Biden comes to California at recall finish line + Early night in Capitol + Kennedy’s new PAC

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

DON’T MISS: Larry Elder levels accusation against Gavin Newsom’s wife two days before recall election, via Sophia Bollag

THE NEXT TO LAST DAY OF THE ELECTION

Via Lara Korte...

It seems like just yesterday we were counting petition signatures. Now we’re just one day away from the final votes in the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Here’s the state of things:

A Berkeley IGS poll released Friday showed Newsom with a 20 point lead, a dramatic turnaround from the institute’s previous poll, which found the race essentially neck and neck.

Newsom is spending the time before the recall with President Joe Biden, who is visiting Sacramento to survey wildfire prevention efforts and to support Newsom.

First they’ll connect for a briefing on California wildfires at the Office of Emergency Services outside Sacramento. They’re expected to take an aerial tour of damage caused by the Caldor Fire before touching down at Mather Airport and talking to reporters.

Afterward, it’s all politics with Biden scheduled to headline a Newsom rally in Long Beach.

If Biden’s stump speech is anything like the one Kamala Harris delivered in the Bay Area last week, expect it to be short and sweet.

Meanwhile, Republican front runner Larry Elder is gearing up for a fight. In addition to assembling a team of lawyers to take action in the event of election “shenanigans,” we reported last week that a link on Elder’s campaign site asks voters to sign a petition against the “twisted” results of the recall. Much of the language on the form was written as if Newsom had already won.

Newsom, asked about the voter fraud claims lobbed by Elder and others, told Sophia Bollag it’s “very, very damaging and baseless.”

Elder plans to spend today and tomorrow around Los Angeles and Orange County. His campaign says he’ll be joined by former California State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero and former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.

THEY WENT TO BED ON TIME

The California Assembly and Senate dispensed with late-night drama on the last night of the legislative year and clocked out about 9 p.m. on Friday, leaving legions of Capitol staffers and reporters to marvel at the comparably early closing time.

How did they do it? Lawmakers didn’t hold touchy housing bills until the final hours, as they did in 2020. This time, they passed bills meant to encourage housing production with weeks to spare.

They also avoided COVID-19 outbreaks, which slowed things down a year ago when the Senate Republican Caucus mostly participated by Zoom.

Hold that bill! Lawmakers on Friday passed Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 357 decriminalize loitering for the purpose of prostitution, marking a victory for those who argued that criminal charge has been used disproportionately against people of color.

Moments later, Wiener asked to slow things down and send the bill to Newsom in January. It’s a tactical pause.

“It provides the senator and our coalition more time to make the case about why this civil rights bill is good policy that should be signed into law and why this discriminatory loitering crime goes against California values and needs to be repealed,” Wiener spokeswoman spokeswoman Catie Stewart said in a written statement.

MCCLINTOCK 2020 CHALLENGER LAUNCHES PAC

Republican California Congressman Tom McClintock’s 2020 Democratic challenger, Brynne Kennedy, announced on Thursday that she is forming a political action committee, Innovation Nation, “dedicated to accelerating innovation and startups across America.”

“Over the last ten months, I’ve thought hard about how I can best contribute to solving our most pressing challenges, the mission of my 2020 campaign for US Congress in California’s 4th Congressional District,” Kennedy said in a fundraising email announcing the formation of the PAC. “We face unprecedented and complex societal challenges. From climate change, food insecurity and wildfires, to pandemics, human illness and declining birth rates, to cyber threats, disinformation and regional economic imbalances, we must come together to solve big problems again in America,” Kennedy said in a fundraising email announcing the formation of the PAC.

A tech entrepreneur originally from San Francisco, Kennedy unsuccessfully ran to unseat McClintock in 2020, gaining 44% of the vote, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“People started voting a month ago ... if you have a big issue, it should have been in the marketplace of ideas at that point.”

- Political consultant Matt Rexroad, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• Gavin Newsom and Larry Elder want votes from Asian Americans. Are they a recall swing vote? via Jeong Park

• California Democrats said they would consider stronger vaccine mandates than what President Joe Biden announced Thursday if infection rates don’t decline and if outbreaks continue in schools over the next several months, via Hannah Wiley.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday blasted former President Donald Trump and recall candidate Larry Elder for sowing mistrust in California’s upcoming election before any results have been announced, via Sophia Bollag.

This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 4:55 AM.