New union leader wants to ‘run Gavin Newsom out of office’ + Recall poll + LGBT civil rights

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

FIRST UP: What happened at SEIU Local 1000? New president elect Richard Louis Brown says he wants to cut dues in half, end any form of political spending and “run Gavin Newsom out of office.”

Those steps, he says, are essential in building trust among workers. “You can’t unify your union if you’re involved in politics,” Brown told The Associated Press.

Brown unseated 13-year union President Yvonne Walker to lead an organization representing about 100,000 public employees. She’s well known in the capital and was No. 28 on Capitol Weekly’s 2020 Top 100 list.

Brown swept in to power on his third try to lead the union. His win follows state workers’ frustration with pay cuts unions accepted a year ago when Newsom projected a deep recession because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Brown’s agenda would be a major change for a union known for backing rent control in Sacramento and minimum wage hikes for all workers. It’s part of SEIU California, a reliable contributor to California Democrats.

He’ll have to win support from the 60-plus members on the union’s board of directors to carry out his plans, so don’t think of them as a done deal.

“All these things I’ve been running my mouth on, I have to produce,” Brown told The Bee.

Read more on the upset in our stories by reporter Wes Venteicher.

As for Walker, she told Venteicher the union is in good shape.

“We’re a good local, we’re stable. We have some good programs, I’ve built good leaders. So I think there’s an opportunity for Richard to take his vision and not have to build a foundation from the ground up. And I wish him the best.”

NEWSOM UP IN LATEST RECALL POLL

Via Lara Korte...

A majority of Californians would keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office, according to the latest PPIC poll that dropped last night.

The May survey found 57% of voters would vote “no” to recalling the Democratic governor. The percentage of voters who would vote “yes” to a recall (40%) is unchanged from a similar March survey. Three percent of voters say they don’t know how they would vote.

It’s more good news for Newsom coming off weeks in early May where he touted his plans for the state’s $76 billion budget surplus, which include $600 checks to many taxpayers and $500 downpayments on college savings accounts for millions of kids.

Mark Baldassare, PPIC president, said recall proponents and replacement candidates face an “uphill battle” to reach the majority needed to remove him from office.

Views on the recall continue to break along party lines, with Republicans (78%) far more likely than Independents (47%) and Democrats (11%) to say they would vote yes in a recall. Support for the recall is also higher in inland regions than coastal areas.Newsom’s job approval ratings have gone up slightly since the March survey, with 54% of likely voters approving of his job performance, compared to 53% in March. Of surveyed adults, 64% approve of his handling of the pandemic.PPIC researchers warn that these numbers are still an early reading on the 2021 governor’s recall, and are “clearly impacted by the improving conditions of the COVID crisis and the economy,” Baldassare said.

“The 2021 special election is most likely to occur in late fall,” he said. “The public’s views on COVID and the economy could sour by then or be preempted by discontent over new crises such as wildfires or electricity blackouts.”

CALIFORNIANS ON LGBT CIVIL RIGHTS

A majority of Californians support a federal law that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act, according to a new poll from PPIC.

According to the poll, 70% of likely voters support the passage of the 2021 Equality Act, while just 25% of likely voters oppose the bill.

California law already includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected statuses.

The federal bill is supported by most (88%) Democrats, as well as a majority (64%) of independents. The bill also is supported by 41% of Republicans.

When asked whether society has gone far enough to accept people who are transgender, 43% of likely voters say society has not gone far enough, while 21% say society has gone too far and 38% say society has been about right when it comes to accepting transgender people. Democrats (61%) say society has not gone far enough, while 35% of independents and 13% of Republicans agree.

“Californians support the 2021 Equality Act, while Democrats and Republicans differ on whether society has done enough in accepting people who are transgender,” Baldassare said in a statement accompanying the survey.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“People over politics. That’s my guiding moral compass. All day everyday.”

- Assemblyman Alex Lee, D-San Jose, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• The California Department of Transportation cost taxpayers $1.5 million by failing to collect overpaid wages it made to retiring and departing workers, according to a state audit released Tuesday, via Jeong Park.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom is proud of the prosperity of California’s upper class, which he says has never done better. But he also wants to use some of their success to help lift up California’s working-class residents, via Jeong Park and Hannah Wiley.

• California could see hundreds of miles of offshore wind production under a plan unveiled Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom and White House officials, via Sophia Bollag.