Presidential Hopefuls Shaking Up Democrats’ 2028 Field -- A dominating midterm performance gives Democrats a deep bench of talent, but that could make 2028 messy. Ken Thomas and John McCormick in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/8/26

 

California Policy and Politics Saturday

‘Soul-hurting pain’: Victims’ families enraged at Newsom’s death row decision -- They’ve lived through the worst horrors a family can endure, and they were promised their murdered loved ones would receive justice through an execution. They suffered through years, if not decades, of appeals and hearings where they were forced to hear the stories of their loved ones’ violent deaths graphically retold again and again. Ryan Sabalow Calmatters -- 11/7/26

With death sentence clemency, Newsom takes another big political risk -- Amid a hum of speculation about how the mass commutation could help or hurt his presidential prospects in 2028, the Democratic politician sent a clear, defining message to Americans about where he stands and the type of leader they could expect. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

How talking to Polly Klaas’ sisters solidified Newsom’s death sentence decision -- After 12-year-old Polly Klaas was kidnapped from her Petaluma home and murdered in 1993, her case galvanized a national movement for harsher criminal penalties. And it was during a late October conversation with Klaas’ two sisters inside a former death row cell that Gov. Gavin Newsom decided to commute the sentence of her killer — along with California’s 547 other condemned prisoners — to life without parole. Hannah Wiley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/7/26

Prosecutors Vow to Keep Pursuing Death Penalty in California -- Unless the next governor, Xavier Becerra, keeps commuting sentences, California’s death row is likely to slowly repopulate in the coming years. Tim Arango and Laurel Rosenhall in the New York Times$ -- 11/7/26

 

As Stephen Miller rises, California hopes it can blunt his force with Democratic gains -- But this week’s sweeping Democratic victories are giving immigrant communities hope that control of Congress will give them more tools to fight Miller’s policies. Grace Toohey, Suhauna Hussain and Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

With wins in LA and DC, a new Left-YIMBY alliance in big-city politics takes center stage -- The revolution in American housing politics keeps picking up speed. This week’s victories by Nithya Raman and Janeese Lewis George in mayoral races in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., add to a growing cadre of elected officials pushing for both robust renter protections and more homebuilding. Liam Dillon Politico -- 11/7/26

California’s ‘billionaire tax’ is still undecided. Here’s where Proposition 40 stands -- Days after the midterm elections, Proposition 40 has yet to be decided. The ballot measure, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires to help fund healthcare, is failing by more than 8 percentage points. Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee and Vanessa Martínez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

‘Bullies lost’: Scott Wiener makes history as S.F.’s first openly gay congressperson -- San Francisco’s LGBTQ community has been an influential political constituency for more than half a century, but it has never sent one of its own members to represent the city in Congress. Until now. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/7/26

Feds move to dismiss case over 20,000 California ballots after Supreme Court denied appeal -- The U.S. Justice Department moved Friday to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit challenging the counting of 20,000 ballots in California, arguing the relief it sought is now impossible given Tuesday’s midterm election has concluded. Kevin Rector and Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

 

From Big Sur to Santa Cruz, California is fortifying its coast for El Niño winter -- From Santa Cruz to Big Sur to Pacifica, local leaders say they’re doing what they can to safeguard vulnerable infrastructure while heeding lessons from the past to improve their emergency response and better prepare residents for disaster. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/7/26

California says 6,500 homes near shuttered Exide plant are ‘clean.’ But soil samples raise questions -- The former Exide facility in Vernon spewed toxic dust for decades as it melted down lead-acid car batteries for recycling. Its operations released lead dust across Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Commerce and Maywood while the state allowed the plant to operate for decades with a temporary permit. Iris Kwok and Tony Briscoe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/7/26

Transit

Did the Bay Area just save its transit system from the brink of certain death? -- Voters in the San Francisco Bay Area overwhelmingly approved two transit measures this week that advocates hope will save the region’s financially distressed public transit agencies from a potential death spiral that could have had massive repercussions for the area’s residents and its economy. Isabeau Doucet in The Guardian -- 11/7/26

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Trump Signals Combative Next Two Years With Elevation of Stephen Miller -- After a brutal election that gutted Republican power in Washington, President Trump has chosen one of his most loyal and divisive advisers as the new White House chief of staff, signaling a combative posture for the final two years of the Trump era. Michelle Hackman, Josh Dawsey, Alex Leary and Sadie Gurman in the Wall Street Journal$ Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Tyler Pager in the New York Times$ -- 11/7/26

The 2028 Election Map Just Broke Wide Open -- The wave election that gave Democrats control of Congress and a majority of governor’s offices is creating another big benefit for the party: new pathways for assembling the states needed to win the presidency in 2028. Aaron Zitner and John McCormick in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/7/26

How Elon Musk Frittered Away Nearly $500 Million on the Midterms -- Behind the scenes, the world’s richest person spent a record amount over two years to bend the country’s politics to his will. He couldn’t. Theodore Schleifer in the New York Times$ -- 11/7/26