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"title": "Early Results Show Rep. Mike Thompson in Tight Race With Challenger Eric Jones",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Mike Thompson is locked in a close race with former venture capitalist Eric Jones in the redrawn 4th Congressional District.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson, a 14-term Democrat, is attempting to fight off the most expensive challenge of his career from a political newcomer. He held a narrow lead of a few hundred votes in initial returns, but Jones edged out ahead as of 9:52 p.m. with 50.2% of the vote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The newly redrawn district stretches from the Napa Valley to the Sacramento suburbs and rural areas in the north.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s gonna be a long night,” Jones told reporters at a campaign event packed with high-energy young people and college students at Sudwerk Brewing in Davis. “We take our elections seriously in California; we count every ballot and take our time, so we expect the numbers to keep looking strong as they come in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1300\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087391\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty-1536x998.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eric Jones at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Placer County on May 20, 2026. Jones is facing Rep. Mike Thompson, who is seeking his 15th term in the U.S. House of Representatives for California’s 4th District. (Kent Porter/MediaNews Group via The Press Democrat via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People watching the results cheered mostly for Democrats, although some Republicans and Independent voters were in attendance, too. The event featured catering and drink tickets, and some of the students said they came for the free food and were not actually registered to vote here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Whether it’s tonight or tomorrow, we’re gonna have some fun anyway and talk to folks and talk with everyone who’s been so supportive and make sure that people feel the love,” Jones said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two Democrats do not diverge significantly on policy, so the race was defined by money, identity and blistering attack ads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones injected $14.8 million of his own money into the race, setting a record for the most self-funding by a congressional candidate in California history, according to David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson raised about $5.5 million, none of it his own money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the beginning, Jones pledged not to accept any corporate PAC money, presenting himself as a candidate not beholden to special interests. Thompson, meanwhile, painted Jones as an outsider trying to buy the seat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson, 75, is a moderate Democrat backed by establishment figures like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Vietnam War veteran grew up and still lives in St. Helena. He’s also a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones, 35, grew up in a working-class Maine family. At times, his family relied on Medicaid, food stamps and his father’s veterans disability checks. Jones moved to Napa in 2021 with his wife after their son was born with a serious heart defect, seeking a slower, quieter life within driving distance of their son’s doctors at UCSF. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson has not sailed through the election with his typical ease. He usually wins close to two-thirds of the vote in the general election. But nearly half of District 4 is new territory after Democrats redrew California’s congressional maps last year. The new lines added conservative parts of the North State once represented by the late Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa. It also cut out bluer regions in Sonoma and Lake counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That shift gave Jones an opening. He attempted to carve out support to the left and right of Thompson. He had the endorsement of Our Revolution, the progressive group founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. And after the primary, he ramped up his outreach to Republicans, hiring GOP strategist Rob Stutzman and winning the endorsement of Ray Riehle, the Republican he narrowly defeated in the primary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085891\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eric Jones, Democratic candidate for California’s 4th Congressional District, speaks to a supporter at Three Mile Brewing for his watch party in Davis on June 2, 2026. (Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At a campaign event in Napa County before the polls closed, Thompson expressed confidence in an interview with KQED about his outreach to new voters, saying he has “approached this redistricting the same way I’ve approached every redistricting I’ve been in.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“There are 47% of voters who are new,” he said. “I’ve got out, I’ve met folks, I think I’ve been a hundred times up in the new district, I’ve had a couple hundred meetings. And I’ve been called on to help with the peach farmer disaster. I was able to get them $9 million of aid.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Thompson turned 75 this year, amid a national conversation about older elected officials clinging to their seats. But when asked if he would potentially announce an upcoming retirement date were he to win, the 14-term congressman bristled and said, “Why would you ask me that question?”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I’m focused on winning the election tonight, and I’m focused on working with the people who elect me, who I’ve worked for consistently,” he said. “I’m not talking about anything else. Let’s get through tonight.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Less than two weeks before election day, Jones’ campaign \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2114083961836089529/video/1\">released an ad\u003c/a> featuring Thompson’s former communications director T.J. Adams-Falconer, who said, “Mike Thompson told me directly he plans to die in office.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adams-Falconer worked for the congressman for under six months nearly a decade ago, according to Thompson, who called the claim “fictional.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seven former staff members to Thompson also released a letter calling the claim “unsubstantiated” and demanded the campaign take down the ad because it used a photograph of them without their permission. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12108012\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A sign for Mike Thompson, incumbent candidate for California’s 4th Congressional District, rests on a chair at an election watch party at the Garden by Tannery Bend Beerworks in Napa on Nov. 3, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispute captured a defining issue of the race. Amid a wave of anti-establishment sentiment and desire for generational change, young challengers like Jones across the country have taken on their party’s aging incumbents. Nationally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/10/why-so-many-incumbents-lost-primaries-this-year-01070117\">13 members of Congress lost their primaries\u003c/a>, including seven Democrats and six Republicans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Jones wins, McCuan said it would be “dramatic in terms of a statement about generational change” given Thompson’s national stature and role in Democratic leadership. He could face a chilly reception from fellow Democrats in the House. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re going to want to penalize him a little bit for taking on a popular incumbent and winning,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if Thompson holds onto his seat, this may not be the last time he faces Jones.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCuan said the scale of Jones’ spending suggests he could be treating this race as a first attempt, a chance to learn about campaigns and build name recognition in the region. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If Mike wins, I’m not convinced that Eric goes away,” he said. “When you spend that kind of money, you’re typically a two-tripper.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones seemed to suggest as much at his campaign event, saying, “I’m not going anywhere. We’ve done a lot of great work in the community, and I have a bad habit of staying busy, so more to come on that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>From the beginning, Jones pledged not to accept any corporate PAC money, presenting himself as a candidate not beholden to special interests. Thompson, meanwhile, painted Jones as an outsider trying to buy the seat.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thompson, 75, is a moderate Democrat backed by establishment figures like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Vietnam War veteran grew up and still lives in St. Helena. He’s also a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jones, 35, grew up in a working-class Maine family. At times, his family relied on Medicaid, food stamps and his father’s veterans disability checks. Jones moved to Napa in 2021 with his wife after their son was born with a serious heart defect, seeking a slower, quieter life within driving distance of their son’s doctors at UCSF. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jones, 35, grew up in a working-class Maine family. At times, his family relied on Medicaid, food stamps and his father’s veterans disability checks. Jones moved to Napa in 2021 with his wife after their son was born with a serious heart defect, seeking a slower, quieter life within driving distance of their son’s doctors at UCSF. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thompson has not sailed through the election with his typical ease. He usually wins close to two-thirds of the vote in the general election. But nearly half of District 4 is new territory after Democrats redrew California’s congressional maps last year. The new lines added conservative parts of the North State once represented by the late Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa. It also cut out bluer regions in Sonoma and Lake counties. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That shift gave Jones an opening. He attempted to carve out support to the left and right of Thompson. He had the endorsement of Our Revolution, the progressive group founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. And after the primary, he ramped up his outreach to Republicans, hiring GOP strategist Rob Stutzman and winning the endorsement of Ray Riehle, the Republican he narrowly defeated in the primary.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At a campaign event in Napa County before the polls closed, Thompson expressed confidence in an interview with KQED about his outreach to new voters, saying he has “approached this redistricting the same way I’ve approached every redistricting I’ve been in.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“There are 47% of voters who are new,” he said. “I’ve got out, I’ve met folks, I think I’ve been a hundred times up in the new district, I’ve had a couple hundred meetings. And I’ve been called on to help with the peach farmer disaster. I was able to get them $9 million of aid.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Thompson turned 75 this year, amid a national conversation about older elected officials clinging to their seats. But when asked if he would potentially announce an upcoming retirement date were he to win, the 14-term congressman bristled and said, “Why would you ask me that question?”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I’m focused on winning the election tonight, and I’m focused on working with the people who elect me, who I’ve worked for consistently,” he said. “I’m not talking about anything else. Let’s get through tonight.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Less than two weeks before election day, Jones’ campaign \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2114083961836089529/video/1\">released an ad\u003c/a> featuring Thompson’s former communications director T.J. Adams-Falconer, who said, “Mike Thompson told me directly he plans to die in office.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At a campaign event in Napa County before the polls closed, Thompson expressed confidence in an interview with KQED about his outreach to new voters, saying he has “approached this redistricting the same way I’ve approached every redistricting I’ve been in.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“There are 47% of voters who are new,” he said. “I’ve got out, I’ve met folks, I think I’ve been a hundred times up in the new district, I’ve had a couple hundred meetings. And I’ve been called on to help with the peach farmer disaster. I was able to get them $9 million of aid.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Thompson turned 75 this year, amid a national conversation about older elected officials clinging to their seats. But when asked if he would potentially announce an upcoming retirement date were he to win, the 14-term congressman bristled and said, “Why would you ask me that question?”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I’m focused on winning the election tonight, and I’m focused on working with the people who elect me, who I’ve worked for consistently,” he said. “I’m not talking about anything else. Let’s get through tonight.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Less than two weeks before election day, Jones’ campaign \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2114083961836089529/video/1\">released an ad\u003c/a> featuring Thompson’s former communications director T.J. Adams-Falconer, who said, “Mike Thompson told me directly he plans to die in office.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Adams-Falconer worked for the congressman for under six months nearly a decade ago, according to Thompson, who called the claim “fictional.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Adams-Falconer worked for the congressman for under six months nearly a decade ago, according to Thompson, who called the claim “fictional.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Seven former staff members to Thompson also released a letter calling the claim “unsubstantiated” and demanded the campaign take down the ad because it used a photograph of them without their permission. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12108012\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A sign for Mike Thompson, incumbent candidate for California’s 4th Congressional District, rests on a chair at an election watch party at the Garden by Tannery Bend Beerworks in Napa on Nov. 3, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12108012\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A sign for Mike Thompson, incumbent candidate for California’s 4th Congressional District, rests on a chair at an election watch party at the Garden by Tannery Bend Beerworks in Napa on Nov. 3, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The dispute captured a defining issue of the race. Amid a wave of anti-establishment sentiment and desire for generational change, young challengers like Jones across the country have taken on their party’s aging incumbents. Nationally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/10/why-so-many-incumbents-lost-primaries-this-year-01070117\">13 members of Congress lost their primaries\u003c/a>, including seven Democrats and six Republicans. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The dispute captured a defining issue of the race. Amid a wave of anti-establishment sentiment and desire for generational change, young challengers like Jones across the country have taken on their party’s aging incumbents. Nationally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/10/why-so-many-incumbents-lost-primaries-this-year-01070117\">13 members of Congress lost their primaries\u003c/a>, including seven Democrats and six Republicans. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If Jones wins, McCuan said it would be “dramatic in terms of a statement about generational change” given Thompson’s national stature and role in Democratic leadership. He could face a chilly reception from fellow Democrats in the House. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If Jones wins, McCuan said it would be “dramatic in terms of a statement about generational change” given Thompson’s national stature and role in Democratic leadership. He could face a chilly reception from fellow Democrats in the House. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re going to want to penalize him a little bit for taking on a popular incumbent and winning,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even if Thompson holds onto his seat, this may not be the last time he faces Jones.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>McCuan said the scale of Jones’ spending suggests he could be treating this race as a first attempt, a chance to learn about campaigns and build name recognition in the region. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If Mike wins, I’m not convinced that Eric goes away,” he said. “When you spend that kind of money, you’re typically a two-tripper.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jones seemed to suggest as much at his campaign event, saying, “I’m not going anywhere. We’ve done a lot of great work in the community, and I have a bad habit of staying busy, so more to come on that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The lead in California’s most expensive self-funded House race has ping-ponged between longtime Rep. Mike Thompson and challenger Eric Jones.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Mike Thompson is locked in a close race with former venture capitalist Eric Jones in the redrawn 4th Congressional District.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson, a 14-term Democrat, is attempting to fight off the most expensive challenge of his career from a political newcomer. He held a narrow lead of a few hundred votes in initial returns, but Jones edged out ahead as of 9:52 p.m. with 50.2% of the vote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The newly redrawn district stretches from the Napa Valley to the Sacramento suburbs and rural areas in the north.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s gonna be a long night,” Jones told reporters at a campaign event packed with high-energy young people and college students at Sudwerk Brewing in Davis. “We take our elections seriously in California; we count every ballot and take our time, so we expect the numbers to keep looking strong as they come in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1300\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087391\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/EricJonesGetty-1536x998.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eric Jones at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Placer County on May 20, 2026. Jones is facing Rep. Mike Thompson, who is seeking his 15th term in the U.S. House of Representatives for California’s 4th District. (Kent Porter/MediaNews Group via The Press Democrat via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People watching the results cheered mostly for Democrats, although some Republicans and Independent voters were in attendance, too. The event featured catering and drink tickets, and some of the students said they came for the free food and were not actually registered to vote here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Whether it’s tonight or tomorrow, we’re gonna have some fun anyway and talk to folks and talk with everyone who’s been so supportive and make sure that people feel the love,” Jones said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two Democrats do not diverge significantly on policy, so the race was defined by money, identity and blistering attack ads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones injected $14.8 million of his own money into the race, setting a record for the most self-funding by a congressional candidate in California history, according to David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson raised about $5.5 million, none of it his own money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the beginning, Jones pledged not to accept any corporate PAC money, presenting himself as a candidate not beholden to special interests. Thompson, meanwhile, painted Jones as an outsider trying to buy the seat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson, 75, is a moderate Democrat backed by establishment figures like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Vietnam War veteran grew up and still lives in St. Helena. He’s also a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones, 35, grew up in a working-class Maine family. At times, his family relied on Medicaid, food stamps and his father’s veterans disability checks. Jones moved to Napa in 2021 with his wife after their son was born with a serious heart defect, seeking a slower, quieter life within driving distance of their son’s doctors at UCSF. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thompson has not sailed through the election with his typical ease. He usually wins close to two-thirds of the vote in the general election. But nearly half of District 4 is new territory after Democrats redrew California’s congressional maps last year. The new lines added conservative parts of the North State once represented by the late Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa. It also cut out bluer regions in Sonoma and Lake counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That shift gave Jones an opening. He attempted to carve out support to the left and right of Thompson. He had the endorsement of Our Revolution, the progressive group founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. And after the primary, he ramped up his outreach to Republicans, hiring GOP strategist Rob Stutzman and winning the endorsement of Ray Riehle, the Republican he narrowly defeated in the primary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085891\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/20260602_PRIMARY2026CD4_GC-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eric Jones, Democratic candidate for California’s 4th Congressional District, speaks to a supporter at Three Mile Brewing for his watch party in Davis on June 2, 2026. (Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At a campaign event in Napa County before the polls closed, Thompson expressed confidence in an interview with KQED about his outreach to new voters, saying he has “approached this redistricting the same way I’ve approached every redistricting I’ve been in.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“There are 47% of voters who are new,” he said. “I’ve got out, I’ve met folks, I think I’ve been a hundred times up in the new district, I’ve had a couple hundred meetings. And I’ve been called on to help with the peach farmer disaster. I was able to get them $9 million of aid.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Thompson turned 75 this year, amid a national conversation about older elected officials clinging to their seats. But when asked if he would potentially announce an upcoming retirement date were he to win, the 14-term congressman bristled and said, “Why would you ask me that question?”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I’m focused on winning the election tonight, and I’m focused on working with the people who elect me, who I’ve worked for consistently,” he said. “I’m not talking about anything else. Let’s get through tonight.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Less than two weeks before election day, Jones’ campaign \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2114083961836089529/video/1\">released an ad\u003c/a> featuring Thompson’s former communications director T.J. Adams-Falconer, who said, “Mike Thompson told me directly he plans to die in office.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adams-Falconer worked for the congressman for under six months nearly a decade ago, according to Thompson, who called the claim “fictional.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seven former staff members to Thompson also released a letter calling the claim “unsubstantiated” and demanded the campaign take down the ad because it used a photograph of them without their permission. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12108012\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/11/20261103_MIKETHOMPSONELECTIONNIGHT_GC-9-KQED-8421db46-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A sign for Mike Thompson, incumbent candidate for California’s 4th Congressional District, rests on a chair at an election watch party at the Garden by Tannery Bend Beerworks in Napa on Nov. 3, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispute captured a defining issue of the race. Amid a wave of anti-establishment sentiment and desire for generational change, young challengers like Jones across the country have taken on their party’s aging incumbents. Nationally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/10/why-so-many-incumbents-lost-primaries-this-year-01070117\">13 members of Congress lost their primaries\u003c/a>, including seven Democrats and six Republicans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Jones wins, McCuan said it would be “dramatic in terms of a statement about generational change” given Thompson’s national stature and role in Democratic leadership. He could face a chilly reception from fellow Democrats in the House. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re going to want to penalize him a little bit for taking on a popular incumbent and winning,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if Thompson holds onto his seat, this may not be the last time he faces Jones.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCuan said the scale of Jones’ spending suggests he could be treating this race as a first attempt, a chance to learn about campaigns and build name recognition in the region. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If Mike wins, I’m not convinced that Eric goes away,” he said. “When you spend that kind of money, you’re typically a two-tripper.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones seemed to suggest as much at his campaign event, saying, “I’m not going anywhere. We’ve done a lot of great work in the community, and I have a bad habit of staying busy, so more to come on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Democrats Push Back on Reports of Trump Administration Plans to Deport Immigrants by Ship",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A pair of California congressmembers are mounting resistance to the Trump administration after reports of a proposal to use ships — including a maritime training vessel at Mare Island — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/immigration\">for deportation\u003c/a> voyages.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday, Democratic Reps. John Garamendi, who represents Solano County, and Salud Carbajal, of Santa Barbara, said the plan “is outrageous and should be immediately discarded.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garamendi is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and his district includes the Cal Poly Maritime Academy in Vallejo, where the 500-foot Golden Bear has served as a training ship for mariners over three decades. He told KQED that deportation journeys by ship could take many days, as opposed to hours on an airplane, and would be costly and inhumane.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076926\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. John Garamendi, D-California, at the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on June 16, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“An airplane is expensive enough. A ship is several times more expensive,” he said. “Immigrants are often \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103799/bay-area-officials-immigration-advocates-brace-for-ice-surge-after-central-valley-arrests\">detained\u003c/a> in very unsafe facilities. Immigrants have died in these facilities. And to add to this complex, dangerous program of detention, to put immigrants on a ship in the middle of the ocean with no healthcare anywhere nearby … makes absolutely no sense.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letter follows \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/trump-deportations-boats-ships.html\">reporting\u003c/a> by the New York Times earlier this month that the departments of Homeland Security and Defense are considering a plan to use ships, possibly including ferries and commercial vessels as well as the Golden Bear, to transport hundreds of people to Central and South America. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Golden Bear served as a training vessel at Cal Poly Maritime Academy for 30 years. It is \u003ca href=\"https://maritime.calpoly.edu/news/golden-bear-golden-state-new-era-cal-poly-maritime-academy\">set to be transferred\u003c/a> back to the U.S. Maritime Administration as the academy transitions in the coming months to a new training ship, according to the academy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Golden Bear has been an invaluable floating classroom that just returned from a three-month trip training cadets on navigation, engine mechanics and other skills essential to the maritime industry and military fields, Garamendi said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Any efforts to use the Golden Bear as a floating prison to hold, detain and deport migrants would be a dangerous misuse of government and taxpayer property,” the letter to Mullin said. “Mass relocations by sea would require moving hundreds of detained individuals through international waters and raises enormous operational, safety and legal challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, the congressmembers said, “the plan recalls catastrophic historical examples of deportations by sea that violated human rights and resulted in deadly consequences.” They reference 19th-century expulsions of Irish refugees and Chinese immigrants, and mass deportations of Mexicans in the 20th century, all of which employed ships.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garamendi said he’s not opposed to immigration enforcement, but he faulted Republicans for scuttling Democratic legislation to address immigration issues “humanely and sanely,” and instead turning to strategies he called cruel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The entire Trump immigration program to deport the worst of the worst has descended into deporting anybody they can get their hands on, and often doing it in a very, very dangerous way,” he said, adding the plan for deportation ships “makes no sense at all. Do not do it. Don’t even consider it.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to KQED’s request for comment by press time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A pair of California congressmembers are mounting resistance to the Trump administration after reports of a proposal to use ships — including a maritime training vessel at Mare Island — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/immigration\">for deportation\u003c/a> voyages.