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A former Republican stronghold in California was redrawn in favor of Democratic candidates — pitting Democrats against each other in high profile competition to be the district’s next representative in Congress, CalMatters’ Nadia Lathan and Deborah Brennan report.
After President Donald Trump pushed Texas Republicans to create five additional GOP seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, California voters passed Proposition 50 last year to rig the state in a way that could allow Democrats to take back the House in the midterm elections.
The result turned California’s 48th congressional district — once a deep red district — into light blue and prompted U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican who represented the San Diego district in Congress for more than two decades, to end his re-election bid last month.
With the district now up for grabs, the Democratic Party’s support is split between two leading candidates: San Diego Councilwoman Marnie Von Wilpert and Amar Campa-Najjar, a former public affairs officer for President Barack Obama.
At the California Democratic convention in February, von Wilpert won more than half of the delegates’ votes, but fell short of the 60% threshold for official party approval. Campa-Najjar, meanwhile, received 18%.
Both candidates openly criticized each other during their campaigns: Von Wilpert accused Campa-Najar of being anti-LGBTQ because he doubted whether he could win over voters outside of gay-friendly Palm Springs, and Campa-Najar accused Von Wilpert of racism for questioning his name and residency changes.
The two Democrats also have to contend with San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, the Republican candidate whom Issa endorsed after his retirement. Since the top two vote-getters in the June primary will face off in November, regardless of party, Desmond is expected to secure one of those seats as GOP support rallies around him.
Positioning himself as a moderate who is not as closely aligned with Trump as Issa was, Desmond outperformed Von Wilpert and Campa-Najar and is seen among Democrats as a tough opponent to beat despite the redrawn district.
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Other stories you should know
Carlsbad resident loses battle with HOA
A California judge last week told a homeowner as much he is wrong about turning his apartment garage into a rental, CalMatters’ Ben Christopher writes.
In a lawsuit highlighting the ambiguous role that homeowner associations play in state housing policy, Superior Court Judge Victor Torres on Friday ruled against Adam Hardesty, a Carlsbad resident who tried to turn his apartment garage into a self-contained accessory rental unit.
Hardesty cited a 2019 law that voids any HOA rule that “prohibits or unreasonably restricts” the construction of ADUs. But in an attempt to stop his plans, Hardesty’s HOA sued, arguing that the law only applied to areas “zoned for single-family residential use” and did not apply to complex projects.
In his ruling, Torres sided with the HOA, saying if the Legislature wanted to include condos, it could easily do so, adding language to make it clearer.
CA Stops Reinstating Truck Licenses
The California DMV has trucking licenses are yet to be reinstated to thousands of immigrant drivers, despite a February court order ordering the state to give drivers a chance to do so, CalMatters’ Adam Echelman writes.
Last year, the US Department of Transportation issued new regulations barring certain immigrants from holding commercial trucking licenses. About 61,000 California truck drivers will lose their licenses in the coming years, and about 13,000 drivers have already lost their licenses in the state.
Many of the affected drivers are asylum seekers who have the legal right to live and work in the US. Singh, for example, has two children and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. (CalMatters is using only his first name because he fears he will be targeted by immigration officials.) Singh can legally live and work in the U.S., but the green card he applied for three years ago still hasn’t arrived. Singh lost his commercial license in March after the federal policy change and can no longer drive his truck, support his family or make the monthly payments on his truck loan.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed to reinstate the licenses of immigrants like Singh, including one that prompted the February order. But the DMV has not reissued any because of pressure from the federal Department of Transportation, which has threatened to withhold federal highway funds from the state.
Finally: CA ends funding for salmon recovery
In 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a partnership between the state and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to restore endangered winter Chinook salmon to their ancestral waters in the Sacramento River. But tribal officials say the state is now withdrawing its support and efforts to save the sacred fish may stop. Read more by Rachel Becker of CalMatters.
California voices
Most California lawmakers wouldn’t dream of it to allow the Trump administration to make it harder to obtain public records, but a Democratic bill in the Legislature would do just that, writes David Snyderexecutive director of the First Amendment Coalition.
The Legislature should reject Newsom’s proposal cut $1 billion from Medi-Cal Dental because it would mean fewer providers, longer waiting lists and worse health outcomes for the 15 million Californians who rely on the program, writes Pat Hornbeckerretired dental hygienist and disability rights advocate.
Other things worth your time:
House Democrats to behave CA ‘Shadow Hearings’ on Midterm Election Security // Los Angeles Times
Experts on the elections in CA are sounding the alarm as the rate of rejected ballots quadruples // Los Angeles Times
Trump announces crackdown on “cheats”. in Democratic states when arrests begin in California // The Guardian
Judge Blocks Pressing Trump’s College Admissions Data in 17 states including CA // A politician
These CA research stations are preparing for fire risk. The Trump administration is shutting them down // San Francisco Chronicle
UC leaders sit on university provider boards. A new bill will ban these financial ties // San Francisco Chronicle
Who controls your home insurance? A high-stakes CA race could decide // San Francisco Chronicle
Trump is asking Congress $152 million to reopen Alcatraz // KQED
Writers Guild of America and Hollywood Studios reaching a preliminary contract agreement // LAist