Feinstein supports Padilla + Lawmakers urge vaccine priority + House Republicans defy the odds
Good morning! It’s Thursday, which means the week is nearly over...
FEINSTEIN PICKS PADILLA
Via Lara Korte...
It seems Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s chances of ending up in the U.S. Senate get better every day.
On Wednesday, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein endorsed Padilla to take the seat Kamala Harris will leave behind. If appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Padilla would be the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate.
“I have agreed to support Padilla,” Feinstein told the HuffPost, which broke the news on Wednesday.
Padilla, who has served as the state’s top election official since 2015, is now considered the frontrunner for the spot. The ability to appoint someone to the U.S. Senate is a rare opportunity for Newsom, and everyone in the state has an idea of who should follow in Harris’ footsteps. Many have argued for a Latino to take the seat, while others want to see another Black woman in the Senate, such as Rep. Barbara Lee or Rep. Karen Bass.
As The Bee reported last month, Newsom could consider experience, ethnicity and electability as he decides.
MOVE TEACHERS HIGHER ON THE VACCINE LIST?
Via Hannah Wiley...
The world is waiting with bated breath for the COVID-19 vaccine to hit American cities.
In California, the Department of Public Health, guided by a community advisory group’s recommendations, will prioritize immunizing health care workers at the greatest risk of infection during the initial phase of vaccine distribution.
That means when the 327,000 initial doses arrive in California in what’s expected to be just a few weeks, they’ll largely go to the doctors and nurses working directly with COVID-19 patients.
Eventually, essential workers like farm laborers, police officers and teachers will be next in line to get the shots. It’s still being determined who among these workers might take priority over the others.
Assemblymen Jordan Cunningham, R-San Luis Obispo, and Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, sent a letter to Health and Human Secretary Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly Wednesday, asking that his department prioritize educators and school staff.
“Getting our state’s teachers and school staff vaccinated early would allow school districts to reopen faster and enable our students to return to a workable learning environment,” the two wrote in the letter.
The California Teachers Association, along with the California State Parent Teachers Association, has representatives on the state advisory body that helps determine the first groups to get inoculated against COVID-19.
But as Gov. Gavin Newsom floats the idea of another stay-at-home order, the two Assembly members argued vaccinating teachers sooner rather than later will help keep schools open at a time when students are desperate for quality, in-person instruction.
“Our state’s children cannot afford to write,” the letter concludes. “This is too important to overlook or sweep aside – we must prioritize the reopening of our schools and develop a vaccine schedule that effectively applies that priority.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEFIED THE ODDS IN NOVEMBER
Via Kate Irby...
Republicans have clinched four of the seven competitive House races in California, proving wrong the dismal projections of their chances in 2020 and setting up the party for possible further success in 2022.
It’s a reflection of the rest of the country, where Democrats expected to expand their majority and instead lost a significant amount of seats to Republicans, delivering the narrowest House majority in about a century to Democrats.
Democrats weren’t seriously looking to expand their extensive majority in California — national groups did not make financial investments in any districts held by Republicans — where only seven House seats were held by Republicans after the 2018 election. But they did feel optimistic about holding on to the seven battlegrounds they won in 2018.
While detailed data isn’t yet available for California, political strategists on both sides expect California will show an under-representation of the Latino vote on the Democratic side — a disaster for the party in races that were decided by a few thousand, or even a few hundred, votes. Democrats also think the lack of a congressional deal on a COVID-19 pandemic stimulus money for more than seven months before the election hurt them in the battleground districts.
“We said very early on that these Democrats wouldn’t be able to run on their rhetoric this time, they had to run on their records,” said Torunn Sinclair, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans. “And we held to that.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Ok. Everyone believes a more aggressive state shut down is coming, and is necessary. Just advocating in advance: we must keep outdoor Christmas Tree retail establishments open. That’s it. I don’t want to send another dumb sign-on letter. Let’s just start with keeping those open.”
– Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
More than eight months into the pandemic, California officially has rules in place aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19 at workplaces. Here’s what to know about the new rules, via Jeong Park.
Dr. Peter Beilenson, the head of the Sacramento County Department of Health Services, has submitted his resignation, saying he and his wife have decided to return to their former home in Baltimore to help family with an ongoing crisis, via Tony Bizjak.
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones has tested positive for the coronavirus, via Michael McGough.