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday, Democratic Reps. John Garamendi, who represents Solano County, and Salud Carbajal, of Santa Barbara, said the plan “is outrageous and should be immediately discarded.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Garamendi is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and his district includes the Cal Poly Maritime Academy in Vallejo, where the 500-foot Golden Bear has served as a training ship for mariners over three decades. He told KQED that deportation journeys by ship could take many days, as opposed to hours on an airplane, and would be costly and inhumane.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Garamendi is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and his district includes the Cal Poly Maritime Academy in Vallejo, where the 500-foot Golden Bear has served as a training ship for mariners over three decades. He told KQED that deportation journeys by ship could take many days, as opposed to hours on an airplane, and would be costly and inhumane.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“An airplane is expensive enough. A ship is several times more expensive,” he said. “Immigrants are often \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103799/bay-area-officials-immigration-advocates-brace-for-ice-surge-after-central-valley-arrests\">detained\u003c/a> in very unsafe facilities. Immigrants have died in these facilities. And to add to this complex, dangerous program of detention, to put immigrants on a ship in the middle of the ocean with no healthcare anywhere nearby … makes absolutely no sense.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The letter follows \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/trump-deportations-boats-ships.html\">reporting\u003c/a> by the New York Times earlier this month that the departments of Homeland Security and Defense are considering a plan to use ships, possibly including ferries and commercial vessels as well as the Golden Bear, to transport hundreds of people to Central and South America. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Golden Bear has been an invaluable floating classroom that just returned from a three-month trip training cadets on navigation, engine mechanics and other skills essential to the maritime industry and military fields, Garamendi said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Any efforts to use the Golden Bear as a floating prison to hold, detain and deport migrants would be a dangerous misuse of government and taxpayer property,” the letter to Mullin said. “Mass relocations by sea would require moving hundreds of detained individuals through international waters and raises enormous operational, safety and legal challenges.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In addition, the congressmembers said, “the plan recalls catastrophic historical examples of deportations by sea that violated human rights and resulted in deadly consequences.” They reference 19th-century expulsions of Irish refugees and Chinese immigrants, and mass deportations of Mexicans in the 20th century, all of which employed ships.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Garamendi said he’s not opposed to immigration enforcement, but he faulted Republicans for scuttling Democratic legislation to address immigration issues “humanely and sanely,” and instead turning to strategies he called cruel.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The entire Trump immigration program to deport the worst of the worst has descended into deporting anybody they can get their hands on, and often doing it in a very, very dangerous way,” he said, adding the plan for deportation ships “makes no sense at all. Do not do it. Don’t even consider it.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A pair of California congressmembers are mounting resistance to the Trump administration after reports of a proposal to use ships — including a maritime training vessel at Mare Island — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/immigration\">for deportation\u003c/a> voyages.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday, Democratic Reps. John Garamendi, who represents Solano County, and Salud Carbajal, of Santa Barbara, said the plan “is outrageous and should be immediately discarded.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garamendi is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and his district includes the Cal Poly Maritime Academy in Vallejo, where the 500-foot Golden Bear has served as a training ship for mariners over three decades. He told KQED that deportation journeys by ship could take many days, as opposed to hours on an airplane, and would be costly and inhumane.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076926\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/John-Garamendi-Getty-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. John Garamendi, D-California, at the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on June 16, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“An airplane is expensive enough. A ship is several times more expensive,” he said. “Immigrants are often \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103799/bay-area-officials-immigration-advocates-brace-for-ice-surge-after-central-valley-arrests\">detained\u003c/a> in very unsafe facilities. Immigrants have died in these facilities. And to add to this complex, dangerous program of detention, to put immigrants on a ship in the middle of the ocean with no healthcare anywhere nearby … makes absolutely no sense.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letter follows \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/trump-deportations-boats-ships.html\">reporting\u003c/a> by the New York Times earlier this month that the departments of Homeland Security and Defense are considering a plan to use ships, possibly including ferries and commercial vessels as well as the Golden Bear, to transport hundreds of people to Central and South America. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Golden Bear served as a training vessel at Cal Poly Maritime Academy for 30 years. It is \u003ca href=\"https://maritime.calpoly.edu/news/golden-bear-golden-state-new-era-cal-poly-maritime-academy\">set to be transferred\u003c/a> back to the U.S. Maritime Administration as the academy transitions in the coming months to a new training ship, according to the academy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Golden Bear has been an invaluable floating classroom that just returned from a three-month trip training cadets on navigation, engine mechanics and other skills essential to the maritime industry and military fields, Garamendi said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Any efforts to use the Golden Bear as a floating prison to hold, detain and deport migrants would be a dangerous misuse of government and taxpayer property,” the letter to Mullin said. “Mass relocations by sea would require moving hundreds of detained individuals through international waters and raises enormous operational, safety and legal challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, the congressmembers said, “the plan recalls catastrophic historical examples of deportations by sea that violated human rights and resulted in deadly consequences.” They reference 19th-century expulsions of Irish refugees and Chinese immigrants, and mass deportations of Mexicans in the 20th century, all of which employed ships.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garamendi said he’s not opposed to immigration enforcement, but he faulted Republicans for scuttling Democratic legislation to address immigration issues “humanely and sanely,” and instead turning to strategies he called cruel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The entire Trump immigration program to deport the worst of the worst has descended into deporting anybody they can get their hands on, and often doing it in a very, very dangerous way,” he said, adding the plan for deportation ships “makes no sense at all. Do not do it. Don’t even consider it.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to KQED’s request for comment by press time.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-democrats-hope-iran-war-flips-the-script-on-gas-prices",
"title": "California Democrats Hope Iran War Flips the Script on Gas Prices",
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"headTitle": "California Democrats Hope Iran War Flips the Script on Gas Prices | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>After years of bearing the political blame for the nation’s highest gas prices, California Democrats are turning the nozzle on Republicans in pivotal House battlegrounds this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">midterm election\u003c/a> cycle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, Richard Pan is running ads blasting his opponent for supporting “the war that raised gas prices.” In Bakersfield, Randy Villegas stood outside a Shell station last week and pledged to suspend the federal gas tax. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">in San Diego\u003c/a>, an ad for Marni von Wilpert “shows her at a gas station, where she promises to “bring your tax dollars home, not spend them on foreign wars that cost you money.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s all part of a nationwide Democratic push to turn the tables on an issue that haunted the party in the last two elections by hounding Republicans over price increases at the pump fueled by the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In California, however, the GOP is not yet ceding ground on the fuel price fight. Republicans remain confident that they can land attacks on Democrats over the state’s longstanding environmental policies, gas tax and supply constraints as the cost of living weighs on voters statewide.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gas prices are displayed on a pump at a Shell gas station in San Rafael on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That’s what makes California so different: There are specific policies that voters can examine rather than simply looking at what’s happening in Washington,” said Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘We need our cars’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The three California congressional races rated competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report are the 13th and 22nd districts, in the farmlands of the Central Valley, and the 48th District, which covers the sprawling suburbs of northern San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need our cars — it’s a large district,” said Von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member running for the 48th District, where Republican Rep. Darrell Issa opted not to seek reelection. “When the war in Iran was started overnight by Donald Trump, he never asked for approval from the American people or from Congress.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Robin Ferguson, a resident of Escondido who is supporting Von Wilpert, felt the gas price hit in mid-September when she returned home after a week out of town. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Bretl pumps gas at a Shell gas station in San Rafael on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was at $5.09 when I left, it’s a week now, and it’s $5.79 — it’s a big, big issue,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have the public transportation up here in North County to get down to San Diego.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The nationwide monthly average for a gallon of gas hit a record high in September, according \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/\">to AAA\u003c/a>, and now sits at $4.33. In California, the average price is significantly higher: $6.26. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That California premium can be attributed to a number of factors, according to \u003ca href=\"https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/why-do-californians-pay-more-at-the-pump/\">an analysis\u003c/a> by UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Taxes are the largest contributor. The state’s gas tax stands at $0.63 per gallon, the highest in the nation. And unlike leaders in states such as Georgia, Indiana, Ohio and Utah, California lawmakers have not suspended or reduced the tax as the war-fueled price increases put more pressure on drivers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104469\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gas prices are displayed on a screen at a 76 gas station in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The tax, increased by the Legislature in 2017 and backed by voters a year later, funds road repair and transit. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California taxes started out averaging about $0.25 higher in the mid-oughts and are about $0.51 higher than elsewhere in the US over the last few years,” Borenstein wrote. “Taxes account for about one-quarter of the growth in the California gas premium.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On top of the tax are costs of complying with the state’s landmark emission-reduction programs — and the added expense of producing California’s special blend of gasoline. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ad spending flips\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Republicans wielded these state initiatives as cudgels in recent House elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Republicans took us to task on gas prices,” said Bill Wong, a Democratic strategist. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wong spent years leading the campaign arm for Democrats in the state Assembly, building a supermajority that allowed the party to pass the gas tax and an ambitious environmental agenda — and protecting it amid attacks from the GOP over fuel prices. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Democrats are banking on the resonance of fuel price anxiety as they look to make inroads in traditionally red areas of the country. Rising diesel costs add particular burdens in agricultural areas, such as Iowa and Kansas and California’s Central Valley — where farmers rely on diesel to run tractors and combines. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brookings \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/another-oil-crisis-is-here-how-will-american-drivers-respond/\">analyzed annual miles traveled\u003c/a> by Americans in their personal vehicle and found a decided tilt toward areas represented by the GOP in Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Across the country, districts that are represented by Republican elected officials are disproportionately those districts where people drive longer distances,” said Tomer, the Brookings senior fellow. “Also, many of them tend to have relatively lower household incomes.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The pattern extends to California. Brookings researchers re-ran their analysis under the state’s new congressional lines and found that eight of the nine districts represented by Republicans (as well as Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the GOP this year but caucuses with Republicans as an independent) are in the top half of California districts by vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Republicans welcome gas price fight\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Despite the mounting pressure from Democrats and the disproportionate pressure of rising gas prices, Republicans in California’s most competitive congressional districts are not shying away from the fight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In those battleground seats, GOP candidates and aligned groups have spent more than $3.2 million this cycle on ads mentioning “gas prices” — compared with roughly $700,000 from Democrats, according to data through September from AdImpact. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104451\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An individual pumps gas at a Shell gas station in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad from Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, features drivers bemoaning the cost of gas and tying Villegas, the Democratic candidate in the 22nd District, to Democratic support of the state’s cap-and-invest system. The program requires polluters such as refineries to pay for their carbon emissions and has \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5042\">historically added\u003c/a> roughly $0.23 to the cost of a gallon of gas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In another spot, Republican Kevin Lincoln, the former Stockton mayor challenging Rep. Adam Gray, takes aim at Gray’s 2017 vote in support of raising the state’s gas tax. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That’s what makes this issue so important in California,” said Martinez, the NRCC spokesperson. “We’re not talking about hypothetical policies; we’re talking about actual votes and records that people can look at every time they fill up their gas tanks.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103628/congressman-adam-gray-defends-one-of-californias-last-swing-districts-after-redistricting\">interview with KQED\u003c/a>, Gray contrasted his gas tax vote with the ongoing war — arguing that increasing the tax and tying it to the rate of inflation came with the benefit of funding overdue road repair. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Let’s compare and contrast that with the current inflation, the current kind of reckless war in Iran with no end in sight,” Gray said. “And yet — and this just tells you how dishonest the Republican campaign is — they’re running around blaming me for gas prices.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, some drivers aren’t ready to shift the blame to the GOP after years of tying the high prices to Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gabriel Uribe said gas prices are “killing us” as he filled up his silver Ford F-150 at a Chevron station in San Marcos — a San Diego suburb in the 48th District. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California has got to change,” he said. “California is different from any other state right now.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Uribe is a construction worker who said he commutes roughly 100 miles every day between northern San Diego County and Imperial Beach, a city along the U.S.-Mexico border. He said high gas prices drove him to support Trump in the 2024 election. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s [the] number one [reason] why I voted the way I did in the last presidential election,” Uribe said. “But it still can’t change unless we change here — you can only do so much federally, and it’s got to be a state issue now.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In California, however, the GOP is not yet ceding ground on the fuel price fight. Republicans remain confident that they can land attacks on Democrats over the state’s longstanding environmental policies, gas tax and supply constraints as the cost of living weighs on voters statewide.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gas prices are displayed on a pump at a Shell gas station in San Rafael on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That’s what makes California so different: There are specific policies that voters can examine rather than simply looking at what’s happening in Washington,” said Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The three California congressional races rated competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report are the 13th and 22nd districts, in the farmlands of the Central Valley, and the 48th District, which covers the sprawling suburbs of northern San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The three California congressional races rated competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report are the 13th and 22nd districts, in the farmlands of the Central Valley, and the 48th District, which covers the sprawling suburbs of northern San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We need our cars — it’s a large district,” said Von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member running for the 48th District, where Republican Rep. Darrell Issa opted not to seek reelection. “When the war in Iran was started overnight by Donald Trump, he never asked for approval from the American people or from Congress.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We need our cars — it’s a large district,” said Von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member running for the 48th District, where Republican Rep. Darrell Issa opted not to seek reelection. “When the war in Iran was started overnight by Donald Trump, he never asked for approval from the American people or from Congress.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Robin Ferguson, a resident of Escondido who is supporting Von Wilpert, felt the gas price hit in mid-September when she returned home after a week out of town. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Robin Ferguson, a resident of Escondido who is supporting Von Wilpert, felt the gas price hit in mid-September when she returned home after a week out of town. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Bretl pumps gas at a Shell gas station in San Rafael on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104453\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Bretl pumps gas at a Shell gas station in San Rafael on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It was at $5.09 when I left, it’s a week now, and it’s $5.79 — it’s a big, big issue,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have the public transportation up here in North County to get down to San Diego.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It was at $5.09 when I left, it’s a week now, and it’s $5.79 — it’s a big, big issue,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have the public transportation up here in North County to get down to San Diego.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The nationwide monthly average for a gallon of gas hit a record high in September, according \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/\">to AAA\u003c/a>, and now sits at $4.33. In California, the average price is significantly higher: $6.26. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The nationwide monthly average for a gallon of gas hit a record high in September, according \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/\">to AAA\u003c/a>, and now sits at $4.33. In California, the average price is significantly higher: $6.26. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That California premium can be attributed to a number of factors, according to \u003ca href=\"https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/why-do-californians-pay-more-at-the-pump/\">an analysis\u003c/a> by UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That California premium can be attributed to a number of factors, according to \u003ca href=\"https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/why-do-californians-pay-more-at-the-pump/\">an analysis\u003c/a> by UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Taxes are the largest contributor. The state’s gas tax stands at $0.63 per gallon, the highest in the nation. And unlike leaders in states such as Georgia, Indiana, Ohio and Utah, California lawmakers have not suspended or reduced the tax as the war-fueled price increases put more pressure on drivers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Taxes are the largest contributor. The state’s gas tax stands at $0.63 per gallon, the highest in the nation. And unlike leaders in states such as Georgia, Indiana, Ohio and Utah, California lawmakers have not suspended or reduced the tax as the war-fueled price increases put more pressure on drivers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104469\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gas prices are displayed on a screen at a 76 gas station in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104469\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gas prices are displayed on a screen at a 76 gas station in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The tax, increased by the Legislature in 2017 and backed by voters a year later, funds road repair and transit. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“California taxes started out averaging about $0.25 higher in the mid-oughts and are about $0.51 higher than elsewhere in the US over the last few years,” Borenstein wrote. “Taxes account for about one-quarter of the growth in the California gas premium.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“California taxes started out averaging about $0.25 higher in the mid-oughts and are about $0.51 higher than elsewhere in the US over the last few years,” Borenstein wrote. “Taxes account for about one-quarter of the growth in the California gas premium.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On top of the tax are costs of complying with the state’s landmark emission-reduction programs — and the added expense of producing California’s special blend of gasoline. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On top of the tax are costs of complying with the state’s landmark emission-reduction programs — and the added expense of producing California’s special blend of gasoline. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Republicans wielded these state initiatives as cudgels in recent House elections. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Republicans took us to task on gas prices,” said Bill Wong, a Democratic strategist. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Wong spent years leading the campaign arm for Democrats in the state Assembly, building a supermajority that allowed the party to pass the gas tax and an ambitious environmental agenda — and protecting it amid attacks from the GOP over fuel prices. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Democrats are banking on the resonance of fuel price anxiety as they look to make inroads in traditionally red areas of the country. Rising diesel costs add particular burdens in agricultural areas, such as Iowa and Kansas and California’s Central Valley — where farmers rely on diesel to run tractors and combines. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Democrats are banking on the resonance of fuel price anxiety as they look to make inroads in traditionally red areas of the country. Rising diesel costs add particular burdens in agricultural areas, such as Iowa and Kansas and California’s Central Valley — where farmers rely on diesel to run tractors and combines. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Brookings \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/another-oil-crisis-is-here-how-will-american-drivers-respond/\">analyzed annual miles traveled\u003c/a> by Americans in their personal vehicle and found a decided tilt toward areas represented by the GOP in Congress. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Brookings \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/another-oil-crisis-is-here-how-will-american-drivers-respond/\">analyzed annual miles traveled\u003c/a> by Americans in their personal vehicle and found a decided tilt toward areas represented by the GOP in Congress. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Across the country, districts that are represented by Republican elected officials are disproportionately those districts where people drive longer distances,” said Tomer, the Brookings senior fellow. “Also, many of them tend to have relatively lower household incomes.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The pattern extends to California. Brookings researchers re-ran their analysis under the state’s new congressional lines and found that eight of the nine districts represented by Republicans (as well as Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the GOP this year but caucuses with Republicans as an independent) are in the top half of California districts by vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The pattern extends to California. Brookings researchers re-ran their analysis under the state’s new congressional lines and found that eight of the nine districts represented by Republicans (as well as Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the GOP this year but caucuses with Republicans as an independent) are in the top half of California districts by vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Despite the mounting pressure from Democrats and the disproportionate pressure of rising gas prices, Republicans in California’s most competitive congressional districts are not shying away from the fight. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In those battleground seats, GOP candidates and aligned groups have spent more than $3.2 million this cycle on ads mentioning “gas prices” — compared with roughly $700,000 from Democrats, according to data through September from AdImpact. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An ad from Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, features drivers bemoaning the cost of gas and tying Villegas, the Democratic candidate in the 22nd District, to Democratic support of the state’s cap-and-invest system. The program requires polluters such as refineries to pay for their carbon emissions and has \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5042\">historically added\u003c/a> roughly $0.23 to the cost of a gallon of gas. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In another spot, Republican Kevin Lincoln, the former Stockton mayor challenging Rep. Adam Gray, takes aim at Gray’s 2017 vote in support of raising the state’s gas tax. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In another spot, Republican Kevin Lincoln, the former Stockton mayor challenging Rep. Adam Gray, takes aim at Gray’s 2017 vote in support of raising the state’s gas tax. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That’s what makes this issue so important in California,” said Martinez, the NRCC spokesperson. “We’re not talking about hypothetical policies; we’re talking about actual votes and records that people can look at every time they fill up their gas tanks.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103628/congressman-adam-gray-defends-one-of-californias-last-swing-districts-after-redistricting\">interview with KQED\u003c/a>, Gray contrasted his gas tax vote with the ongoing war — arguing that increasing the tax and tying it to the rate of inflation came with the benefit of funding overdue road repair. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Let’s compare and contrast that with the current inflation, the current kind of reckless war in Iran with no end in sight,” Gray said. “And yet — and this just tells you how dishonest the Republican campaign is — they’re running around blaming me for gas prices.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Let’s compare and contrast that with the current inflation, the current kind of reckless war in Iran with no end in sight,” Gray said. “And yet — and this just tells you how dishonest the Republican campaign is — they’re running around blaming me for gas prices.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, some drivers aren’t ready to shift the blame to the GOP after years of tying the high prices to Democrats.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gabriel Uribe said gas prices are “killing us” as he filled up his silver Ford F-150 at a Chevron station in San Marcos — a San Diego suburb in the 48th District. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Gabriel Uribe said gas prices are “killing us” as he filled up his silver Ford F-150 at a Chevron station in San Marcos — a San Diego suburb in the 48th District. