California Policy and Politics Wednesday

Calmatters Live California election results

Xavier Becerra makes history as California’s first elected Latino governor -- Xavier Becerra, who grew up in a 685-square-foot house with his parents and three sisters in working-class Sacramento before ascending to Stanford University, Congress and the White House Cabinet, will become California’s first directly elected Latino governor. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

California is getting a very different kind of governor in Xavier Becerra -- When California’s next governor arrived at the Capitol for a news conference this summer, the woman introducing him didn’t seem to realize he was there. “Xavier Becerra?” she said, looking to her left, then her right, searching. Then Becerra stepped out. “Oh, you’re right behind me!” she said, surprised. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/26

Billionaire tax ballot measure trails; California voters reject voter ID -- The fate of a controversial ballot measure to impose a new tax on California billionaires, proposed as a lifeline for the needy and castigated as a threat to the state’s fragile economy, appeared headed for defeat in early election results Tuesday night. Seema Mehta and Queenie Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Nithya Raman’s lead against Karen Bass continues to grow -- Nithya Raman’s lead against Karen Bass continued to grow overnight. Raman had 377,458 votes compared to 360,864 for Bass. The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Barrera leads Shaw in early returns for state superintendent’s race -- Richard Barrera was leading Sonja Shaw in early returns Tuesday night in the race for state superintendent of public instruction. Barrera, the school board president of San Diego Unified, was the heavy favorite as the Democrat in the race, even though the office is listed as nonpartisan. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Scott Wiener leads in race to succeed Nancy Pelosi -- State Sen. Scott Wiener is leading San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in Congress, with votes left to be counted. Wiener had 55.42% of the vote in early returns Tuesday, to Chan’s 44.58%. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/26

Pan unseats Kiley in 6th Congressional District -- Democrat Richard Pan has defeated Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Rocklin) in the race for California’s 6th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. The race was one Democrats had targeted to flip following voter approval of Proposition 50, which split Kiley’s district into six pieces and prompted the congressman to switch from Republican to independent in an attempt to keep the seat. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Doris Matsui leads Mai Vang early in California’s 7th District race -- Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, has taken the early lead over Sacramento Councilmember Mai Vang for the Sacramento region’s 7th Congressional District seat. As of 9:28 p.m., Matsui had 58.6% of the vote while Vang had 41.4%. About 37% of the district’s expected votes have been counted, according to The Associated Press. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/26

Jones has narrow lead in Thompson in California’s 4th Congressional District -- Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, is slightly behind political newcomer and fellow Democrat Eric Jones in California’s 4th Congressional District race in results late Tuesday night. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/26

Progressive challenger Randy Villegas maintains lead over Rep. David Valadao -- Progressive challenger Randy Villegas has a lead over Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, for a critical House seat in the Central Valley. Villegas had captured 65.1% of the votes compared to Valadao’s 34.9%, as of 10:45 p.m. About 44% of the votes have been counted, according to the Associated Press. Mathew Miranda in the Fresno Bee -- 11/4/26

Voters reject Prop. 39 voter ID measure -- California voters rejected Proposition 39, a voter ID measure backed by Republicans and megadonors to President Trump. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Voters approve Prop. 1 housing bond -- Voters in California have approved Proposition 1, which allows the state to issue up to $11.25 billion in bonds to spend on building and maintaining housing low- and middle-income residents can afford. Audrey McGlinchy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Voters approve Prop. 2 letting state put more money into rainy day fund -- Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers presented the measure as a solution to the state budget’s dramatic and, at times, unpredictable revenue swings from year to year. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Voters approve Prop. 37, creating down-payment loan program for homebuyers -- If fully funded, the program could be among the largest down-payment assistance programs in the country. It faced little opposition in the run-up to the election, in part, because it comes at no direct cost to taxpayers. Audrey McGlinchy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Robert Luna reelected as L.A. County sheriff -- Los Angeles County voters have reelected incumbent Robert Luna for another term as sheriff, turning away a challenge from Alex Villanueva, according to the Associated Press. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Fiona Ma elected California lieutenant governor -- California voters have chosen state Treasurer Fiona Ma to become the state’s next lieutenant governor. Ma defeated Republican challenger Gloria Romero to succeed Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who was termed out. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Transit

Big win for Bay Area transit as voters approve regional measure and S.F. Muni tax -- Voters have passed Proposition RTM — the Regional Transit Measure — which seeks to raise $1 billion annually to bolster public transportation in five counties and serve as a crucial lifeline for BART, Muni, Caltrain and AC Transit. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/4/26

Workplace

Should state workers expect change under Xavier Becerra? -- While Becerra has received support from many state worker unions, he hasn’t made promises on the issues state workers say affect them the most. Corey Schmidt in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/4/26

AI

Disney has fought AI firms over copyright. Now it’s testing AI lyric videos -- Walt Disney Co. is experimenting with using artificial intelligence to test out different concepts for music videos showcasing the lyrics to its songs, starting with “Go the Distance” from its 1997 animated movie “Hercules.” Wendy Lee and Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

California accepts big broadband money from Trump — but not the terms and conditions -- The state of California has agreed to accept $1.4 billion in federal funding to bring broadband internet access to 270,000 people while simultaneously challenging conditions attached to the funding. Those conditions would stop the state from enforcing broadband laws that reduce costs and guarantee equal access for internet destinations. Khari Johnson Calmatters -- 11/4/26

Also

Walters: Governor-elect Becerra must quickly confront state budget mess Newsom left behind -- Xavier Becerra, the former attorney general who won the governorship Tuesday, must submit a new budget to the Legislature just days after his inauguration in January. Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom is leaving him with a fiscal mess. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 11/4/26

POTUS 47

‘Not a hit on me’: Trump faults candidates and Fox News, not himself, for Republican losses -- As the scale of the Republican Party’s losses came into focus late Tuesday, President Trump watched from the White House and went looking for someone to blame. Ana Ceballos in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Trump’s Whole Theory of Power Is in Ruins -- More than any American president, Trump has used fear as a central tool of policymaking. He doesn’t look so fearsome today. Alexander Burns Politico -- 11/4/26

Historic Midterm Rout Serves as a Sweeping Rebuke of Trump Era -- The electoral backlash extended even into deep red states and indicated that President Trump has lost his hold over the coalition that lifted him to the White House twice. Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 11/4/26

A Political Reckoning Shatters Trump’s Grip on Washington -- Rarely in American politics has a president traded away so much political support so quickly. Aaron Zitner in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/4/26

Trump Probes and Policy Fights: Here Is Democrats’ New Agenda -- President Trump will still have a veto pen for the next two years, limiting Democrats’ ability to enact laws that reverse his policies and setting up clashes that could be even more intense than the conflicts between Trump and Democrats when they controlled the House in 2019 and 2020. Richard Rubin and Lindsay Wise in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/4/26

Barabak: Trump, Democratic blowout is a stark personal repudiation -- For more than a decade, Donald Trump seemed to defy all the known laws of political physics. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Lopez: Trump, who so bitterly divided us, was awful enough to unite us. At least temporarily -- President Trump lost early, late and often Tuesday night in the midterm elections. In contests across the country — for governor, for Senate, for the House — he had told people to vote as if he was on the ballot. They did, and Democrats ran the table, taking the House and then the Senate. Trump lost big, inspected the wreckage, and claimed the problem was lousy candidates. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/4/26

Trump touted his Reflecting Pool success. But new problems are visible -- Discoloration and inconsistencies were spotted immediately following the president’s speech. Maura Judkis and Meg Kelly in the Washington Post$ -- 11/4/26