California Policy and Politics Sunday

From EVs to oil wells: How Trump and soaring fuel prices have shaped Newsom’s climate legacy -- Experts say Newsom’s environmental legacy won’t just define what’s next for California’s new governor, it could shape the national agenda. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/25/26

AOC, Newsom and Jeffries swing through California to help Democrats in tight races -- Top Democratic and Republican leaders are sweeping through California as the Nov. 3 election approaches, evidence of the state’s pivotal role in deciding which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives and the fate of President Trump’s final two years in office. Seema Mehta, Nicole Nixon and Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/25/26

California election officials frustrated, rattled by DOJ demand to sequester ‘noncitizen’ ballots -- Local election officials across California are confused and frustrated after receiving letters from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department demanding that county registrars sequester ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizen voters ahead of the midterm elections. Safiyah Riddle Associated Press -- 10/25/26

Gavin Newsom says Trump election meddling should ‘scare the hell out of everybody’ -- Gov. Gavin Newsom warned California voters on Friday that President Donald Trump is trying to interfere with the outcome of the Nov. 3 midterms and urged the electorate to push back with overwhelming force. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/25/26

Billionaires are pouring millions into San Francisco politics. Here’s where it’s going -- A review of campaign finance records by the Chronicle shows that much of the spending has bolstered Mayor Daniel Lurie’s policy priorities and favored candidates in local races. Alyce McFadden, Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/25/26

The DSA endorsed Raman for mayor. Now some members are having second thoughts -- With just over a week to go before election day, Nithya Raman’s endorsement for mayor from the Democratic Socialists of America’s Los Angeles chapter is in jeopardy, as members of the local and national branches tussle over the city council member’s bonafides on Palestine. Noah Goldberg and Connor Sheets in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/25/26

Sheriff Chad Bianco asks Riverside County to foot legal bills over ballot seizure -- The saga over Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s seizure of hundreds of thousands of special election ballots has taken another turn, as a dispute looms over who should foot the bill for his legal defense. Iris Kwok in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/25/26

Hope and despair simmer among California Republicans ahead of election day -- Twenty years after the GOP last won a state-level election in California, few Republican voters believe this will be the year. But they can hope. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/25/26

Also

‘Most likely to kick some ass’: Before founding Anthropic, Dario Amodei was a standout at Lowell -- Dario Amodei had no interest in joining the burgeoning tech boom taking hold of San Francisco. It was the late 1990s, and he was still a teenager, an elite student at the academically competitive Lowell High School. He was more interested in tackling complex science problems, and had his sights set ona career in research. Danielle Echeverria, Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/25/26

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A New Level of Threat and Fear Risks Pushing the U.S. and Iran Back to Full War -- With new intelligence and the possibility of all sides seeking pretexts for action, the war in Iran is entering a dangerous phase ahead of elections in the United States and Israel. David E. Sanger, Julian E. Barnes, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Farnaz Fassihi and Eric Schmitt in the New York Times$ -- 10/25/26

Obama Storms Onto Campaign Trail With Harsh Words for Trump -- At the Ohio rally, Obama also lambasted Trump’s continuing plans to build a ballroom in the White House and his redecoration of the building. “There’s gold everywhere, what’s up with the gold?” Obama said. “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” Neil Mehta and Philip Wegmann in the Wall Street Journal$ Tim Balk, Emily Davies, John Yoon and Richard Fausset in the New York Times$ Maegan Vazquez and Karen Tumulty in the Washington Post$ -- 10/25/26

 

California Policy and Politics Saturday

Trump wants to strip California of coastal protections unless state meets list of demands -- In what one environmental law expert described as “a dangerous ultimatum,” the Trump administration said it would strip California of its authority to protect its coastline unless state regulators agreed to more than a dozen “corrective actions” that would benefit close allies of the White House, according to the draft findings of a controversial federal review. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/24/26

 

DOJ gives local California registrars 48 hours to quarantine suspected noncitizen ballots -- In the latest escalation of the Department of Justice’s efforts to block California from counting some ballots, prosecutors sent individual letters to numerous county registrars Friday demanding that they sequester ballots sent to voters they suspect are not U.S. citizens. Sara DiNatale in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Laurel Rosenhall and Shawn Hubler in the New York Times$ -- 10/24/26