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“California has got to change,” he said. “California is different from any other state right now.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Uribe is a construction worker who said he commutes roughly 100 miles every day between northern San Diego County and Imperial Beach, a city along the U.S.-Mexico border. He said high gas prices drove him to support Trump in the 2024 election. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Uribe is a construction worker who said he commutes roughly 100 miles every day between northern San Diego County and Imperial Beach, a city along the U.S.-Mexico border. He said high gas prices drove him to support Trump in the 2024 election. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s [the] number one [reason] why I voted the way I did in the last presidential election,” Uribe said. “But it still can’t change unless we change here — you can only do so much federally, and it’s got to be a state issue now.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "After years of playing defense over the nation’s highest gas prices, Democrats in battleground House districts are taking aim at war-fueled price increases. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>After years of bearing the political blame for the nation’s highest gas prices, California Democrats are turning the nozzle on Republicans in pivotal House battlegrounds this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">midterm election\u003c/a> cycle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, Richard Pan is running ads blasting his opponent for supporting “the war that raised gas prices.” In Bakersfield, Randy Villegas stood outside a Shell station last week and pledged to suspend the federal gas tax. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">in San Diego\u003c/a>, an ad for Marni von Wilpert “shows her at a gas station, where she promises to “bring your tax dollars home, not spend them on foreign wars that cost you money.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s all part of a nationwide Democratic push to turn the tables on an issue that haunted the party in the last two elections by hounding Republicans over price increases at the pump fueled by the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In California, however, the GOP is not yet ceding ground on the fuel price fight. Republicans remain confident that they can land attacks on Democrats over the state’s longstanding environmental policies, gas tax and supply constraints as the cost of living weighs on voters statewide.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-6-KQED-7221f6c9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gas prices are displayed on a pump at a Shell gas station in San Rafael on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That’s what makes California so different: There are specific policies that voters can examine rather than simply looking at what’s happening in Washington,” said Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The blame game over gas prices is taking on heightened importance as California’s congressional battlegrounds move from the upscale coastal suburbs, where the Democratic “blue wave” first made landfall in 2018, to inland working-class communities where residents tend to drive more on average. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, California has three House contests widely considered to be the most competitive between Democrats and Republicans. An analysis by the Brookings Institution for KQED found that all three seats fall in the top third of California congressional districts in annual vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When [gas] prices go up … those who drive longer distances, those who have less room in their household budgets feel it the most,” said Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Those households are really taking it on the chin right now.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘We need our cars’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The three California congressional races rated competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report are the 13th and 22nd districts, in the farmlands of the Central Valley, and the 48th District, which covers the sprawling suburbs of northern San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need our cars — it’s a large district,” said Von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member running for the 48th District, where Republican Rep. Darrell Issa opted not to seek reelection. “When the war in Iran was started overnight by Donald Trump, he never asked for approval from the American people or from Congress.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Robin Ferguson, a resident of Escondido who is supporting Von Wilpert, felt the gas price hit in mid-September when she returned home after a week out of town. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-7-KQED-446cbcfa-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Bretl pumps gas at a Shell gas station in San Rafael on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was at $5.09 when I left, it’s a week now, and it’s $5.79 — it’s a big, big issue,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have the public transportation up here in North County to get down to San Diego.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The nationwide monthly average for a gallon of gas hit a record high in September, according \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/\">to AAA\u003c/a>, and now sits at $4.33. In California, the average price is significantly higher: $6.26. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That California premium can be attributed to a number of factors, according to \u003ca href=\"https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/why-do-californians-pay-more-at-the-pump/\">an analysis\u003c/a> by UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Taxes are the largest contributor. The state’s gas tax stands at $0.63 per gallon, the highest in the nation. And unlike leaders in states such as Georgia, Indiana, Ohio and Utah, California lawmakers have not suspended or reduced the tax as the war-fueled price increases put more pressure on drivers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104469\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-3-KQED-48355995-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gas prices are displayed on a screen at a 76 gas station in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The tax, increased by the Legislature in 2017 and backed by voters a year later, funds road repair and transit. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California taxes started out averaging about $0.25 higher in the mid-oughts and are about $0.51 higher than elsewhere in the US over the last few years,” Borenstein wrote. “Taxes account for about one-quarter of the growth in the California gas premium.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On top of the tax are costs of complying with the state’s landmark emission-reduction programs — and the added expense of producing California’s special blend of gasoline. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ad spending flips\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Republicans wielded these state initiatives as cudgels in recent House elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When gas prices spiked in 2022, GOP groups pounded Central Valley Democrats Rudy Salas, who supported the state’s cap-and-trade program, and Adam Gray, who voted in favor of the gas tax increase. Both lost their campaigns that year, though Gray came back to win the 13th District in 2024. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Republicans took us to task on gas prices,” said Bill Wong, a Democratic strategist. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wong spent years leading the campaign arm for Democrats in the state Assembly, building a supermajority that allowed the party to pass the gas tax and an ambitious environmental agenda — and protecting it amid attacks from the GOP over fuel prices. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, he sees an opening for Democrats to at least neutralize the issue, as Iran’s attacks against ships carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz sent prices soaring worldwide. Average gas prices have increased $1.35 per gallon since the beginning of the war, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/gas-prices-iran-war-state-national-cost-trump-rcna265835\">according\u003c/a> to NBC News. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s a direct tie to something that they did with the increase in gas price,” Wong said. “I think it’s time for the Democrats to really lean into it and say, ‘Hey, you held us responsible for gas prices in the past, and now you’re in charge.’” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Across the country, Democrats have taken up that call to flip the script. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/gas-prices-midterms-affordability-ads-01041175\">Politico analysis\u003c/a> of ad transcripts from the firm AdImpact found that roughly two-thirds of ads mentioning gas or gas prices in House or Senate elections came from Democrats. In 2024, 87% of gas price ads were run by Republicans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Democrats are banking on the resonance of fuel price anxiety as they look to make inroads in traditionally red areas of the country. Rising diesel costs add particular burdens in agricultural areas, such as Iowa and Kansas and California’s Central Valley — where farmers rely on diesel to run tractors and combines. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brookings \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/another-oil-crisis-is-here-how-will-american-drivers-respond/\">analyzed annual miles traveled\u003c/a> by Americans in their personal vehicle and found a decided tilt toward areas represented by the GOP in Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Across the country, districts that are represented by Republican elected officials are disproportionately those districts where people drive longer distances,” said Tomer, the Brookings senior fellow. “Also, many of them tend to have relatively lower household incomes.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The pattern extends to California. Brookings researchers re-ran their analysis under the state’s new congressional lines and found that eight of the nine districts represented by Republicans (as well as Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the GOP this year but caucuses with Republicans as an independent) are in the top half of California districts by vehicle miles traveled per capita. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Republicans welcome gas price fight\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Despite the mounting pressure from Democrats and the disproportionate pressure of rising gas prices, Republicans in California’s most competitive congressional districts are not shying away from the fight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In those battleground seats, GOP candidates and aligned groups have spent more than $3.2 million this cycle on ads mentioning “gas prices” — compared with roughly $700,000 from Democrats, according to data through September from AdImpact. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104451\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/20261014_GasPricesVoters_GC-5-KQED-8d68c0c7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An individual pumps gas at a Shell gas station in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad from Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, features drivers bemoaning the cost of gas and tying Villegas, the Democratic candidate in the 22nd District, to Democratic support of the state’s cap-and-invest system. The program requires polluters such as refineries to pay for their carbon emissions and has \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5042\">historically added\u003c/a> roughly $0.23 to the cost of a gallon of gas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In another spot, Republican Kevin Lincoln, the former Stockton mayor challenging Rep. Adam Gray, takes aim at Gray’s 2017 vote in support of raising the state’s gas tax. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That’s what makes this issue so important in California,” said Martinez, the NRCC spokesperson. “We’re not talking about hypothetical policies; we’re talking about actual votes and records that people can look at every time they fill up their gas tanks.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103628/congressman-adam-gray-defends-one-of-californias-last-swing-districts-after-redistricting\">interview with KQED\u003c/a>, Gray contrasted his gas tax vote with the ongoing war — arguing that increasing the tax and tying it to the rate of inflation came with the benefit of funding overdue road repair. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Let’s compare and contrast that with the current inflation, the current kind of reckless war in Iran with no end in sight,” Gray said. “And yet — and this just tells you how dishonest the Republican campaign is — they’re running around blaming me for gas prices.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, some drivers aren’t ready to shift the blame to the GOP after years of tying the high prices to Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gabriel Uribe said gas prices are “killing us” as he filled up his silver Ford F-150 at a Chevron station in San Marcos — a San Diego suburb in the 48th District. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California has got to change,” he said. “California is different from any other state right now.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Uribe is a construction worker who said he commutes roughly 100 miles every day between northern San Diego County and Imperial Beach, a city along the U.S.-Mexico border. He said high gas prices drove him to support Trump in the 2024 election. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s [the] number one [reason] why I voted the way I did in the last presidential election,” Uribe said. “But it still can’t change unless we change here — you can only do so much federally, and it’s got to be a state issue now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "sf-democrats-move-to-endorse-gary-mccoy-for-district-8-supervisor",
"title": "SF Democrats Move to Endorse Gary McCoy for District 8 Supervisor",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> Democratic Party is officially rescinding its endorsement of Manny Yekutiel for District 8 Supervisor, throwing its support instead behind Gary McCoy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel, a small business owner and political organizer, was considered the frontrunner in the election for District 8, which is currently represented by Rafael Mandelmann. But after several men accused Yekutiel of sexual assault, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">dropped out \u003c/a>of the race. In July, community organizer Brad Chapin initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">accused Yekutiel\u003c/a> of groping him, and two people came forward with similar allegations earlier this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city’s Democratic Party held a virtual emergency meeting on Sunday, where it voted 29-0 to officially rescind its endorsement of Yekutiel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pick-up in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In August, the local party faced backlash for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097058/san-francisco-democratic-party-endorses-manny-yekutiel-for-supervisor-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">voting to endorse\u003c/a> Yekutiel — on the same day that it also announced the investigation into Chapin’s allegations had concluded. An ombudsperson who reviewed the complaint against Yekutiel said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But many of Yekutiel’s supporters, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, pulled their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">endorsements when the additional allegations surfaced earlier this month, \u003c/a>which prompted calls from members of the Democratic Party for Chair Nancy Tung to resign immediately. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After nearly two hours of public comment, Tung addressed those calling for her resignation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The calls for my resignation will surely ensure that nothing ever gets done,” Tung said, “No other politician, no other person on this body, or anyone else will decide to take on this very messy problem.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung referenced the failure of the organization’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfdems.org/chair/accountability\">2024 \u003c/a>framework to address sexual assault allegations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102904/san-francisco-democratic-party-chair-apologizes-after-sexual-assault-policy-broke-down\">apologizing\u003c/a> to Chapin, Tung declared she would not resign.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership on the ‘D Triple C,’ I’m sure that I’ll be voted out,” Tung said, “But for now, I’m committed to remaining chair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung said she will continue to improve the organization’s policy on addressing sexual assault allegations and work with survivors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy will face off against Michael Nguyen and Darshini Patel in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yekutiel, a small business owner and political organizer, was considered the frontrunner in the election for District 8, which is currently represented by Rafael Mandelmann. But after several men accused Yekutiel of sexual assault, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">dropped out \u003c/a>of the race. In July, community organizer Brad Chapin initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">accused Yekutiel\u003c/a> of groping him, and two people came forward with similar allegations earlier this month. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Yekutiel, a small business owner and political organizer, was considered the frontrunner in the election for District 8, which is currently represented by Rafael Mandelmann. But after several men accused Yekutiel of sexual assault, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">dropped out \u003c/a>of the race. In July, community organizer Brad Chapin initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">accused Yekutiel\u003c/a> of groping him, and two people came forward with similar allegations earlier this month. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pick-up in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In August, the local party faced backlash for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097058/san-francisco-democratic-party-endorses-manny-yekutiel-for-supervisor-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">voting to endorse\u003c/a> Yekutiel — on the same day that it also announced the investigation into Chapin’s allegations had concluded. An ombudsperson who reviewed the complaint against Yekutiel said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But many of Yekutiel’s supporters, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, pulled their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">endorsements when the additional allegations surfaced earlier this month, \u003c/a>which prompted calls from members of the Democratic Party for Chair Nancy Tung to resign immediately. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The calls for my resignation will surely ensure that nothing ever gets done,” Tung said, “No other politician, no other person on this body, or anyone else will decide to take on this very messy problem.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The calls for my resignation will surely ensure that nothing ever gets done,” Tung said, “No other politician, no other person on this body, or anyone else will decide to take on this very messy problem.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tung referenced the failure of the organization’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfdems.org/chair/accountability\">2024 \u003c/a>framework to address sexual assault allegations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tung referenced the failure of the organization’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfdems.org/chair/accountability\">2024 \u003c/a>framework to address sexual assault allegations. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102904/san-francisco-democratic-party-chair-apologizes-after-sexual-assault-policy-broke-down\">apologizing\u003c/a> to Chapin, Tung declared she would not resign.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership on the ‘D Triple C,’ I’m sure that I’ll be voted out,” Tung said, “But for now, I’m committed to remaining chair.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership on the ‘D Triple C,’ I’m sure that I’ll be voted out,” Tung said, “But for now, I’m committed to remaining chair.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tung said she will continue to improve the organization’s policy on addressing sexual assault allegations and work with survivors.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>McCoy will face off against Michael Nguyen and Darshini Patel in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "McCoy clinched the endorsement in a 20-0 vote after the party formally rescinded its support of Manny Yekutiel.\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> Democratic Party is officially rescinding its endorsement of Manny Yekutiel for District 8 Supervisor, throwing its support instead behind Gary McCoy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel, a small business owner and political organizer, was considered the frontrunner in the election for District 8, which is currently represented by Rafael Mandelmann. But after several men accused Yekutiel of sexual assault, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">dropped out \u003c/a>of the race. In July, community organizer Brad Chapin initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">accused Yekutiel\u003c/a> of groping him, and two people came forward with similar allegations earlier this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city’s Democratic Party held a virtual emergency meeting on Sunday, where it voted 29-0 to officially rescind its endorsement of Yekutiel.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-edited-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pick-up in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In August, the local party faced backlash for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097058/san-francisco-democratic-party-endorses-manny-yekutiel-for-supervisor-after-sexual-assault-allegations\">voting to endorse\u003c/a> Yekutiel — on the same day that it also announced the investigation into Chapin’s allegations had concluded. An ombudsperson who reviewed the complaint against Yekutiel said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But many of Yekutiel’s supporters, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, pulled their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102333/new-allegations-surface-against-san-francisco-supervisor-candidate-manny-yekutiel\">endorsements when the additional allegations surfaced earlier this month, \u003c/a>which prompted calls from members of the Democratic Party for Chair Nancy Tung to resign immediately. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After nearly two hours of public comment, Tung addressed those calling for her resignation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The calls for my resignation will surely ensure that nothing ever gets done,” Tung said, “No other politician, no other person on this body, or anyone else will decide to take on this very messy problem.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung referenced the failure of the organization’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfdems.org/chair/accountability\">2024 \u003c/a>framework to address sexual assault allegations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102904/san-francisco-democratic-party-chair-apologizes-after-sexual-assault-policy-broke-down\">apologizing\u003c/a> to Chapin, Tung declared she would not resign.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership on the ‘D Triple C,’ I’m sure that I’ll be voted out,” Tung said, “But for now, I’m committed to remaining chair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tung said she will continue to improve the organization’s policy on addressing sexual assault allegations and work with survivors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy, a former aide to Nancy Pelosi, Scott Wiener and London Breed, saw a 20-0 vote on Sunday evening for his endorsement. He told KQED he’s honored to receive the endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party and that “It’s also my hope that this marks the start of increased accountability for the party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>McCoy will face off against Michael Nguyen and Darshini Patel in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>VISTA — California’s newest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">congressional battleground\u003c/a> is taking shape in northern San Diego County, where hillsides speckled with terracotta roofs descend into canyons of chaparral — and voter opposition to President Donald Trump threatens to upend decades of local Republican dominance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Previously a safely red seat, the new-look 48th Congressional District is rated “Lean Democrat” by the Cook Political Report — making it one of just three competitive districts left in California that will help decide control of Congress in November. Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican incumbent, decided to retire rather than run for reelection. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A familiar dynamic has emerged in the race to succeed him: Democrat Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member, has positioned her campaign as a check on the Trump administration. Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor, has sought to ground his candidacy in local credibility to buttress the national headwinds facing the GOP.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Democrats set their sights on the 48th District after it was dramatically \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064834/how-prop-50-just-rewrote-californias-2026-congressional-map\">reshaped by Proposition 50\u003c/a>, the new map approved by California voters last year as part of a national redistricting battle. The district was transformed from a seat that Trump won by 15.3% to one in which former Vice President Kamala Harris would have won by 3.4%.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103898\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Congressional candidate Marni Von Wilpert marches during the 2026 San Diego Pride Parade on July 18, 2026, in San Diego, California. (Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Vista, where nearly half of residents are Latino, Desmond’s office recently sponsored the city’s Fiestas Patrias, a celebration of Mexican independence and Latino heritage. Local dance troupes performed traditional Mexican baile folklórico in the afternoon sun as their friends and family members cheered from tables shaded underneath large tents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a procession of costumed dancers performing a danza de los diablos marched past, longtime Vista resident Yolanda Kenniston Alvarez praised Desmond for his constituent services. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She applauded Desmond’s office for sponsoring community gatherings and giving away household essentials such as baby formula to families in this working-class city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Next week, they’re going to give out some car seats — that’s so good,” said Alvarez, who said she has voted for both Democrats and Republicans but is undecided in this race for Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, reminders of Trump’s first-term agenda loomed over the festivities. An organizer of Vista’s Fiestas Patrias said the event was nearly canceled last year over fears of an immigration enforcement operation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103901\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jim Desmond, candidate for U.S. Congressional District CA 48, speaks to a reporter during a Republican election night watch party at The U.S. Grant Hotel on June 2, 2026, in downtown San Diego, California. (Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alvarez said she was recently stopped on the street and questioned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People are scared — they’re scared they’re going to go back, they’re scared to even go to work, they’re scared to have their kids go to school,” she said. “It’s getting worse, and a lot of people are going against Trump.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond’s firewall of local loyalty will be tested in an election that is shaping up to be a referendum on Trump, said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There are lots and lots of voters who strongly support Donald Trump in these areas,” Kousser said. “But the average voter in this area of San Diego is leaning towards the Democrats and not happy with the direction that Donald Trump has taken the country.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Trump took center stage in the race this week when he suggested letting Iran “take out San Diego” to prove the necessity of dismantling the country’s nuclear weapons capabilities. In response, Desmond \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/JimDesmondSD/status/2107294478314926462?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet\">wrote\u003c/a> on social media, “I vehemently disagree with President Trump’s comments … no American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Von Wilpert has focused her campaign attacks on the local impacts of the Iran war — particularly the rising cost of gas in a region where drivers regularly endure long commutes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The choice is a fighter like me, who wants to stand up and lower costs to make Congress an equal branch of government again — or you could vote for another rubber stamp for the Donald Trump White House, which is my opponent,” Von Wilpert told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The newly drawn 48th District sprawls across vast stretches of Southern California, including areas of Riverside County around Temecula and the reliably Democratic city of Palm Springs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the election is expected to swing on voters in the San Diego County cities of Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside and Vista — an area known locally as North County. So far, both campaigns have focused their broadcast television ad buys primarily on San Diego stations, with a pro-Von Wilpert super PAC airing some ads in the Los Angeles market (which covers much of Riverside).