Becerra drops investigation into CA GOP + Women in the Legislature + Faulconer comes for Newsom

Good morning and happy Monday! Here’s to a short holiday week!

BECERRA DROPS INQUIRY INTO GOP BALLOT BOXES

Via Lara Korte...

After a public fight over ballot boxes ended up in court, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office on Friday said it had dismissed its petition to enforce “investigative interrogatories” against the California Republican Party.

The issue goes back to mid-October, when unofficial ballot drop boxes deployed by the state GOP began popping up in some areas around the state, including churches and gun shops. Becerra, in coordination with Secretary of State Alex Padilla, issued a cease and desist order to the state party and leaders in Fresno, Orange and Los Angeles counties, demanding they halt use of the boxes and hand over the names of voters who had used them to cast the ballot.

The Republican party leaders, however, maintained they were doing nothing wrong and refused to hand over information. In response to their non-response, Becerra filed a petition on Oct. 20 in Sacramento, requesting the court order the CA GOP to comply with “investigative interrogatories,” or questions posed to the party about the use of unofficial ballot drop boxes. Becerra asked the court to force Republicans to provide the name, address and birth date of all individuals that deposited a vote by mail ballot in any of Republicans’ non-official drop boxes, as well as the number of drop boxes deployed by the party and their locations, according to court filings.

But on Friday afternoon, the petition was dismissed after the AG’s office said it was able to verify the security of the election without it.

“Today’s update comes after we were able to secure — through on-the-ground investigative efforts, a subsequent response by the California Republican Party to our investigative interrogatories, and coordination with the Secretary of State and county registrars — information we needed to ensure that voters’ ballots were counted,” the California AG’s office said in a statement. “Despite public confusion caused by representations made by members of the California Republican Party and their initial deployment of unauthorized ballot collection boxes, we are confident that this election was safe and secure in California — as it was across the country.”

CA GOP Attorney Thomas Hiltachk said the party reassured the Attorney General’s office that ballots had been properly delivered to election officials as the law requires.

WOMEN IN THE LEGISLATURE

California women made history this election, with Sen. Kamala Harris on her way to the White House as vice president-elect and Speaker Nancy Pelosi once again retaining the gavel.

But when it comes to the Legislature, the number of women is holding steady, according to an analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California.

The PPIC found that 32% percent of legislative offices in California are held by women, no change from before November despite the fact that 71 female candidates ran for office.

According to PPIC, California lags behind several of its neighboring and nearby states when it comes to female legislative representation: In Nevada, 54% of the state legislature is female; in Colorado, it’s 44%, followed by 43% in Oregon and 41% in Washington.

In order for California to achieve representation that mirrors the fact that 51% of likely voters are female, the state would need to elect at least 22 more women, according to PPIC.

FAULCONER RIPS NEWSOM ON TWITTER

Outgoing San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer hasn’t exactly been shy about his criticism of the job Gov. Gavin Newsom is doing.

“His kids can learn in person. But yours can’t. He can celebrate birthday parties. But you can’t. He can dine on a $350 meal at one California’s fanciest restaurants during the worst recession in generations. But you definitely can’t. Can you believe this? I can’t,” Faulconer tweeted after news emerged of Newsom’s widely criticized attendance at a birthday dinner at an upscale restaurant earlier this month.

Then, Faulconer tweeted again, this time after Newsom declined to appear at a press conference after announcing a nearly statewide curfew order.

“After breaking his own COVID rules, it appears the Governor is already under curfew — he wont even address the public or media about his sudden lockdown. The fact is, much of CA is already shut down. I continue to urge personal responsibility: mask up and physically distance,” Faulconer wrote.

Could it be because he has his eyes on Newsom’s job?

Faulconer told Politico’s Carla Marinucci that he is “seriously considering” a run in 2022.

“We need leadership — right now,” Faulconer told Politico. “People are angry ... and rightfully so.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The Onion came for Gavin Newsom again. “Gavin Newsom Slammed For Eating At The French Laundry When Atelier Crenn Clearly Superior Take On Contemporary Cuisine.”

Best of the Bee:

• Gov. Gavin Newsom got an unlikely defender Thursday: conservative Rep. Tom McClintock, who said Newsom’s “night of partying should be a wake-up call to every American,” via David Lightman.

• The longtime leader of California’s NAACP will step down next month, which comes after the towering figure once again faced conflict-of-interest allegations involving her political consulting company’s work in this year’s election cycle, via Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks and Marcus Smith.

• Coronavirus infection notices keep showing up this month in the inboxes of employees at the DMV headquarters on Broadway, via Wes Venteicher.

• California has become one of the first states in the country to have emergency workplace rules to protect employees from COVID-19 exposure, via Jeong Park.