9th Circuit blocks path for Trump to again deploy National Guard without state approval -- President Trump illegally usurped Gov. Gavin Newsom’s command of the California National Guard by ordering a surge troops deployed into Los Angeles and across the state amid protests against the White House’s mass deportation program last year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. Sonja Sharp in the Los Angeles Times$ Sharon Bernstein in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/24/26

 

“A butter knife against a nuclear arsenal:” Tech billionaires vastly outspend wealth tax supporters -- More than $351 million in political donations has been poured into a high-stakes contest about a proposed wealth tax on the November ballot, making it one of the most costly campaigns in California history. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/24/26

Mayor Karen Bass outpaces challenger Nithya Raman in fundraising for the Nov. 3 runoff -- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has outraised challenger Nithya Raman in fundraising for the Nov. 3 runoff election, the latest campaign finance reports show, pulling in about $3.4 million to Raman’s $3 million. David Zahniser, Melissa Gomez and Sandhya Kambhampati in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/24/26

3 bonds are on the California ballot. Here’s a last-minute voter guide to make sense of them -- Californians will decide on $44 billion in bonds when the vote on Propositions 1, 37 and 38. They’d take out debt to pay for housing and medical research. Mikhail Zinshteyn Calmatters -- 10/24/26

‘Purpose and freedom’: San Quentin’s new college program tests Newsom’s prison vision -- As part of his plan to overhaul prison culture in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced that an inaugural cohort of 34 prisoners at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center have enrolled in a Cal State Los Angeles bachelor’s program in liberal studies. Hannah Wiley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/24/26

Workplace

Netflix plans hundreds of layoffs at Bay Area headquarters -- The streaming giant plans to terminate 227 positions at its Los Gatos headquarters, while a separate filing lists another 267 Netflix roles in Los Angeles, bringing the number of employees affected by the two California notices to 494. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/24/26

Climate

Exceptionally high tides will swamp California, ‘likely to get worse before it gets better’ -- The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning that goes into effect Sunday morning and lasts through Thursday afternoon, saying it expects “significant coastal flooding” in San Diego and Orange counties that will inundate low-lying homes, businesses and critical infrastructure, with some shoreline erosion in the morning throughout the warning period. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/24/26

Metrolink suspends iconic coastal route due to high tides -- The affected rail line, used by trains operated by Metrolink and Amtrak that connect Orange County to San Diego and offer picturesque ocean views, has long been threatened by coastal erosion. Karen Garcia and Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/24/26

AI

AI Hacks Are Coming Thick and Fast and Overwhelming the Internet -- Hackers are increasingly using AI-powered tools and agents to make cyber intrusions faster and harder to track. Organizations are scrambling to patch newly uncovered bugs that could allow takeover of as many as 70% of the world’s websites. Robert McMillan in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/24/26

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On Trump’s Order, Justice Dept. Seeks to Block Alaska Vote if Republican Loses -- The department, in a highly unusual lawsuit, argued that confusion over candidates with similar names could taint the election result. Devlin Barrett and Kellen Browning in the New York Times$ Jeremy Roebuck, Patrick Marley and Matthew Choi in the Washington Post$ -- 10/24/26

‘Should fail on the merits’: DOJ’s Alaska gambit is likely to go nowhere -- The Justice Department’s lawsuit to block Alaska’s Senate election results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses is likely a legal nonstarter. “This lawsuit is abusive in intent and nearly frivolous in argument, and should fail on the merits,” CATO Institute’s Walter Olson said. Kyle Cheney Politico -- 10/24/26

Grift Becomes Bigger Issue for Voters in Final Days Before Midterms -- A Fox News poll found that voters ranked government corruption as their top concern, above inflation and gasoline prices. Marianne LeVine, Josh Dawsey and Meridith McGraw in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/24/26

Trump Says He Directed Justice Department to Sue Alaska Over Senate Race -- Lawsuit asks judge to delay finalization of vote if tossup election could have been swung by having two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. Mariah Timms, Louise Radnofsky and Lindsay Wise in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/24/26

Trump’s immigration crackdown disrupts U.S. food supply, agriculture leaders say -- Recent ICE raids have rocked rural America, delaying meat shipments in Kansas, threatening poultry production in Pennsylvania and affecting farmworkers in California, industry leaders say. Lauren Kaori Gurley in the Washington Post$ -- 10/24/26