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond’s campaign views the geography as a key advantage: While Von Wilpert lives outside the district in the city of San Diego, Desmond served as mayor of San Marcos from 2006 to 2018 and is finishing his second term as county supervisor. Nearly half of the voters in the 48th District are already represented by Desmond on the Board of Supervisors, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan California Target Book. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even as the area has swung towards Democrats in presidential elections, voters in North County have elected members of both parties to the state Legislature. The mayors of Escondido, San Marcos and Vista, though elected in nonpartisan races, are all Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Politically, I’d say we’re very purple; we’re not strongly leaning in either direction,” said Vista Mayor John Franklin, who has endorsed Desmond. “We think of him as a common-sense leader — he has been very responsive, he’s focused on affordability issues, particularly fighting tax increases.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond declined an interview request for this story. During the campaign, he has emphasized pieces of his platform with bipartisan support — such as assisting first-time homebuyers and banning members of Congress from trading stocks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103902\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Supporters of Jim Desmond, candidate for U.S. Congressional District CA 48, stand on stage as he speaks to the crowd during a Republican election night watch party at The U.S. Grant Hotel on June 2, 2026, in downtown San Diego, California. (Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I want to make sure that we can have the young families be able to afford a house and bring the cost of energy down,” Desmond \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/video/videos/politically-speaking-one-on-one-with-jim-desmond/4076178/\">told \u003c/a>NBC 7 in San Diego. “If we can lower the cost of energy, we lower the cost of everything.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Desmond has struggled to distance himself from the most unpopular parts of Trump’s agenda. The president announced his support of Desmond ahead of the June primary, but Trump doesn’t appear on the campaign’s list of endorsements. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Federal immigration enforcement has emerged as another local flashpoint in the race. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oceanside, Vista and Escondido all rank among the top 40 cities in California for ICE arrest rates since Trump took office last year, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/ice-arrest-san-francisco-california-city-22407786.php\">analysis\u003c/a> by the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The immigration crackdown has placed newfound scrutiny on the relationship between local governments and ICE. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Escondido, a handful of protesters lined the street outside a Home Depot, waving signs reading “ICE OUT” to passing cars. The group began gathering every week after a series of sweeps in Home Depot parking lots across the region. They are demanding that the city of Escondido end a contract with ICE that allows federal immigration agents to train at a local firing range. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted last month to end similar contracts with ICE and Customs and Border Protection. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond voted in opposition, but acknowledged that “ICE has overreached and overstepped.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supreshma Riya, a freshman at California State University, San Marcos, said opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement is the top issue motivating her vote. The San Diego native stopped by a voter registration drive on campus as she prepared to cast a ballot for the first time in November. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think that the way that he’s handling the situation is inhumane,” Riya said. “I think people should be given fair chances and opportunities to make a difference in our country.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opposition to the Biden administration’s border policy energized Republicans in 2024. But over time, Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement has chipped away at GOP support in the San Diego area, Kousser said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>North County is the last domino left standing in the region for the GOP. For decades, the area was represented in Congress by conservative stalwarts such as Duke Cunningham, Duncan Hunter and Issa. But a victory by Von Wilpert would give Democrats complete control of the county’s congressional delegation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This race could bring the culmination of the political transition of San Diego,” Kousser said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Vista, where nearly half of residents are Latino, Desmond’s office recently sponsored the city’s Fiestas Patrias, a celebration of Mexican independence and Latino heritage. Local dance troupes performed traditional Mexican baile folklórico in the afternoon sun as their friends and family members cheered from tables shaded underneath large tents. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As a procession of costumed dancers performing a danza de los diablos marched past, longtime Vista resident Yolanda Kenniston Alvarez praised Desmond for his constituent services. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She applauded Desmond’s office for sponsoring community gatherings and giving away household essentials such as baby formula to families in this working-class city.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Next week, they’re going to give out some car seats — that’s so good,” said Alvarez, who said she has voted for both Democrats and Republicans but is undecided in this race for Congress. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, reminders of Trump’s first-term agenda loomed over the festivities. An organizer of Vista’s Fiestas Patrias said the event was nearly canceled last year over fears of an immigration enforcement operation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Alvarez said she was recently stopped on the street and questioned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“People are scared — they’re scared they’re going to go back, they’re scared to even go to work, they’re scared to have their kids go to school,” she said. “It’s getting worse, and a lot of people are going against Trump.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Desmond’s firewall of local loyalty will be tested in an election that is shaping up to be a referendum on Trump, said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There are lots and lots of voters who strongly support Donald Trump in these areas,” Kousser said. “But the average voter in this area of San Diego is leaning towards the Democrats and not happy with the direction that Donald Trump has taken the country.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Trump took center stage in the race this week when he suggested letting Iran “take out San Diego” to prove the necessity of dismantling the country’s nuclear weapons capabilities. In response, Desmond \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/JimDesmondSD/status/2107294478314926462?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet\">wrote\u003c/a> on social media, “I vehemently disagree with President Trump’s comments … no American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Von Wilpert has focused her campaign attacks on the local impacts of the Iran war — particularly the rising cost of gas in a region where drivers regularly endure long commutes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The choice is a fighter like me, who wants to stand up and lower costs to make Congress an equal branch of government again — or you could vote for another rubber stamp for the Donald Trump White House, which is my opponent,” Von Wilpert told KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The newly drawn 48th District sprawls across vast stretches of Southern California, including areas of Riverside County around Temecula and the reliably Democratic city of Palm Springs.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the election is expected to swing on voters in the San Diego County cities of Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside and Vista — an area known locally as North County. So far, both campaigns have focused their broadcast television ad buys primarily on San Diego stations, with a pro-Von Wilpert super PAC airing some ads in the Los Angeles market (which covers much of Riverside).\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Desmond’s campaign views the geography as a key advantage: While Von Wilpert lives outside the district in the city of San Diego, Desmond served as mayor of San Marcos from 2006 to 2018 and is finishing his second term as county supervisor. Nearly half of the voters in the 48th District are already represented by Desmond on the Board of Supervisors, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan California Target Book. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even as the area has swung towards Democrats in presidential elections, voters in North County have elected members of both parties to the state Legislature. The mayors of Escondido, San Marcos and Vista, though elected in nonpartisan races, are all Republicans.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Even as the area has swung towards Democrats in presidential elections, voters in North County have elected members of both parties to the state Legislature. The mayors of Escondido, San Marcos and Vista, though elected in nonpartisan races, are all Republicans.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Politically, I’d say we’re very purple; we’re not strongly leaning in either direction,” said Vista Mayor John Franklin, who has endorsed Desmond. “We think of him as a common-sense leader — he has been very responsive, he’s focused on affordability issues, particularly fighting tax increases.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Politically, I’d say we’re very purple; we’re not strongly leaning in either direction,” said Vista Mayor John Franklin, who has endorsed Desmond. “We think of him as a common-sense leader — he has been very responsive, he’s focused on affordability issues, particularly fighting tax increases.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Desmond declined an interview request for this story. During the campaign, he has emphasized pieces of his platform with bipartisan support — such as assisting first-time homebuyers and banning members of Congress from trading stocks. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Desmond declined an interview request for this story. During the campaign, he has emphasized pieces of his platform with bipartisan support — such as assisting first-time homebuyers and banning members of Congress from trading stocks. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I want to make sure that we can have the young families be able to afford a house and bring the cost of energy down,” Desmond \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/video/videos/politically-speaking-one-on-one-with-jim-desmond/4076178/\">told \u003c/a>NBC 7 in San Diego. “If we can lower the cost of energy, we lower the cost of everything.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But Desmond has struggled to distance himself from the most unpopular parts of Trump’s agenda. The president announced his support of Desmond ahead of the June primary, but Trump doesn’t appear on the campaign’s list of endorsements. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oceanside, Vista and Escondido all rank among the top 40 cities in California for ICE arrest rates since Trump took office last year, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/ice-arrest-san-francisco-california-city-22407786.php\">analysis\u003c/a> by the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Oceanside, Vista and Escondido all rank among the top 40 cities in California for ICE arrest rates since Trump took office last year, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/ice-arrest-san-francisco-california-city-22407786.php\">analysis\u003c/a> by the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Escondido, a handful of protesters lined the street outside a Home Depot, waving signs reading “ICE OUT” to passing cars. The group began gathering every week after a series of sweeps in Home Depot parking lots across the region. They are demanding that the city of Escondido end a contract with ICE that allows federal immigration agents to train at a local firing range. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supreshma Riya, a freshman at California State University, San Marcos, said opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement is the top issue motivating her vote. The San Diego native stopped by a voter registration drive on campus as she prepared to cast a ballot for the first time in November. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Supreshma Riya, a freshman at California State University, San Marcos, said opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement is the top issue motivating her vote. The San Diego native stopped by a voter registration drive on campus as she prepared to cast a ballot for the first time in November. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I think that the way that he’s handling the situation is inhumane,” Riya said. “I think people should be given fair chances and opportunities to make a difference in our country.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Opposition to the Biden administration’s border policy energized Republicans in 2024. But over time, Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement has chipped away at GOP support in the San Diego area, Kousser said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Opposition to the Biden administration’s border policy energized Republicans in 2024. But over time, Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement has chipped away at GOP support in the San Diego area, Kousser said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>North County is the last domino left standing in the region for the GOP. For decades, the area was represented in Congress by conservative stalwarts such as Duke Cunningham, Duncan Hunter and Issa. But a victory by Von Wilpert would give Democrats complete control of the county’s congressional delegation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>North County is the last domino left standing in the region for the GOP. For decades, the area was represented in Congress by conservative stalwarts such as Duke Cunningham, Duncan Hunter and Issa. But a victory by Von Wilpert would give Democrats complete control of the county’s congressional delegation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This race could bring the culmination of the political transition of San Diego,” Kousser said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Democrat Marni von Wilpert and Republican Jim Desmond compete in the 48th Congressional District, one of California’s most competitive House elections. ",
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"title": "Local Loyalties and Trump Opposition Collide in San Diego House Race | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>VISTA — California’s newest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/electionsnews\">congressional battleground\u003c/a> is taking shape in northern San Diego County, where hillsides speckled with terracotta roofs descend into canyons of chaparral — and voter opposition to President Donald Trump threatens to upend decades of local Republican dominance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Previously a safely red seat, the new-look 48th Congressional District is rated “Lean Democrat” by the Cook Political Report — making it one of just three competitive districts left in California that will help decide control of Congress in November. Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican incumbent, decided to retire rather than run for reelection. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A familiar dynamic has emerged in the race to succeed him: Democrat Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member, has positioned her campaign as a check on the Trump administration. Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor, has sought to ground his candidacy in local credibility to buttress the national headwinds facing the GOP.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Democrats set their sights on the 48th District after it was dramatically \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064834/how-prop-50-just-rewrote-californias-2026-congressional-map\">reshaped by Proposition 50\u003c/a>, the new map approved by California voters last year as part of a national redistricting battle. The district was transformed from a seat that Trump won by 15.3% to one in which former Vice President Kamala Harris would have won by 3.4%.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103898\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Marni-von-Wilpert-Getty-fdc6ba42-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Congressional candidate Marni Von Wilpert marches during the 2026 San Diego Pride Parade on July 18, 2026, in San Diego, California. (Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Vista, where nearly half of residents are Latino, Desmond’s office recently sponsored the city’s Fiestas Patrias, a celebration of Mexican independence and Latino heritage. Local dance troupes performed traditional Mexican baile folklórico in the afternoon sun as their friends and family members cheered from tables shaded underneath large tents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a procession of costumed dancers performing a danza de los diablos marched past, longtime Vista resident Yolanda Kenniston Alvarez praised Desmond for his constituent services. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She applauded Desmond’s office for sponsoring community gatherings and giving away household essentials such as baby formula to families in this working-class city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Next week, they’re going to give out some car seats — that’s so good,” said Alvarez, who said she has voted for both Democrats and Republicans but is undecided in this race for Congress. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, reminders of Trump’s first-term agenda loomed over the festivities. An organizer of Vista’s Fiestas Patrias said the event was nearly canceled last year over fears of an immigration enforcement operation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103901\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty-ed46ab3a-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jim Desmond, candidate for U.S. Congressional District CA 48, speaks to a reporter during a Republican election night watch party at The U.S. Grant Hotel on June 2, 2026, in downtown San Diego, California. (Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alvarez said she was recently stopped on the street and questioned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People are scared — they’re scared they’re going to go back, they’re scared to even go to work, they’re scared to have their kids go to school,” she said. “It’s getting worse, and a lot of people are going against Trump.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond’s firewall of local loyalty will be tested in an election that is shaping up to be a referendum on Trump, said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There are lots and lots of voters who strongly support Donald Trump in these areas,” Kousser said. “But the average voter in this area of San Diego is leaning towards the Democrats and not happy with the direction that Donald Trump has taken the country.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Trump took center stage in the race this week when he suggested letting Iran “take out San Diego” to prove the necessity of dismantling the country’s nuclear weapons capabilities. In response, Desmond \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/JimDesmondSD/status/2107294478314926462?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet\">wrote\u003c/a> on social media, “I vehemently disagree with President Trump’s comments … no American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Von Wilpert has focused her campaign attacks on the local impacts of the Iran war — particularly the rising cost of gas in a region where drivers regularly endure long commutes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The choice is a fighter like me, who wants to stand up and lower costs to make Congress an equal branch of government again — or you could vote for another rubber stamp for the Donald Trump White House, which is my opponent,” Von Wilpert told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The newly drawn 48th District sprawls across vast stretches of Southern California, including areas of Riverside County around Temecula and the reliably Democratic city of Palm Springs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the election is expected to swing on voters in the San Diego County cities of Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside and Vista — an area known locally as North County. So far, both campaigns have focused their broadcast television ad buys primarily on San Diego stations, with a pro-Von Wilpert super PAC airing some ads in the Los Angeles market (which covers much of Riverside).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond’s campaign views the geography as a key advantage: While Von Wilpert lives outside the district in the city of San Diego, Desmond served as mayor of San Marcos from 2006 to 2018 and is finishing his second term as county supervisor. Nearly half of the voters in the 48th District are already represented by Desmond on the Board of Supervisors, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan California Target Book. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even as the area has swung towards Democrats in presidential elections, voters in North County have elected members of both parties to the state Legislature. The mayors of Escondido, San Marcos and Vista, though elected in nonpartisan races, are all Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Politically, I’d say we’re very purple; we’re not strongly leaning in either direction,” said Vista Mayor John Franklin, who has endorsed Desmond. “We think of him as a common-sense leader — he has been very responsive, he’s focused on affordability issues, particularly fighting tax increases.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond declined an interview request for this story. During the campaign, he has emphasized pieces of his platform with bipartisan support — such as assisting first-time homebuyers and banning members of Congress from trading stocks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103902\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Jim-Desmond-Getty2-bdd6ebf1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Supporters of Jim Desmond, candidate for U.S. Congressional District CA 48, stand on stage as he speaks to the crowd during a Republican election night watch party at The U.S. Grant Hotel on June 2, 2026, in downtown San Diego, California. (Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I want to make sure that we can have the young families be able to afford a house and bring the cost of energy down,” Desmond \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/video/videos/politically-speaking-one-on-one-with-jim-desmond/4076178/\">told \u003c/a>NBC 7 in San Diego. “If we can lower the cost of energy, we lower the cost of everything.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Desmond has struggled to distance himself from the most unpopular parts of Trump’s agenda. The president announced his support of Desmond ahead of the June primary, but Trump doesn’t appear on the campaign’s list of endorsements. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Federal immigration enforcement has emerged as another local flashpoint in the race. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oceanside, Vista and Escondido all rank among the top 40 cities in California for ICE arrest rates since Trump took office last year, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/ice-arrest-san-francisco-california-city-22407786.php\">analysis\u003c/a> by the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The immigration crackdown has placed newfound scrutiny on the relationship between local governments and ICE. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Escondido, a handful of protesters lined the street outside a Home Depot, waving signs reading “ICE OUT” to passing cars. The group began gathering every week after a series of sweeps in Home Depot parking lots across the region. They are demanding that the city of Escondido end a contract with ICE that allows federal immigration agents to train at a local firing range. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted last month to end similar contracts with ICE and Customs and Border Protection. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Desmond voted in opposition, but acknowledged that “ICE has overreached and overstepped.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supreshma Riya, a freshman at California State University, San Marcos, said opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement is the top issue motivating her vote. The San Diego native stopped by a voter registration drive on campus as she prepared to cast a ballot for the first time in November. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think that the way that he’s handling the situation is inhumane,” Riya said. “I think people should be given fair chances and opportunities to make a difference in our country.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opposition to the Biden administration’s border policy energized Republicans in 2024. But over time, Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement has chipped away at GOP support in the San Diego area, Kousser said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>North County is the last domino left standing in the region for the GOP. For decades, the area was represented in Congress by conservative stalwarts such as Duke Cunningham, Duncan Hunter and Issa. But a victory by Von Wilpert would give Democrats complete control of the county’s congressional delegation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This race could bring the culmination of the political transition of San Diego,” Kousser said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "in-becerra-and-hiltons-only-scheduled-debate-trump-was-the-main-character",
"title": "In Becerra and Hilton’s Only Scheduled Debate, Trump Was the Main Character",
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"headTitle": "In Becerra and Hilton’s Only Scheduled Debate, Trump Was the Main Character | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians watching Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate would be forgiven for thinking the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/governor/\">candidates for governor\u003c/a> are President Donald Trump and the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump was the central topic in the debate between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton, with Becerra repeatedly tying Hilton to Trump’s policies on immigration, taxes, housing, the environment and Big Tech. Hilton also tried to tie Becerra to outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats at large, whom Hilton blames for business and housing regulations that contribute to high costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra mentioned the president, who is widely unpopular in California, more than a dozen times during the hourlong debate on CNN.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re going to end up with Trump results if you follow Steve Hilton’s plans,” Becerra said when asked about Hilton’s proposal to eliminate income taxes for middle-class Californians. He pointed out that Hilton’s plan to drop income taxes on the first $150,000 in earnings also includes a tax cut for the state’s wealthiest earners, comparing it to federal tax cuts enacted by Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, speaks during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg Pool via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Similarly, when Hilton said he would wait to assess whether California needs to more aggressively regulate artificial intelligence companies, Becerra linked his response to Trump’s inaction, saying “if you listen closely, you can hear Donald Trump in that response.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra also said he would impose limits on AI data centers in communities that oppose them. Hilton noted that Becerra’s campaign has received donations from the biggest artificial intelligence companies, Anthropic and OpenAI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump endorsed Hilton during the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-governor-primary-hilton-advances/\">contested primary election\u003c/a>, but the former Fox News host has since tried to distance himself from both the president and the Republican Party, running ads telling voters they can dislike Trump and still support him. Last week, in an acknowledgement that opposition to Trump is dragging down Republicans’ approval rating, Hilton’s campaign released a poll claiming he was “unscathed from (the) Republican collapse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Hilton’s proposal to expand oil drilling in California, Becerra brought up Trump’s effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094648/californians-vow-to-fight-federal-takeover-of-coastline-for-oil-drilling\">expand drilling\u003c/a> off the state’s coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12102105 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On homelessness, Hilton noted Becerra once graded Newsom an “A for effort” on the issue despite homelessness increasing during his terms, while Becerra countered that Trump \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/06/lahsa-hud-funding/\">has blocked federal funding\u003c/a> for local homelessness agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a predictable strategy for Becerra, who enjoys a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-september-2026/\">double-digit lead\u003c/a> over Hilton in the heavily Democratic-leaning state where voters also disapprove of Trump by wide margins. The Democratic candidate and former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary has laid low since getting the most votes in the crowded all-party primary election in June, making few public appearances and agreeing only to one debate. Hilton criticized Becerra for repeatedly mentioning national politics, arguing the Democrat isn’t offering Californians any concrete solutions to the nation-topping cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All you ever say is ‘Trump, Trump, Trump,’” Hilton said. “And that’s nothing but an insult to every Californian who is desperate for something to change in this state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates traded insults throughout the night. Hilton cited reports that Becerra’s colleagues in President Joe Biden’s cabinet had “described (Becerra) as an idiot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in several testy exchanges over immigration, Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants, tied Hilton to Trump’s aggressive nationwide immigration raids and mass deportation campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me,” Becerra said. Hilton, a British immigrant and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/07/california-governor-hilton-profile/\">former adviser\u003c/a> to British Prime Minister David Cameron, bristled at the comment, calling it “disgraceful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12098221\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12098221\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Hilton, candidate for California governor, speaks with KQED political reporter Marisa Lagos for Political Breakdown at the KQED studios in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hilton \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/video/6367836110112\">praised the deportation campaign\u003c/a> last January as “perfect” during an appearance on Fox News. He has previously described himself as “pro-immigration.” On Wednesday night, he dodged questions on whether he would undo the state’s sanctuary law limiting police cooperation with immigration agents and direct California officers to assist in Trump’s campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, he said, he would prefer to “turn down the temperature” on that debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates argued over the best way to increase housing construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilton wants to build 10 new cities and allow more new construction on undeveloped land to avoid battles between the state and residents and local governments that are resistant to new development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have got so much space that we could be building in,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra said to address the housing crisis, he would reduce administrative and bureaucratic hurdles to getting construction permits, boost down payment assistance programs and stop Wall Street investors from competing with would-be homeowners. He pointed to the lawsuit he filed as state attorney general against the city of Huntington Beach to force it to approve new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No locality should have the right to try to stop all of our people in California from having the housing they need,” Becerra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They found common ground on how to keep the film industry in California amid competition from other states and countries. Los Angeles County has lost about 50,000 film and TV jobs since 2022. But while both candidates support expanding the state’s film tax credit to lower the cost of producing in California, they still each got in a dig over who to blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who’s been in charge when all those jobs have gone?” Hilton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump,” Becerra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Democrats,” Hilton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/09/california-general-election-gubernatorial-debate-cnn/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "In their only debate, Xavier Becerra repeatedly linked Steve Hilton to President Donald Trump — while Hilton accused him of dodging California’s real problems.",
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"title": "In Becerra and Hilton’s Only Scheduled Debate, Trump Was the Main Character | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians watching Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate would be forgiven for thinking the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/governor/\">candidates for governor\u003c/a> are President Donald Trump and the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump was the central topic in the debate between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton, with Becerra repeatedly tying Hilton to Trump’s policies on immigration, taxes, housing, the environment and Big Tech. Hilton also tried to tie Becerra to outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats at large, whom Hilton blames for business and housing regulations that contribute to high costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra mentioned the president, who is widely unpopular in California, more than a dozen times during the hourlong debate on CNN.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re going to end up with Trump results if you follow Steve Hilton’s plans,” Becerra said when asked about Hilton’s proposal to eliminate income taxes for middle-class Californians. He pointed out that Hilton’s plan to drop income taxes on the first $150,000 in earnings also includes a tax cut for the state’s wealthiest earners, comparing it to federal tax cuts enacted by Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, speaks during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg Pool via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Similarly, when Hilton said he would wait to assess whether California needs to more aggressively regulate artificial intelligence companies, Becerra linked his response to Trump’s inaction, saying “if you listen closely, you can hear Donald Trump in that response.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra also said he would impose limits on AI data centers in communities that oppose them. Hilton noted that Becerra’s campaign has received donations from the biggest artificial intelligence companies, Anthropic and OpenAI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump endorsed Hilton during the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-governor-primary-hilton-advances/\">contested primary election\u003c/a>, but the former Fox News host has since tried to distance himself from both the president and the Republican Party, running ads telling voters they can dislike Trump and still support him. Last week, in an acknowledgement that opposition to Trump is dragging down Republicans’ approval rating, Hilton’s campaign released a poll claiming he was “unscathed from (the) Republican collapse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Hilton’s proposal to expand oil drilling in California, Becerra brought up Trump’s effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094648/californians-vow-to-fight-federal-takeover-of-coastline-for-oil-drilling\">expand drilling\u003c/a> off the state’s coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On homelessness, Hilton noted Becerra once graded Newsom an “A for effort” on the issue despite homelessness increasing during his terms, while Becerra countered that Trump \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/06/lahsa-hud-funding/\">has blocked federal funding\u003c/a> for local homelessness agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a predictable strategy for Becerra, who enjoys a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-september-2026/\">double-digit lead\u003c/a> over Hilton in the heavily Democratic-leaning state where voters also disapprove of Trump by wide margins. The Democratic candidate and former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary has laid low since getting the most votes in the crowded all-party primary election in June, making few public appearances and agreeing only to one debate. Hilton criticized Becerra for repeatedly mentioning national politics, arguing the Democrat isn’t offering Californians any concrete solutions to the nation-topping cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All you ever say is ‘Trump, Trump, Trump,’” Hilton said. “And that’s nothing but an insult to every Californian who is desperate for something to change in this state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates traded insults throughout the night. Hilton cited reports that Becerra’s colleagues in President Joe Biden’s cabinet had “described (Becerra) as an idiot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in several testy exchanges over immigration, Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants, tied Hilton to Trump’s aggressive nationwide immigration raids and mass deportation campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me,” Becerra said. Hilton, a British immigrant and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/07/california-governor-hilton-profile/\">former adviser\u003c/a> to British Prime Minister David Cameron, bristled at the comment, calling it “disgraceful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12098221\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12098221\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260902-SteveHiltonPB-07-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Hilton, candidate for California governor, speaks with KQED political reporter Marisa Lagos for Political Breakdown at the KQED studios in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hilton \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/video/6367836110112\">praised the deportation campaign\u003c/a> last January as “perfect” during an appearance on Fox News. He has previously described himself as “pro-immigration.” On Wednesday night, he dodged questions on whether he would undo the state’s sanctuary law limiting police cooperation with immigration agents and direct California officers to assist in Trump’s campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, he said, he would prefer to “turn down the temperature” on that debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates argued over the best way to increase housing construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilton wants to build 10 new cities and allow more new construction on undeveloped land to avoid battles between the state and residents and local governments that are resistant to new development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have got so much space that we could be building in,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra said to address the housing crisis, he would reduce administrative and bureaucratic hurdles to getting construction permits, boost down payment assistance programs and stop Wall Street investors from competing with would-be homeowners. He pointed to the lawsuit he filed as state attorney general against the city of Huntington Beach to force it to approve new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No locality should have the right to try to stop all of our people in California from having the housing they need,” Becerra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They found common ground on how to keep the film industry in California amid competition from other states and countries. Los Angeles County has lost about 50,000 film and TV jobs since 2022. But while both candidates support expanding the state’s film tax credit to lower the cost of producing in California, they still each got in a dig over who to blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who’s been in charge when all those jobs have gone?” Hilton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump,” Becerra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Democrats,” Hilton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/09/california-general-election-gubernatorial-debate-cnn/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "tech-is-spending-big-on-california-races-this-bay-area-group-wants-you-to-know",
"title": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know",
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"headTitle": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>As voters grow increasingly concerned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">artificial intelligence and data centers\u003c/a>, a progressive Bay Area nonprofit is spending $1 million to spotlight the influence of Big Tech in California’s legislative elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech interests are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077445/how-ai-and-tech-are-changing-the-campaign-finance-game\">becoming a bigger force\u003c/a> in down-ballot races. So far this year, two tech-backed super PACs have already spent more than $24 million boosting mostly moderate Democrats across the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2292\" height=\"2021\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2292px) 100vw, 2292px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, meanwhile, also launched an ad buy of more than $1 million this week for three of the districts targeted by TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee holds a sign before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 2026. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lucan condemned the outside spending in the race on both sides. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the things that always gets my goat is dark money,” Raful said. “People ought to be willing to stand up and call it out for what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>As voters grow increasingly concerned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">artificial intelligence and data centers\u003c/a>, a progressive Bay Area nonprofit is spending $1 million to spotlight the influence of Big Tech in California’s legislative elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech interests are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077445/how-ai-and-tech-are-changing-the-campaign-finance-game\">becoming a bigger force\u003c/a> in down-ballot races. So far this year, two tech-backed super PACs have already spent more than $24 million boosting mostly moderate Democrats across the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2292\" height=\"2021\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2292px) 100vw, 2292px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, meanwhile, also launched an ad buy of more than $1 million this week for three of the districts targeted by TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee holds a sign before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 2026. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lucan condemned the outside spending in the race on both sides. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the things that always gets my goat is dark money,” Raful said. “People ought to be willing to stand up and call it out for what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-francisco-democratic-party-endorses-manny-yekutiel-for-supervisor-after-sexual-assault-allegations",
"title": "San Francisco Democratic Party Endorses Manny Yekutiel for Supervisor After Sexual Assault Allegations",
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"headTitle": "San Francisco Democratic Party Endorses Manny Yekutiel for Supervisor After Sexual Assault Allegations | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party voted to endorse Manny Yekutiel for District 8 supervisor despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">sexual assault allegations\u003c/a> against the local cafe owner who has forged close ties with many of the city’s prominent political leaders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The endorsement arrived the same day the local party announced the conclusion of an investigation into allegations made by Brad Chapin, who claimed Yekutiel assaulted him at a party in 2020. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ombudsperson tasked with reviewing Chapin’s complaint said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel said in a statement that he was grateful for the party’s endorsement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090328\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Manny Yekutiel introduces U.S. presidential candidate Tom Steyer during Steyer’s appearance at Manny’s in San Francisco, California, on July 17, 2019. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our campaign is focused on delivering results on the issues voters care about most, making San Francisco more affordable, building the housing we need, supporting small businesses and keeping our neighborhood safe,” he said. “I’m proud of the momentum behind this campaign, and I’m going to keep taking that message directly to voters across District 8.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chapin’s case was one of the first tests for the San Francisco Democratic Party’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016733/sf-democrats-adopt-new-sexual-assault-reporting-policies\">newly created policy\u003c/a> for reporting sexual misconduct in political spaces. Chapin, a city gardener who previously worked as an organizer in local politics, filed a police report in April before reporting the incident to the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chapin said he did not receive a response through the reporting process until he came forward publicly with his story in the media, however. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An adjudication panel met on Tuesday to review the investigator’s findings, according to a letter sent to Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The accusation cannot be substantiated,” the letter said, stating that the event in question was not at an official meeting or event sponsored by a political club. “This is not a determination on the merits of whether a sexual assault occurred.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Speaking during public comment at Wednesday night’s Democratic Party meeting, Chapin called the process a “sham.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m really disappointed in your investigation,” he said. “You should all be…ashamed of yourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has powerful allies in City Hall, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, with whom he started the nonprofit Civic Joy Fund. His restaurant, Manny’s, serves as a civic gathering space that has hosted prominent political figures both local and national. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has endorsements from the majority of the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who is a member of the Democratic Party’s committee on sexual assault, abstained from the vote on Wednesday night but has personally endorsed Yekutiel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-2278646743-scaled-e1782502896455.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086413\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mayor Daniel Lurie during a news conference on his budget proposal in San Francisco on June 1, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I support him because he embodies Democratic values and he’s lived through them for years doing civic engagement, bringing people together, championing equality and inclusion. He has truly built community,” a District 8 resident named Trey Gwen said at Wednesday’s meeting. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel is facing off against three other candidates also running to represent District 8, which includes the Castro, Noe Valley and Glen Park neighborhoods. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They include Gary McCoy, a former aide for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; Democratic Party member and lawyer Michael Nguyen; and former DoorDash employee Darshini Patel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Democratic Party narrowly voted against backing McCoy, who has an endorsement from Pelosi, as a second-rank candidate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I know Gary very well. He is somebody I consider a friend, and I think he would be a terrific colleague,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who said the two met through drug recovery meetings. “It would mean a lot to people in the recovery community.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Catie Stewart, a spokesperson for McCoy’s campaign, said in a statement on Wednesday that they share “grave concerns” about the Democratic Party’s process and findings around Chapin’s assault allegations against Yekutiel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12020498\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pickup in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“Its conclusion on the day of a critical endorsement meeting, after months of initially ignoring Brad Chapin’s complaint, is suspect, bordering on absurd,” the statement said. “That the ombudsperson says they are both unable to substantiate the claim nor determine whether or not a sexual assault happened provides no meaningful information.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has asserted that Chapin’s complaint was politically motivated, which Chapin has denied outright. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s Democratic Party created its sexual assault reporting policy following accusations against prominent political organizers including John Jacobo and Kevin Ortiz, two progressives who have both denied the allegations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The goal was to create an independent process for vetting complaints outside of the inherently political body. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But concerns around the reporting process more generally, including its appeal process and notification system, were echoed by members of the city’s political community after Wednesday’s endorsement vote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gina Roccanova, a professional mediator and arbitrator who chairs the Democratic Party’s judicial committee tasked with the investigation, declined to comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The policy is sloppy and wasn’t adequately considered. They were not effective at creating an environment where they could hear from a variety of survivors about what our needs were, and so those needs are not reflected in the policy,” said a woman who has accused Ortiz of sexual assault and who requested anonymity to discuss the policy because she has not come forward publicly. “It’s a betrayal to all survivors because you can’t just pick and choose which assaults matter based on who politically aligns with you.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The endorsement arrived the same day the local party announced the conclusion of an investigation into allegations made by Brad Chapin, who claimed Yekutiel assaulted him at a party in 2020. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090328\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Manny Yekutiel introduces U.S. presidential candidate Tom Steyer during Steyer’s appearance at Manny’s in San Francisco, California, on July 17, 2019.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our campaign is focused on delivering results on the issues voters care about most, making San Francisco more affordable, building the housing we need, supporting small businesses and keeping our neighborhood safe,” he said. “I’m proud of the momentum behind this campaign, and I’m going to keep taking that message directly to voters across District 8.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chapin’s case was one of the first tests for the San Francisco Democratic Party’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016733/sf-democrats-adopt-new-sexual-assault-reporting-policies\">newly created policy\u003c/a> for reporting sexual misconduct in political spaces. Chapin, a city gardener who previously worked as an organizer in local politics, filed a police report in April before reporting the incident to the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chapin said he did not receive a response through the reporting process until he came forward publicly with his story in the media, however. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An adjudication panel met on Tuesday to review the investigator’s findings, according to a letter sent to Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The accusation cannot be substantiated,” the letter said, stating that the event in question was not at an official meeting or event sponsored by a political club. “This is not a determination on the merits of whether a sexual assault occurred.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Speaking during public comment at Wednesday night’s Democratic Party meeting, Chapin called the process a “sham.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m really disappointed in your investigation,” he said. “You should all be…ashamed of yourselves.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has powerful allies in City Hall, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, with whom he started the nonprofit Civic Joy Fund. His restaurant, Manny’s, serves as a civic gathering space that has hosted prominent political figures both local and national. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has powerful allies in City Hall, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, with whom he started the nonprofit Civic Joy Fund. His restaurant, Manny’s, serves as a civic gathering space that has hosted prominent political figures both local and national. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has endorsements from the majority of the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who is a member of the Democratic Party’s committee on sexual assault, abstained from the vote on Wednesday night but has personally endorsed Yekutiel. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has endorsements from the majority of the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who is a member of the Democratic Party’s committee on sexual assault, abstained from the vote on Wednesday night but has personally endorsed Yekutiel. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I support him because he embodies Democratic values and he’s lived through them for years doing civic engagement, bringing people together, championing equality and inclusion. He has truly built community,” a District 8 resident named Trey Gwen said at Wednesday’s meeting. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yekutiel is facing off against three other candidates also running to represent District 8, which includes the Castro, Noe Valley and Glen Park neighborhoods. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They include Gary McCoy, a former aide for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; Democratic Party member and lawyer Michael Nguyen; and former DoorDash employee Darshini Patel. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I know Gary very well. He is somebody I consider a friend, and I think he would be a terrific colleague,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who said the two met through drug recovery meetings. “It would mean a lot to people in the recovery community.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Catie Stewart, a spokesperson for McCoy’s campaign, said in a statement on Wednesday that they share “grave concerns” about the Democratic Party’s process and findings around Chapin’s assault allegations against Yekutiel. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Its conclusion on the day of a critical endorsement meeting, after months of initially ignoring Brad Chapin’s complaint, is suspect, bordering on absurd,” the statement said. “That the ombudsperson says they are both unable to substantiate the claim nor determine whether or not a sexual assault happened provides no meaningful information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has asserted that Chapin’s complaint was politically motivated, which Chapin has denied outright. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s Democratic Party created its sexual assault reporting policy following accusations against prominent political organizers including John Jacobo and Kevin Ortiz, two progressives who have both denied the allegations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But concerns around the reporting process more generally, including its appeal process and notification system, were echoed by members of the city’s political community after Wednesday’s endorsement vote. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gina Roccanova, a professional mediator and arbitrator who chairs the Democratic Party’s judicial committee tasked with the investigation, declined to comment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The policy is sloppy and wasn’t adequately considered. They were not effective at creating an environment where they could hear from a variety of survivors about what our needs were, and so those needs are not reflected in the policy,” said a woman who has accused Ortiz of sexual assault and who requested anonymity to discuss the policy because she has not come forward publicly. “It’s a betrayal to all survivors because you can’t just pick and choose which assaults matter based on who politically aligns with you.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Yekutiel, who owns a popular cafe in the Mission, has risen among the city’s political ranks with close ties to Mayor Daniel Lurie and other moderate Democrats. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party voted to endorse Manny Yekutiel for District 8 supervisor despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090065/sexual-assault-allegations-against-manny-yekutiel-roil-san-francisco-democrats\">sexual assault allegations\u003c/a> against the local cafe owner who has forged close ties with many of the city’s prominent political leaders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The endorsement arrived the same day the local party announced the conclusion of an investigation into allegations made by Brad Chapin, who claimed Yekutiel assaulted him at a party in 2020. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ombudsperson tasked with reviewing Chapin’s complaint said that no judgment could be made about whether the alleged incident occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel said in a statement that he was grateful for the party’s endorsement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090328\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1298791153-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Manny Yekutiel introduces U.S. presidential candidate Tom Steyer during Steyer’s appearance at Manny’s in San Francisco, California, on July 17, 2019. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our campaign is focused on delivering results on the issues voters care about most, making San Francisco more affordable, building the housing we need, supporting small businesses and keeping our neighborhood safe,” he said. “I’m proud of the momentum behind this campaign, and I’m going to keep taking that message directly to voters across District 8.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chapin’s case was one of the first tests for the San Francisco Democratic Party’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016733/sf-democrats-adopt-new-sexual-assault-reporting-policies\">newly created policy\u003c/a> for reporting sexual misconduct in political spaces. Chapin, a city gardener who previously worked as an organizer in local politics, filed a police report in April before reporting the incident to the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chapin said he did not receive a response through the reporting process until he came forward publicly with his story in the media, however. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An adjudication panel met on Tuesday to review the investigator’s findings, according to a letter sent to Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The accusation cannot be substantiated,” the letter said, stating that the event in question was not at an official meeting or event sponsored by a political club. “This is not a determination on the merits of whether a sexual assault occurred.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Speaking during public comment at Wednesday night’s Democratic Party meeting, Chapin called the process a “sham.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m really disappointed in your investigation,” he said. “You should all be…ashamed of yourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has powerful allies in City Hall, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, with whom he started the nonprofit Civic Joy Fund. His restaurant, Manny’s, serves as a civic gathering space that has hosted prominent political figures both local and national. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has endorsements from the majority of the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who is a member of the Democratic Party’s committee on sexual assault, abstained from the vote on Wednesday night but has personally endorsed Yekutiel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-2278646743-scaled-e1782502896455.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086413\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mayor Daniel Lurie during a news conference on his budget proposal in San Francisco on June 1, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I support him because he embodies Democratic values and he’s lived through them for years doing civic engagement, bringing people together, championing equality and inclusion. He has truly built community,” a District 8 resident named Trey Gwen said at Wednesday’s meeting. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel is facing off against three other candidates also running to represent District 8, which includes the Castro, Noe Valley and Glen Park neighborhoods. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They include Gary McCoy, a former aide for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; Democratic Party member and lawyer Michael Nguyen; and former DoorDash employee Darshini Patel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Democratic Party narrowly voted against backing McCoy, who has an endorsement from Pelosi, as a second-rank candidate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I know Gary very well. He is somebody I consider a friend, and I think he would be a terrific colleague,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who said the two met through drug recovery meetings. “It would mean a lot to people in the recovery community.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Catie Stewart, a spokesperson for McCoy’s campaign, said in a statement on Wednesday that they share “grave concerns” about the Democratic Party’s process and findings around Chapin’s assault allegations against Yekutiel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12020498\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250105-LurieInaugurationCleanup-51-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie walks with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Manny Yekutiel during a trash pickup in the Mission District on Jan. 5, 2025, during a weekend of service before his inauguration. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“Its conclusion on the day of a critical endorsement meeting, after months of initially ignoring Brad Chapin’s complaint, is suspect, bordering on absurd,” the statement said. “That the ombudsperson says they are both unable to substantiate the claim nor determine whether or not a sexual assault happened provides no meaningful information.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yekutiel has asserted that Chapin’s complaint was politically motivated, which Chapin has denied outright. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s Democratic Party created its sexual assault reporting policy following accusations against prominent political organizers including John Jacobo and Kevin Ortiz, two progressives who have both denied the allegations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The goal was to create an independent process for vetting complaints outside of the inherently political body. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But concerns around the reporting process more generally, including its appeal process and notification system, were echoed by members of the city’s political community after Wednesday’s endorsement vote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gina Roccanova, a professional mediator and arbitrator who chairs the Democratic Party’s judicial committee tasked with the investigation, declined to comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The policy is sloppy and wasn’t adequately considered. They were not effective at creating an environment where they could hear from a variety of survivors about what our needs were, and so those needs are not reflected in the policy,” said a woman who has accused Ortiz of sexual assault and who requested anonymity to discuss the policy because she has not come forward publicly. “It’s a betrayal to all survivors because you can’t just pick and choose which assaults matter based on who politically aligns with you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Splitting With State Party, San Francisco Democrats Oppose Billionaire Tax",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party has voted to oppose a proposed statewide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a>, marking a rare divergence from the California Democratic Party, which endorsed the November ballot measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 40 has emerged as a lightning rod among Democrats, with the state party narrowly voting to endorse it while prominent moderate Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have come out against it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wednesday’s vote came shortly after the majority-moderate San Francisco Democratic Party changed its bylaws earlier this summer to allow the local party to go against the state Democratic Party’s endorsements. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters have said Proposition 40 would provide a much-needed injection of cash to California’s healthcare system at a time when federal cuts to Medicare have impacted residents across the state and city of San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12088085\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signs reading “A Billionaire Tax Now” rest on chairs at a Billionaire Tax Now rally where Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to speak in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But opponents say it’s a misguided effort to tax the wealthy and could result in billionaires fleeing to other states.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One member in the audience fired back: “That’s why you lost to Trump twice.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 17-4 vote fell along moderate-progressive lines. The measure would create a one-time 5% tax on Californians with a net worth that exceeds $1 billion who lived in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The tax could generate about $100 billion and would be paid by roughly 200 billionaires, according to the campaign. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure has garnered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095116/california-billionaire-tax-has-strong-support-of-democratic-voters-new-poll-shows\">strong support\u003c/a> from likely Democratic voters in California, according to a recent UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Groups opposing Proposition 40 include Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Teachers Association.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California healthcare unions back the state billionaire tax and have received the support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Progressive members slammed their moderate colleagues for playing defense for billionaires, including powerful tech donors who have helped elect members of the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian man in a blue suit holding a microphone and speaking with protesters behind him in support of gig workers.\" class=\"wp-image-11932792\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar, representing District 4, at a rally supporting the creation of a statewide union of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig workers on Oct. 12, 2022. (Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A no vote on Proposition 40 “would reinforce the public perception that our local Democratic Party is more responsive to the billionaire interest who spent heavily to elect the current majority than healthcare workers and working families,” former Supervisor Gordon Mar said. “The federal healthcare cuts facing California are not minor … Prop. 40 is the only proposal before voters and on the table more generally that approaches the scale of this crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Party members Emma Hare and Eric Kingsbury put forward a resolution calling for a national wealth tax, which Newsom has also proposed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Proposition 40 has emerged as a lightning rod among Democrats, with the state party narrowly voting to endorse it while prominent moderate Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have come out against it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supporters have said Proposition 40 would provide a much-needed injection of cash to California’s healthcare system at a time when federal cuts to Medicare have impacted residents across the state and city of San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Supporters have said Proposition 40 would provide a much-needed injection of cash to California’s healthcare system at a time when federal cuts to Medicare have impacted residents across the state and city of San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12088085\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signs reading “A Billionaire Tax Now” rest on chairs at a Billionaire Tax Now rally where Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to speak in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But opponents say it’s a misguided effort to tax the wealthy and could result in billionaires fleeing to other states.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One member in the audience fired back: “That’s why you lost to Trump twice.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The 17-4 vote fell along moderate-progressive lines. The measure would create a one-time 5% tax on Californians with a net worth that exceeds $1 billion who lived in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The tax could generate about $100 billion and would be paid by roughly 200 billionaires, according to the campaign. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure has garnered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095116/california-billionaire-tax-has-strong-support-of-democratic-voters-new-poll-shows\">strong support\u003c/a> from likely Democratic voters in California, according to a recent UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Groups opposing Proposition 40 include Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Teachers Association.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California healthcare unions back the state billionaire tax and have received the support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Progressive members slammed their moderate colleagues for playing defense for billionaires, including powerful tech donors who have helped elect members of the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A no vote on Proposition 40 “would reinforce the public perception that our local Democratic Party is more responsive to the billionaire interest who spent heavily to elect the current majority than healthcare workers and working families,” former Supervisor Gordon Mar said. “The federal healthcare cuts facing California are not minor … Prop. 40 is the only proposal before voters and on the table more generally that approaches the scale of this crisis.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A no vote on Proposition 40 “would reinforce the public perception that our local Democratic Party is more responsive to the billionaire interest who spent heavily to elect the current majority than healthcare workers and working families,” former Supervisor Gordon Mar said. “The federal healthcare cuts facing California are not minor … Prop. 40 is the only proposal before voters and on the table more generally that approaches the scale of this crisis.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Party members Emma Hare and Eric Kingsbury put forward a resolution calling for a national wealth tax, which Newsom has also proposed. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "The state’s Democratic leaders are also divided on Proposition 40, with Gov. Gavin Newsom and gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra opposing the measure.",
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"title": "Splitting With State Party, San Francisco Democrats Oppose Billionaire Tax | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party has voted to oppose a proposed statewide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a>, marking a rare divergence from the California Democratic Party, which endorsed the November ballot measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 40 has emerged as a lightning rod among Democrats, with the state party narrowly voting to endorse it while prominent moderate Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have come out against it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wednesday’s vote came shortly after the majority-moderate San Francisco Democratic Party changed its bylaws earlier this summer to allow the local party to go against the state Democratic Party’s endorsements. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters have said Proposition 40 would provide a much-needed injection of cash to California’s healthcare system at a time when federal cuts to Medicare have impacted residents across the state and city of San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12088085\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signs reading “A Billionaire Tax Now” rest on chairs at a Billionaire Tax Now rally where Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to speak in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But opponents say it’s a misguided effort to tax the wealthy and could result in billionaires fleeing to other states.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One member in the audience fired back: “That’s why you lost to Trump twice.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 17-4 vote fell along moderate-progressive lines. The measure would create a one-time 5% tax on Californians with a net worth that exceeds $1 billion who lived in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The tax could generate about $100 billion and would be paid by roughly 200 billionaires, according to the campaign. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure has garnered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095116/california-billionaire-tax-has-strong-support-of-democratic-voters-new-poll-shows\">strong support\u003c/a> from likely Democratic voters in California, according to a recent UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Groups opposing Proposition 40 include Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Teachers Association.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California healthcare unions back the state billionaire tax and have received the support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Progressive members slammed their moderate colleagues for playing defense for billionaires, including powerful tech donors who have helped elect members of the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian man in a blue suit holding a microphone and speaking with protesters behind him in support of gig workers.\" class=\"wp-image-11932792\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar, representing District 4, at a rally supporting the creation of a statewide union of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig workers on Oct. 12, 2022. (Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A no vote on Proposition 40 “would reinforce the public perception that our local Democratic Party is more responsive to the billionaire interest who spent heavily to elect the current majority than healthcare workers and working families,” former Supervisor Gordon Mar said. “The federal healthcare cuts facing California are not minor … Prop. 40 is the only proposal before voters and on the table more generally that approaches the scale of this crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Party members Emma Hare and Eric Kingsbury put forward a resolution calling for a national wealth tax, which Newsom has also proposed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "contentious-east-bay-special-election-for-congress-comes-to-a-close",
"title": "Wahab Leads Hernandez in Contentious East Bay Special Election for Congress",
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"headTitle": "Wahab Leads Hernandez in Contentious East Bay Special Election for Congress | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>State Sen. Aisha Wahab narrowly leads BART board director Melissa Hernandez in a fractious special election for Congress in the East Bay that will decide who will temporarily fill the seat formerly held by disgraced Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/eric-swalwell\">Eric Swalwell\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The race between \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/aisha-wahab\">Wahab\u003c/a> and Hernandez, both Democrats, interrupted the typically sleepy summer months for voters in Fremont, Hayward and the Tri-Valley. Though Wahab topped a June primary field by a wide margin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095020/aisha-wahab-to-file-fec-complaint-over-alleged-election-interference-in-race-for-swalwell-seat\">millions of dollars of outside spending\u003c/a> have poured into the district — throwing Democratic divisions over Israel and party leadership into stark relief.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In initial returns on Tuesday night, Wahab was ahead of Hernandez 51% to 49% — a lead of fewer than 2,000 votes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m very proud of this district for not listening to the hate-mongering and really knowing and believing the work that I’ve done,” Wahab told KQED. “We believe that the numbers and the lead will just only grow.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The infighting is unlikely to end with this week’s results. While the winner of the special election will complete Swalwell’s term through the end of the year, Wahab and Hernandez will again face off on the November general election ballot for a full two-year term. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1393\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577-1536x1081.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Aisha Wahab attends a press conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom about new statewide accountability and funding for homelessness and mental health in Hayward, California, on March 2, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview, Hernandez said she was still looking forward to seeing more results — and was heartened by the gains she made since finishing well behind Wahab in the special election primary.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“Initially we had a lot of folks in the race … now it’s only us two,” Hernandez said. “So it’s really folks getting to know who I am.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the nine-week sprint since the primary, the race has turned into a proxy war for larger divides between moderate and progressive Democrats, said David McCuan, political science professor at Sonoma State University. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You see a lot of outside money, a lot of outside influences, and you see a battle between two seasoned, smart politicians that isn’t settled this week,” McCuan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wahab, a former Hayward City Council member, has represented the area in the state Senate since 2023. In her run for Congress, she has the backing of the California Democratic Party, the California Federation of Labor Unions and the progressive advocacy group Our Revolution. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Before serving on BART’s board of directors, Hernandez was a councilmember in Dublin and mayor until 2024. She has been endorsed by NewDems, a political group that works to elect moderate Democrats, and nearly a dozen members of California’s Democratic congressional delegation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The chair of the delegation, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, criticized Wahab this week for her decision not to bow out of the special election in favor of a caretaker candidate. Lofgren said other Democrats had agreed to step aside and back a single candidate — who could have won a majority of votes in the June 16 special election primary and taken office immediately in the closely divided Congress. Wahab has derided the process of picking a caretaker as heavy-handed and out of touch with the district. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087582/polls-close-tonight-in-special-election-for-swalwells-former-seat\">special election primary\u003c/a>, Wahab received 43% of the vote, with Hernandez in second at 17%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The runoff is much closer, in part the result of a torrent of outside spending in support of Hernandez, much of it from United Democracy Project, the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The pro-Israel group has become a flashpoint in Democratic primaries throughout the country. Neither Wahab nor Hernandez has focused their campaign on America’s relationship with Israel — although in a candidate forum this spring, Wahab said she believed what was happening to the Palestinian people constituted a genocide. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hernandez responded to the yes-or-no question by saying she believed that Israel had a right to defend itself after Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, but that the subsequent destruction in Gaza has gone too far. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095919\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BART board director Melissa Hernandez. (Courtesy of Melissa Hernandez)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>United Democracy Project, which cannot coordinate directly with Hernandez’s campaign, has spent $2.4 million to boost Hernandez and sink Wahab. The group has also sent money to BOLD America, another super PAC that has spent over $2 million to help Hernandez. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As she cast her ballot on Tuesday in Castro Valley, Leslie Hall bemoaned the polarizing political moment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The divisiveness that we have right now is mind-blowing,” Hall said. “What happened to love?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Jose Velazquez contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The race between \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/aisha-wahab\">Wahab\u003c/a> and Hernandez, both Democrats, interrupted the typically sleepy summer months for voters in Fremont, Hayward and the Tri-Valley. Though Wahab topped a June primary field by a wide margin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095020/aisha-wahab-to-file-fec-complaint-over-alleged-election-interference-in-race-for-swalwell-seat\">millions of dollars of outside spending\u003c/a> have poured into the district — throwing Democratic divisions over Israel and party leadership into stark relief.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The race between \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/aisha-wahab\">Wahab\u003c/a> and Hernandez, both Democrats, interrupted the typically sleepy summer months for voters in Fremont, Hayward and the Tri-Valley. Though Wahab topped a June primary field by a wide margin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095020/aisha-wahab-to-file-fec-complaint-over-alleged-election-interference-in-race-for-swalwell-seat\">millions of dollars of outside spending\u003c/a> have poured into the district — throwing Democratic divisions over Israel and party leadership into stark relief.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In initial returns on Tuesday night, Wahab was ahead of Hernandez 51% to 49% — a lead of fewer than 2,000 votes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m very proud of this district for not listening to the hate-mongering and really knowing and believing the work that I’ve done,” Wahab told KQED. “We believe that the numbers and the lead will just only grow.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The infighting is unlikely to end with this week’s results. While the winner of the special election will complete Swalwell’s term through the end of the year, Wahab and Hernandez will again face off on the November general election ballot for a full two-year term. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the nine-week sprint since the primary, the race has turned into a proxy war for larger divides between moderate and progressive Democrats, said David McCuan, political science professor at Sonoma State University. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The chair of the delegation, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, criticized Wahab this week for her decision not to bow out of the special election in favor of a caretaker candidate. Lofgren said other Democrats had agreed to step aside and back a single candidate — who could have won a majority of votes in the June 16 special election primary and taken office immediately in the closely divided Congress. Wahab has derided the process of picking a caretaker as heavy-handed and out of touch with the district. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The runoff is much closer, in part the result of a torrent of outside spending in support of Hernandez, much of it from United Democracy Project, the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The pro-Israel group has become a flashpoint in Democratic primaries throughout the country. Neither Wahab nor Hernandez has focused their campaign on America’s relationship with Israel — although in a candidate forum this spring, Wahab said she believed what was happening to the Palestinian people constituted a genocide. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hernandez responded to the yes-or-no question by saying she believed that Israel had a right to defend itself after Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, but that the subsequent destruction in Gaza has gone too far. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>United Democracy Project, which cannot coordinate directly with Hernandez’s campaign, has spent $2.4 million to boost Hernandez and sink Wahab. The group has also sent money to BOLD America, another super PAC that has spent over $2 million to help Hernandez. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As she cast her ballot on Tuesday in Castro Valley, Leslie Hall bemoaned the polarizing political moment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The divisiveness that we have right now is mind-blowing,” Hall said. “What happened to love?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "State Sen. Aisha Wahab and BART board director Melissa Hernandez face off in the 14th District race to complete Eric Swalwell’s term, which has divided Democrats. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State Sen. Aisha Wahab narrowly leads BART board director Melissa Hernandez in a fractious special election for Congress in the East Bay that will decide who will temporarily fill the seat formerly held by disgraced Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/eric-swalwell\">Eric Swalwell\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The race between \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/aisha-wahab\">Wahab\u003c/a> and Hernandez, both Democrats, interrupted the typically sleepy summer months for voters in Fremont, Hayward and the Tri-Valley. Though Wahab topped a June primary field by a wide margin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095020/aisha-wahab-to-file-fec-complaint-over-alleged-election-interference-in-race-for-swalwell-seat\">millions of dollars of outside spending\u003c/a> have poured into the district — throwing Democratic divisions over Israel and party leadership into stark relief.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In initial returns on Tuesday night, Wahab was ahead of Hernandez 51% to 49% — a lead of fewer than 2,000 votes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m very proud of this district for not listening to the hate-mongering and really knowing and believing the work that I’ve done,” Wahab told KQED. “We believe that the numbers and the lead will just only grow.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The infighting is unlikely to end with this week’s results. While the winner of the special election will complete Swalwell’s term through the end of the year, Wahab and Hernandez will again face off on the November general election ballot for a full two-year term. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1393\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2263914577-1536x1081.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Aisha Wahab attends a press conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom about new statewide accountability and funding for homelessness and mental health in Hayward, California, on March 2, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview, Hernandez said she was still looking forward to seeing more results — and was heartened by the gains she made since finishing well behind Wahab in the special election primary.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“Initially we had a lot of folks in the race … now it’s only us two,” Hernandez said. “So it’s really folks getting to know who I am.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the nine-week sprint since the primary, the race has turned into a proxy war for larger divides between moderate and progressive Democrats, said David McCuan, political science professor at Sonoma State University. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You see a lot of outside money, a lot of outside influences, and you see a battle between two seasoned, smart politicians that isn’t settled this week,” McCuan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wahab, a former Hayward City Council member, has represented the area in the state Senate since 2023. In her run for Congress, she has the backing of the California Democratic Party, the California Federation of Labor Unions and the progressive advocacy group Our Revolution. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Before serving on BART’s board of directors, Hernandez was a councilmember in Dublin and mayor until 2024. She has been endorsed by NewDems, a political group that works to elect moderate Democrats, and nearly a dozen members of California’s Democratic congressional delegation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The chair of the delegation, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, criticized Wahab this week for her decision not to bow out of the special election in favor of a caretaker candidate. Lofgren said other Democrats had agreed to step aside and back a single candidate — who could have won a majority of votes in the June 16 special election primary and taken office immediately in the closely divided Congress. Wahab has derided the process of picking a caretaker as heavy-handed and out of touch with the district. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087582/polls-close-tonight-in-special-election-for-swalwells-former-seat\">special election primary\u003c/a>, Wahab received 43% of the vote, with Hernandez in second at 17%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The runoff is much closer, in part the result of a torrent of outside spending in support of Hernandez, much of it from United Democracy Project, the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The pro-Israel group has become a flashpoint in Democratic primaries throughout the country. Neither Wahab nor Hernandez has focused their campaign on America’s relationship with Israel — although in a candidate forum this spring, Wahab said she believed what was happening to the Palestinian people constituted a genocide. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hernandez responded to the yes-or-no question by saying she believed that Israel had a right to defend itself after Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, but that the subsequent destruction in Gaza has gone too far. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095919\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GH26_95996-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BART board director Melissa Hernandez. (Courtesy of Melissa Hernandez)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>United Democracy Project, which cannot coordinate directly with Hernandez’s campaign, has spent $2.4 million to boost Hernandez and sink Wahab. The group has also sent money to BOLD America, another super PAC that has spent over $2 million to help Hernandez. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As she cast her ballot on Tuesday in Castro Valley, Leslie Hall bemoaned the polarizing political moment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The divisiveness that we have right now is mind-blowing,” Hall said. “What happened to love?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Jose Velazquez contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-democratic-party-endorses-billionaire-tax-splitting-with-newsom",
"title": "California Democratic Party Endorses Billionaire Tax, Splitting with Newsom",
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"headTitle": "California Democratic Party Endorses Billionaire Tax, Splitting with Newsom | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California Democrats’ internal conflict over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a> measure on November’s ballot ramped up Sunday with an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, pitting party activists against the state’s Democratic governor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12077053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man’s shirt and sticker are displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070782\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement. “We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview. Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">statement to \u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">Politico\u003c/a> \u003c/em>warning against “half measures.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every Californian must pay their fair share, and no billionaire should pay taxes at rates lower than teachers, firefighters or nurses. But this is sketchy policy,” Becerra said in the statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regan said he hopes Newsom and Becerra will reconsider their positions to align with “the people who they relied on to be elected to office.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that Gov. Newsom and Secretary Becerra are opposed, I think, says more about them than it does about Democrats,” Regan said. “They are clearly out of step with a supermajority of the voters.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12077053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man’s shirt and sticker are displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070782\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement. “We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview. Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">statement to \u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">Politico\u003c/a> \u003c/em>warning against “half measures.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Every Californian must pay their fair share, and no billionaire should pay taxes at rates lower than teachers, firefighters or nurses. But this is sketchy policy,” Becerra said in the statement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Regan said he hopes Newsom and Becerra will reconsider their positions to align with “the people who they relied on to be elected to office.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The fact that Gov. Newsom and Secretary Becerra are opposed, I think, says more about them than it does about Democrats,” Regan said. “They are clearly out of step with a supermajority of the voters.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The party narrowly endorsed the billionaire tax measure, which still faces high-profile opposition. How much will it help the Proposition 40 campaign?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California Democrats’ internal conflict over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a> measure on November’s ballot ramped up Sunday with an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, pitting party activists against the state’s Democratic governor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12077053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/BillionaireTaxAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man’s shirt and sticker are displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093303/the-union-man-taking-on-the-democratic-establishment-with-a-billionaire-tax\">union President Dave Regan\u003c/a> told KQED. “All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said. “That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%. A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members. The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said. “They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement. She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12086476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Xavier-Becerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said. “It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle. It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Now what? The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop. 40,” Acosta said. “So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Public opinion polls show early support for the measure. A May poll from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/press-release/becerra-hilton-lead-governors-race-majority-back-billionaire-wealth-tax/\">Public Policy Institute of California\u003c/a> shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state. Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November. The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070782\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256657926-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement. “We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview. Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">statement to \u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/01/16/gov-field-isnt-buying-the-wealth-tax-00733083\">Politico\u003c/a> \u003c/em>warning against “half measures.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every Californian must pay their fair share, and no billionaire should pay taxes at rates lower than teachers, firefighters or nurses. But this is sketchy policy,” Becerra said in the statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regan said he hopes Newsom and Becerra will reconsider their positions to align with “the people who they relied on to be elected to office.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that Gov. Newsom and Secretary Becerra are opposed, I think, says more about them than it does about Democrats,” Regan said. “They are clearly out of step with a supermajority of the voters.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "theyre-on-our-flag-but-do-long-gone-grizzly-bears-belong-in-modern-california",
"title": "They’re on Our Flag, but Do Long-Gone Grizzly Bears Belong in Modern California?",
"publishDate": 1785160800,
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"headTitle": "They’re on Our Flag, but Do Long-Gone Grizzly Bears Belong in Modern California? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The grizzly bear on California’s flag went extinct a century ago in the Golden State. Now, a group of tribes and environmentalists is urging the Legislature to study whether it’s possible to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grizzlies once lived across most of California. As many as 10,000 may have roamed before the Gold Rush. They were so prevalent that when California settlers tried to form their own nation, they called it the Bear Flag Republic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Settlers systematically exterminated the animals, and they were gone by the 1920s, leaving the smaller black bear as the only surviving bear species.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A century and 34.5 million more people later, Inglewood Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/laura-richardson-187466\">Laura Richardson\u003c/a>’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1305\">Senate Bill 1305\u003c/a> would task the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with creating a “roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure provides no funding to carry out the study, which could be provided by a future Legislature or an outside group. And even if it were funded and its recommendations acted on, it would be several years and require help from a potentially adversarial federal government before a grizzly bear’s claws ever cut tracks in California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076801\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-1536x1028.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">It is often said that the bear on the modern California state flag is based on “Monarch,” one of the last grizzly bears to live in the state. But researchers now believe it was based on the drawing of another bear, Samson. (Joseph Sohm/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposal’s hypothetical nature has done little to ease tensions over the prospect of some day returning the continent’s second-largest land predator to the nation’s most populous state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On one side are organizations representing rural communities, hunting organizations and ranchers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They argue it’s preposterous to consider reintroducing aggressive 800-pound bears to California’s degraded, drought- and fire-prone landscapes. Rural areas, they say, are already overwhelmed with conflicts with \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/mountain-lion-attacks-2-people-in-california-foothills-killing-1/\">mountain lions\u003c/a> and growing \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear\">black bear\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article316446094.html\">wolf populations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just don’t think that our California today is ready for a grizzly bear,” Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/heather-hadwick-187417\">Heather Hadwick\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=1192&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told the Assembly wildlife committee\u003c/a> last month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hadwick’s sprawling rural district in northeastern California has faced years of tensions over predators, especially wolves, killing livestock and frightening small towns.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Environmentalists, tribes support \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At least 40 groups, including tribes, environmentalists and animal welfare organizations, support the bill, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/\">CalMatters Digital Democracy database\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>They say bringing back the state’s biggest apex land predator would improve the ecosystem and right an ecological wrong from California’s past.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I can see the ways in which my homeland has suffered from the loss of iconic species such as the grizzly, and that this loss lingers in our heart and in the attenuation of a millennia-old relationship,” Tiana Williams-Claussen, director of the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife department, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=27&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told lawmakers last month\u003c/a>. The Yurok and Tejon tribes are the bill’s cosponsors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092588\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brook Thompson of the Yurok Tribe overlooks the removal site of the Iron Gate Dam, allowing the Klamath River to run in its original path in that area for the first time in nearly a century, near Hornbrook, California, on Aug. 14, 2024. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calgrizzly.org/feasibility-study\">A 2025 study\u003c/a> from a coalition of tribes, environmentalists and university researchers found that the Yurok lands on the north coast as well as the nearby Klamath Mountains and Trinity Alps could be suitable grizzly habitat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The study also singled out the southern Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks, as well as the Transverse Mountains that span from San Bernardino County to Santa Barbara County.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It estimated the habitats could sustain between 424 and 1,713 grizzlies, though it recommends bringing in a population of 25 grizzlies to start. Grizzlies can be found in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters of the proposal say grizzlies would help California’s ecosystem. The giant omnivorous bears till soil as they root up meals, helping restore conifer forests, prairies and oak savannas, easing fire danger.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grizzlies also serve as a check on overpopulation of prey. Grizzlies could reduce California’s human conflicts with black bears since grizzlies compete for food with their smaller cousins. Grizzlies also kill and eat black bears.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The loss of grizzlies might have been one of those contributing factors to that (black bear population) overgrowth,” Williams-Claussen said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grizzlies and the urban-rural divide\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters’ arguments have appealed to the Democrats who control the Legislature. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Only Republicans have voted against the bill, which is pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee when the Legislature returns Aug. 3.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Richardson didn’t return an interview request for this story. The measure’s Democratic coauthors are lawmakers from Southern California representing predominantly urban districts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/072126-Stern-and-Richardson-Split-01-CM-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A side-by-side split image showing a person on the left in a blue suit and a red tie holding a cell phone in their hand. The person on the right is wearing a black blazer over a blouse with a black-and-white pattern while speaking on the California Assembly floor into a microphone.\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, state Sen. Henry Stern and state Sen. Laura Richardson. Photos by Fred Greaves for CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This spring, one of the coauthors, Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/henry-stern-36368\">Henry Stern\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279103#t=1532&f=20798ddeaaa55218d15cdbf945d9f503\">told the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee\u003c/a> that a mountain lion recently attacked one of his neighbors, so he understands rural concerns about predators.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even so, learning to coexist with them is just part of living in a beautiful state filled with wildlife, Stern said.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We want to live in a California where — that risk — there’s some beauty in it,” said Stern, who represents the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. “To have that element in our lives, as opposed to just sterilizing our landscapes and our nature so that nothing else could ever be a risk … I think it makes us more human to have wildness in our lives.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Washoe, a Native American from Modoc County, hears that kind of talk from urban residents and rolls her eyes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing I would love more than to see grizzly bears on the beach at Santa Barbara chasing rich people,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But she said that would be cruel — to the bears.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like many in California, Washoe’s people still pay homage to grizzlies through ceremonial bear dances, but she said it’s not “ethically right to bring them back.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She hopes lawmakers consider what life would be like for the grizzlies they’d have captured and brought to California, where they would face a landscape radically different and eight times more populated than when the bears last lived here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The bears don’t have any say in it,” Washoe said. “Where they’re at, they’re living a pretty good life, and we’d take them and put them here in a landscape that is so dramatically changed from what it was the last time that the bears were truly living a good life here … I understand the idea of it, but to me it feels egotistical.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">State wildlife officials wary\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California agency that would be responsible for studying grizzly bear reintroduction does not appear eager to take it on. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Department of Fish and Wildlife, which hasn’t taken an official position on the legislation, does not comment on pending bills, spokesperson Peter Tira told CalMatters this week. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But there’s no indication the department’s position on grizzlies has changed since a former spokesperson told a reporter in 2023 that wildlife officials can barely keep up with existing predator conflicts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Sacramento, California. (Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Bringing another predator into the state that we would have to manage and come up with some program to figure out what happens when the grizzly attacks a human or kills livestock does not seem feasible for us,” then-spokesperson Jordan Traverso told \u003ca href=\"https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a43127739/grizzly-bear-return-california-peter-alagona/\">the Alta Journal\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The department is chronically underfunded and understaffed. A legislative analysis for this year’s bill notes that Fish and Wildlife has enough cash and staff to complete just 38% of its existing duties. The department “would be unable to absorb the demand this roadmap would have on staff time and resources” according to the analysis.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>David Bess, who recently retired as its top law enforcement officer overseeing California’s game wardens, said the department is “drowning in work,” much of it trying to manage conflicts with predators already on the landscape.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just don’t see where the department even has the capacity to do it,” Bess said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump’s grizzly proposal\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, President Donald Trump’s administration has added a new wrinkle to the debate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the administration issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/15/nx-s1-5893400/trump-administrations-proposal-to-shift-management-of-grizzly-bears-causes-confusion\">proposed rule change\u003c/a> that seeks to return management of grizzlies to states, despite the bears being protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Environmentalists fear Trump’s proposal would allow conservative states to begin killing grizzlies to appease ranchers and big game hunters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1111\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12019868\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-800x556.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-1020x708.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-1536x1067.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A grizzly bear mother and her cub in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. (Karen Bleier/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposed federal rule wouldn’t impact California’s grizzly proposal, since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be in charge of any reintroduction program, said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which supports Richardson’s legislation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But having the bears in environmentally friendly states such as California could prove helpful if other states begin aggressively killing them off, she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Hopefully, they would be managed more responsibly there,” said Zaccardi, whose organization has \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/grizzly_bear/bring_back_the_bears.html\">unsuccessfully petitioned the feds\u003c/a> to return grizzly bears to California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/07/california-grizzly-bear-reintroduction-bill/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The grizzly bear on California’s flag went extinct a century ago in the Golden State. Now, a group of tribes and environmentalists is urging the Legislature to study whether it’s possible to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The grizzly bear on California’s flag went extinct a century ago in the Golden State. Now, a group of tribes and environmentalists is urging the Legislature to study whether it’s possible to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grizzlies once lived across most of California. As many as 10,000 may have roamed before the Gold Rush. They were so prevalent that when California settlers tried to form their own nation, they called it the Bear Flag Republic. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Grizzlies once lived across most of California. As many as 10,000 may have roamed before the Gold Rush. They were so prevalent that when California settlers tried to form their own nation, they called it the Bear Flag Republic. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Settlers systematically exterminated the animals, and they were gone by the 1920s, leaving the smaller black bear as the only surviving bear species.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Settlers systematically exterminated the animals, and they were gone by the 1920s, leaving the smaller black bear as the only surviving bear species.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A century and 34.5 million more people later, Inglewood Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/laura-richardson-187466\">Laura Richardson\u003c/a>’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1305\">Senate Bill 1305\u003c/a> would task the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with creating a “roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>A century and 34.5 million more people later, Inglewood Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/laura-richardson-187466\">Laura Richardson\u003c/a>’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1305\">Senate Bill 1305\u003c/a> would task the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with creating a “roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable.” \u003c/p>\n"
],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure provides no funding to carry out the study, which could be provided by a future Legislature or an outside group. And even if it were funded and its recommendations acted on, it would be several years and require help from a potentially adversarial federal government before a grizzly bear’s claws ever cut tracks in California.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The measure provides no funding to carry out the study, which could be provided by a future Legislature or an outside group. And even if it were funded and its recommendations acted on, it would be several years and require help from a potentially adversarial federal government before a grizzly bear’s claws ever cut tracks in California.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-1536x1028.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076801\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-1536x1028.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">It is often said that the bear on the modern California state flag is based on “Monarch,” one of the last grizzly bears to live in the state. But researchers now believe it was based on the drawing of another bear, Samson.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076801\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">It is often said that the bear on the modern California state flag is based on “Monarch,” one of the last grizzly bears to live in the state. But researchers now believe it was based on the drawing of another bear, Samson.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The proposal’s hypothetical nature has done little to ease tensions over the prospect of some day returning the continent’s second-largest land predator to the nation’s most populous state. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The proposal’s hypothetical nature has done little to ease tensions over the prospect of some day returning the continent’s second-largest land predator to the nation’s most populous state. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On one side are organizations representing rural communities, hunting organizations and ranchers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On one side are organizations representing rural communities, hunting organizations and ranchers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They argue it’s preposterous to consider reintroducing aggressive 800-pound bears to California’s degraded, drought- and fire-prone landscapes. Rural areas, they say, are already overwhelmed with conflicts with \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/mountain-lion-attacks-2-people-in-california-foothills-killing-1/\">mountain lions\u003c/a> and growing \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear\">black bear\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article316446094.html\">wolf populations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>They argue it’s preposterous to consider reintroducing aggressive 800-pound bears to California’s degraded, drought- and fire-prone landscapes. Rural areas, they say, are already overwhelmed with conflicts with \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/mountain-lion-attacks-2-people-in-california-foothills-killing-1/\">mountain lions\u003c/a> and growing \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear\">black bear\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article316446094.html\">wolf populations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I just don’t think that our California today is ready for a grizzly bear,” Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/heather-hadwick-187417\">Heather Hadwick\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=1192&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told the Assembly wildlife committee\u003c/a> last month. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I just don’t think that our California today is ready for a grizzly bear,” Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/heather-hadwick-187417\">Heather Hadwick\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=1192&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told the Assembly wildlife committee\u003c/a> last month. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hadwick’s sprawling rural district in northeastern California has faced years of tensions over predators, especially wolves, killing livestock and frightening small towns.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Hadwick’s sprawling rural district in northeastern California has faced years of tensions over predators, especially wolves, killing livestock and frightening small towns.\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Environmentalists, tribes support ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Environmentalists, tribes support \u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Environmentalists, tribes support \u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At least 40 groups, including tribes, environmentalists and animal welfare organizations, support the bill, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/\">CalMatters Digital Democracy database\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>They say bringing back the state’s biggest apex land predator would improve the ecosystem and right an ecological wrong from California’s past.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At least 40 groups, including tribes, environmentalists and animal welfare organizations, support the bill, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/\">CalMatters Digital Democracy database\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>They say bringing back the state’s biggest apex land predator would improve the ecosystem and right an ecological wrong from California’s past.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I can see the ways in which my homeland has suffered from the loss of iconic species such as the grizzly, and that this loss lingers in our heart and in the attenuation of a millennia-old relationship,” Tiana Williams-Claussen, director of the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife department, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=27&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told lawmakers last month\u003c/a>. The Yurok and Tejon tribes are the bill’s cosponsors.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I can see the ways in which my homeland has suffered from the loss of iconic species such as the grizzly, and that this loss lingers in our heart and in the attenuation of a millennia-old relationship,” Tiana Williams-Claussen, director of the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife department, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=27&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told lawmakers last month\u003c/a>. The Yurok and Tejon tribes are the bill’s cosponsors.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092588\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brook Thompson of the Yurok Tribe overlooks the removal site of the Iron Gate Dam, allowing the Klamath River to run in its original path in that area for the first time in nearly a century, near Hornbrook, California, on Aug. 14, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092588\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brook Thompson of the Yurok Tribe overlooks the removal site of the Iron Gate Dam, allowing the Klamath River to run in its original path in that area for the first time in nearly a century, near Hornbrook, California, on Aug. 14, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calgrizzly.org/feasibility-study\">A 2025 study\u003c/a> from a coalition of tribes, environmentalists and university researchers found that the Yurok lands on the north coast as well as the nearby Klamath Mountains and Trinity Alps could be suitable grizzly habitat. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calgrizzly.org/feasibility-study\">A 2025 study\u003c/a> from a coalition of tribes, environmentalists and university researchers found that the Yurok lands on the north coast as well as the nearby Klamath Mountains and Trinity Alps could be suitable grizzly habitat. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The study also singled out the southern Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks, as well as the Transverse Mountains that span from San Bernardino County to Santa Barbara County.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It estimated the habitats could sustain between 424 and 1,713 grizzlies, though it recommends bringing in a population of 25 grizzlies to start. Grizzlies can be found in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The study also singled out the southern Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks, as well as the Transverse Mountains that span from San Bernardino County to Santa Barbara County.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It estimated the habitats could sustain between 424 and 1,713 grizzlies, though it recommends bringing in a population of 25 grizzlies to start. Grizzlies can be found in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supporters of the proposal say grizzlies would help California’s ecosystem. The giant omnivorous bears till soil as they root up meals, helping restore conifer forests, prairies and oak savannas, easing fire danger.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Supporters of the proposal say grizzlies would help California’s ecosystem. The giant omnivorous bears till soil as they root up meals, helping restore conifer forests, prairies and oak savannas, easing fire danger.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grizzlies also serve as a check on overpopulation of prey. Grizzlies could reduce California’s human conflicts with black bears since grizzlies compete for food with their smaller cousins. Grizzlies also kill and eat black bears.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Grizzlies also serve as a check on overpopulation of prey. Grizzlies could reduce California’s human conflicts with black bears since grizzlies compete for food with their smaller cousins. Grizzlies also kill and eat black bears.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The loss of grizzlies might have been one of those contributing factors to that (black bear population) overgrowth,” Williams-Claussen said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The loss of grizzlies might have been one of those contributing factors to that (black bear population) overgrowth,” Williams-Claussen said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Grizzlies and the urban-rural divide",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grizzlies and the urban-rural divide\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supporters’ arguments have appealed to the Democrats who control the Legislature. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Only Republicans have voted against the bill, which is pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee when the Legislature returns Aug. 3.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Only Republicans have voted against the bill, which is pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee when the Legislature returns Aug. 3.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Richardson didn’t return an interview request for this story. The measure’s Democratic coauthors are lawmakers from Southern California representing predominantly urban districts.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Richardson didn’t return an interview request for this story. The measure’s Democratic coauthors are lawmakers from Southern California representing predominantly urban districts.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003cimg src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/072126-Stern-and-Richardson-Split-01-CM-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A side-by-side split image showing a person on the left in a blue suit and a red tie holding a cell phone in their hand. The person on the right is wearing a black blazer over a blouse with a black-and-white pattern while speaking on the California Assembly floor into a microphone.\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, state Sen. Henry Stern and state Sen. Laura Richardson. Photos by Fred Greaves for CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003cimg src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/072126-Stern-and-Richardson-Split-01-CM-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A side-by-side split image showing a person on the left in a blue suit and a red tie holding a cell phone in their hand. The person on the right is wearing a black blazer over a blouse with a black-and-white pattern while speaking on the California Assembly floor into a microphone.\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, state Sen. Henry Stern and state Sen. Laura Richardson. Photos by Fred Greaves for CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This spring, one of the coauthors, Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/henry-stern-36368\">Henry Stern\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279103#t=1532&f=20798ddeaaa55218d15cdbf945d9f503\">told the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee\u003c/a> that a mountain lion recently attacked one of his neighbors, so he understands rural concerns about predators.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This spring, one of the coauthors, Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/henry-stern-36368\">Henry Stern\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279103#t=1532&f=20798ddeaaa55218d15cdbf945d9f503\">told the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee\u003c/a> that a mountain lion recently attacked one of his neighbors, so he understands rural concerns about predators.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even so, learning to coexist with them is just part of living in a beautiful state filled with wildlife, Stern said.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We want to live in a California where — that risk — there’s some beauty in it,” said Stern, who represents the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. “To have that element in our lives, as opposed to just sterilizing our landscapes and our nature so that nothing else could ever be a risk … I think it makes us more human to have wildness in our lives.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Even so, learning to coexist with them is just part of living in a beautiful state filled with wildlife, Stern said.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We want to live in a California where — that risk — there’s some beauty in it,” said Stern, who represents the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. “To have that element in our lives, as opposed to just sterilizing our landscapes and our nature so that nothing else could ever be a risk … I think it makes us more human to have wildness in our lives.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Washoe, a Native American from Modoc County, hears that kind of talk from urban residents and rolls her eyes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Washoe, a Native American from Modoc County, hears that kind of talk from urban residents and rolls her eyes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing I would love more than to see grizzly bears on the beach at Santa Barbara chasing rich people,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing I would love more than to see grizzly bears on the beach at Santa Barbara chasing rich people,” she said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But she said that would be cruel — to the bears.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But she said that would be cruel — to the bears.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Like many in California, Washoe’s people still pay homage to grizzlies through ceremonial bear dances, but she said it’s not “ethically right to bring them back.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Like many in California, Washoe’s people still pay homage to grizzlies through ceremonial bear dances, but she said it’s not “ethically right to bring them back.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She hopes lawmakers consider what life would be like for the grizzlies they’d have captured and brought to California, where they would face a landscape radically different and eight times more populated than when the bears last lived here.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She hopes lawmakers consider what life would be like for the grizzlies they’d have captured and brought to California, where they would face a landscape radically different and eight times more populated than when the bears last lived here.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The bears don’t have any say in it,” Washoe said. “Where they’re at, they’re living a pretty good life, and we’d take them and put them here in a landscape that is so dramatically changed from what it was the last time that the bears were truly living a good life here … I understand the idea of it, but to me it feels egotistical.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The bears don’t have any say in it,” Washoe said. “Where they’re at, they’re living a pretty good life, and we’d take them and put them here in a landscape that is so dramatically changed from what it was the last time that the bears were truly living a good life here … I understand the idea of it, but to me it feels egotistical.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "State wildlife officials wary",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">State wildlife officials wary\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">State wildlife officials wary\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The California agency that would be responsible for studying grizzly bear reintroduction does not appear eager to take it on. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The California agency that would be responsible for studying grizzly bear reintroduction does not appear eager to take it on. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Department of Fish and Wildlife, which hasn’t taken an official position on the legislation, does not comment on pending bills, spokesperson Peter Tira told CalMatters this week. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Department of Fish and Wildlife, which hasn’t taken an official position on the legislation, does not comment on pending bills, spokesperson Peter Tira told CalMatters this week. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But there’s no indication the department’s position on grizzlies has changed since a former spokesperson told a reporter in 2023 that wildlife officials can barely keep up with existing predator conflicts.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>But there’s no indication the department’s position on grizzlies has changed since a former spokesperson told a reporter in 2023 that wildlife officials can barely keep up with existing predator conflicts.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Sacramento, California. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Sacramento, California. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Bringing another predator into the state that we would have to manage and come up with some program to figure out what happens when the grizzly attacks a human or kills livestock does not seem feasible for us,” then-spokesperson Jordan Traverso told \u003ca href=\"https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a43127739/grizzly-bear-return-california-peter-alagona/\">the Alta Journal\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Bringing another predator into the state that we would have to manage and come up with some program to figure out what happens when the grizzly attacks a human or kills livestock does not seem feasible for us,” then-spokesperson Jordan Traverso told \u003ca href=\"https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a43127739/grizzly-bear-return-california-peter-alagona/\">the Alta Journal\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The department is chronically underfunded and understaffed. A legislative analysis for this year’s bill notes that Fish and Wildlife has enough cash and staff to complete just 38% of its existing duties. The department “would be unable to absorb the demand this roadmap would have on staff time and resources” according to the analysis.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The department is chronically underfunded and understaffed. A legislative analysis for this year’s bill notes that Fish and Wildlife has enough cash and staff to complete just 38% of its existing duties. The department “would be unable to absorb the demand this roadmap would have on staff time and resources” according to the analysis.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>David Bess, who recently retired as its top law enforcement officer overseeing California’s game wardens, said the department is “drowning in work,” much of it trying to manage conflicts with predators already on the landscape.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>David Bess, who recently retired as its top law enforcement officer overseeing California’s game wardens, said the department is “drowning in work,” much of it trying to manage conflicts with predators already on the landscape.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I just don’t see where the department even has the capacity to do it,” Bess said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I just don’t see where the department even has the capacity to do it,” Bess said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Trump’s grizzly proposal",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump’s grizzly proposal\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, President Donald Trump’s administration has added a new wrinkle to the debate. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the administration issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/15/nx-s1-5893400/trump-administrations-proposal-to-shift-management-of-grizzly-bears-causes-confusion\">proposed rule change\u003c/a> that seeks to return management of grizzlies to states, despite the bears being protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the administration issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/15/nx-s1-5893400/trump-administrations-proposal-to-shift-management-of-grizzly-bears-causes-confusion\">proposed rule change\u003c/a> that seeks to return management of grizzlies to states, despite the bears being protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Environmentalists fear Trump’s proposal would allow conservative states to begin killing grizzlies to appease ranchers and big game hunters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Environmentalists fear Trump’s proposal would allow conservative states to begin killing grizzlies to appease ranchers and big game hunters. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The proposed federal rule wouldn’t impact California’s grizzly proposal, since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be in charge of any reintroduction program, said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which supports Richardson’s legislation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But having the bears in environmentally friendly states such as California could prove helpful if other states begin aggressively killing them off, she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Hopefully, they would be managed more responsibly there,” said Zaccardi, whose organization has \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/grizzly_bear/bring_back_the_bears.html\">unsuccessfully petitioned the feds\u003c/a> to return grizzly bears to California. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/07/california-grizzly-bear-reintroduction-bill/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Democrats are advancing a bill over objections from rural residents, ranchers and Republicans that would study whether California should bring back grizzly bears.",
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"title": "They’re on Our Flag, but Do Long-Gone Grizzly Bears Belong in Modern California? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The grizzly bear on California’s flag went extinct a century ago in the Golden State. Now, a group of tribes and environmentalists is urging the Legislature to study whether it’s possible to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grizzlies once lived across most of California. As many as 10,000 may have roamed before the Gold Rush. They were so prevalent that when California settlers tried to form their own nation, they called it the Bear Flag Republic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Settlers systematically exterminated the animals, and they were gone by the 1920s, leaving the smaller black bear as the only surviving bear species.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A century and 34.5 million more people later, Inglewood Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/laura-richardson-187466\">Laura Richardson\u003c/a>’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1305\">Senate Bill 1305\u003c/a> would task the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with creating a “roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure provides no funding to carry out the study, which could be provided by a future Legislature or an outside group. And even if it were funded and its recommendations acted on, it would be several years and require help from a potentially adversarial federal government before a grizzly bear’s claws ever cut tracks in California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076801\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-MONARCH-THE-BEAR-04-KQED-1536x1028.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">It is often said that the bear on the modern California state flag is based on “Monarch,” one of the last grizzly bears to live in the state. But researchers now believe it was based on the drawing of another bear, Samson. (Joseph Sohm/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposal’s hypothetical nature has done little to ease tensions over the prospect of some day returning the continent’s second-largest land predator to the nation’s most populous state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On one side are organizations representing rural communities, hunting organizations and ranchers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They argue it’s preposterous to consider reintroducing aggressive 800-pound bears to California’s degraded, drought- and fire-prone landscapes. Rural areas, they say, are already overwhelmed with conflicts with \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/mountain-lion-attacks-2-people-in-california-foothills-killing-1/\">mountain lions\u003c/a> and growing \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear\">black bear\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article316446094.html\">wolf populations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just don’t think that our California today is ready for a grizzly bear,” Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/heather-hadwick-187417\">Heather Hadwick\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=1192&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told the Assembly wildlife committee\u003c/a> last month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hadwick’s sprawling rural district in northeastern California has faced years of tensions over predators, especially wolves, killing livestock and frightening small towns.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Environmentalists, tribes support \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At least 40 groups, including tribes, environmentalists and animal welfare organizations, support the bill, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/\">CalMatters Digital Democracy database\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>They say bringing back the state’s biggest apex land predator would improve the ecosystem and right an ecological wrong from California’s past.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I can see the ways in which my homeland has suffered from the loss of iconic species such as the grizzly, and that this loss lingers in our heart and in the attenuation of a millennia-old relationship,” Tiana Williams-Claussen, director of the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife department, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279747#t=27&f=ea737d404cb65c8e1f0d48a47f0e4922\">told lawmakers last month\u003c/a>. The Yurok and Tejon tribes are the bill’s cosponsors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092588\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/Yurok-Tribe-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brook Thompson of the Yurok Tribe overlooks the removal site of the Iron Gate Dam, allowing the Klamath River to run in its original path in that area for the first time in nearly a century, near Hornbrook, California, on Aug. 14, 2024. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calgrizzly.org/feasibility-study\">A 2025 study\u003c/a> from a coalition of tribes, environmentalists and university researchers found that the Yurok lands on the north coast as well as the nearby Klamath Mountains and Trinity Alps could be suitable grizzly habitat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The study also singled out the southern Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks, as well as the Transverse Mountains that span from San Bernardino County to Santa Barbara County.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It estimated the habitats could sustain between 424 and 1,713 grizzlies, though it recommends bringing in a population of 25 grizzlies to start. Grizzlies can be found in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters of the proposal say grizzlies would help California’s ecosystem. The giant omnivorous bears till soil as they root up meals, helping restore conifer forests, prairies and oak savannas, easing fire danger.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grizzlies also serve as a check on overpopulation of prey. Grizzlies could reduce California’s human conflicts with black bears since grizzlies compete for food with their smaller cousins. Grizzlies also kill and eat black bears.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The loss of grizzlies might have been one of those contributing factors to that (black bear population) overgrowth,” Williams-Claussen said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grizzlies and the urban-rural divide\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters’ arguments have appealed to the Democrats who control the Legislature. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Only Republicans have voted against the bill, which is pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee when the Legislature returns Aug. 3.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Richardson didn’t return an interview request for this story. The measure’s Democratic coauthors are lawmakers from Southern California representing predominantly urban districts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/072126-Stern-and-Richardson-Split-01-CM-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A side-by-side split image showing a person on the left in a blue suit and a red tie holding a cell phone in their hand. The person on the right is wearing a black blazer over a blouse with a black-and-white pattern while speaking on the California Assembly floor into a microphone.\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, state Sen. Henry Stern and state Sen. Laura Richardson. Photos by Fred Greaves for CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This spring, one of the coauthors, Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/henry-stern-36368\">Henry Stern\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279103#t=1532&f=20798ddeaaa55218d15cdbf945d9f503\">told the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee\u003c/a> that a mountain lion recently attacked one of his neighbors, so he understands rural concerns about predators.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even so, learning to coexist with them is just part of living in a beautiful state filled with wildlife, Stern said.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We want to live in a California where — that risk — there’s some beauty in it,” said Stern, who represents the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. “To have that element in our lives, as opposed to just sterilizing our landscapes and our nature so that nothing else could ever be a risk … I think it makes us more human to have wildness in our lives.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Washoe, a Native American from Modoc County, hears that kind of talk from urban residents and rolls her eyes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing I would love more than to see grizzly bears on the beach at Santa Barbara chasing rich people,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But she said that would be cruel — to the bears.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like many in California, Washoe’s people still pay homage to grizzlies through ceremonial bear dances, but she said it’s not “ethically right to bring them back.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She hopes lawmakers consider what life would be like for the grizzlies they’d have captured and brought to California, where they would face a landscape radically different and eight times more populated than when the bears last lived here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The bears don’t have any say in it,” Washoe said. “Where they’re at, they’re living a pretty good life, and we’d take them and put them here in a landscape that is so dramatically changed from what it was the last time that the bears were truly living a good life here … I understand the idea of it, but to me it feels egotistical.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">State wildlife officials wary\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California agency that would be responsible for studying grizzly bear reintroduction does not appear eager to take it on. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Department of Fish and Wildlife, which hasn’t taken an official position on the legislation, does not comment on pending bills, spokesperson Peter Tira told CalMatters this week. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But there’s no indication the department’s position on grizzlies has changed since a former spokesperson told a reporter in 2023 that wildlife officials can barely keep up with existing predator conflicts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Sacramento, California. (Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Bringing another predator into the state that we would have to manage and come up with some program to figure out what happens when the grizzly attacks a human or kills livestock does not seem feasible for us,” then-spokesperson Jordan Traverso told \u003ca href=\"https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a43127739/grizzly-bear-return-california-peter-alagona/\">the Alta Journal\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The department is chronically underfunded and understaffed. A legislative analysis for this year’s bill notes that Fish and Wildlife has enough cash and staff to complete just 38% of its existing duties. The department “would be unable to absorb the demand this roadmap would have on staff time and resources” according to the analysis.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>David Bess, who recently retired as its top law enforcement officer overseeing California’s game wardens, said the department is “drowning in work,” much of it trying to manage conflicts with predators already on the landscape.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just don’t see where the department even has the capacity to do it,” Bess said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump’s grizzly proposal\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, President Donald Trump’s administration has added a new wrinkle to the debate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the administration issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/15/nx-s1-5893400/trump-administrations-proposal-to-shift-management-of-grizzly-bears-causes-confusion\">proposed rule change\u003c/a> that seeks to return management of grizzlies to states, despite the bears being protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Environmentalists fear Trump’s proposal would allow conservative states to begin killing grizzlies to appease ranchers and big game hunters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1111\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12019868\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-800x556.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-1020x708.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-5-1536x1067.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A grizzly bear mother and her cub in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. (Karen Bleier/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposed federal rule wouldn’t impact California’s grizzly proposal, since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be in charge of any reintroduction program, said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which supports Richardson’s legislation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But having the bears in environmentally friendly states such as California could prove helpful if other states begin aggressively killing them off, she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Hopefully, they would be managed more responsibly there,” said Zaccardi, whose organization has \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/grizzly_bear/bring_back_the_bears.html\">unsuccessfully petitioned the feds\u003c/a> to return grizzly bears to California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"description": "Get informed in minutes with our Voter Guide for California’s November 3 election."
},
"podcasts-radio": {},
"video-tv": {},
"events": {},
"support": {}
}
}
}
