Garcia vs Garcia + California’s economy is growing strong + A lawmaker pillow fight?
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
SHOWDOWN IN CA-42
The newly minted California 42nd Congressional District is about to be contested by two Democrats, as Bell Gardens Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia announced her intention to run on Thursday, pitting her against Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.
Cristina Garcia faces an uphill battle, at least when it comes to endorsements. Robert Garcia has locked down endorsements from a veritable who’s who of prominent elected California officials, from Gov. Gavin Newsom to Sen. Alex Padilla to Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and more.
Cristina Garcia indirectly acknowledged her opponent’s endorsements in a statement.
“I am proud to have never been a candidate that covets the endorsement of the political elite. I am more interested in holding them accountable to the people. But I am honored to have earned the trust of so many of my fellow local elected officials. It’s proof to me that I’m doing my job right,” she said.
Cristina Garcia then provided a list of her own endorsements, which includes numerous city mayors and council members from her district.
CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY OUTPACES THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
Via David Lightman...
California’s economy grew at a stronger pace than the national average this summer, the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its latest survey of states.
The state’s Gross Domestic Product, the market value of its goods and services, was up at an annual, inflation-adjusted rate of 2.9% in the third quarter of this year. That was more than the national GDP growth of 2.3%.
Thirty-seven states saw GDP growth, led by Hawaii with a 6% increase. Florida, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom has criticized as lagging behind California, grew at a 3.7% clip.
Big contributors to the increase in most states included professional, scientific and technical services as well as finance and insurance services, BEA said.
In a separate report, California still had a disproportionate percentage of initial unemployment claims in mid-December.
The Labor Department said California had 57,399 of the nation’s initial 254,006 unemployment claims in the week ending December 18. That’s about 22.6% of the claims. The state has about 11.7% of the country’s workforce.
California’s unemployment rate last month was 6.9%, and while that was down from October’s rate, it was the highest in the nation.
Experts cite several reasons for the persistently high rate. Among them: The state is more dependent than most on tourism, and employees are not returning to many jobs, notably lower wage jobs in retail and leisure services.
NO HARD FEELINGS?
Speaking of Democrat versus Democrat, it would be understandable for Assemblyman Evan Low and Assemblyman Marc Berman to have some bad blood.
Earlier this fall, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon suddenly removed Low as chair of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. His replacement? Berman.
Now, courtesy of redistricting, Low and Berman are both in the same Assembly district.
We don’t always see lawmakers publicly hashing it out, but on Thursday, we got just that, as Low released an eight-second video of him and Berman duking it out in a parking lot. Their weapon of choice? Pillows.
Call it Democratic camaraderie. Call it fun in the holiday spirit. But with that video, it would appear as if any beef between the two lawmakers has been squashed. For now.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Jennifer and I were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Joan Didion, preeminent author, culture critic, and requisite voice of California.
A fifth-generation Californian, Joan was a pioneer of the new journalism movement of the 1960s, capturing in prose the state’s growing counterculture movement that would soon influence the nation. She was peerless in her capacity to write about life, loss, love and society – easily the best living writer in California. Her ability to put the tapestry of California and the times into words made her a treasure for her generation and generations to come.
While we mourn this great loss, Californians can celebrate Joan’s tremendous contributions to the arts through her work. California belonged to Joan Didion; we cherish her memory.”
- Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a statement.
Best of the Bee:
Joan Didion — the legendary writer who chronicled life, counterculture and pain in California with her deeply personal works and cutting social commentary — died Thursday morning at 87, via Michael McGough and Benjy Egel.
For Californians looking to keep up with the governor’s orders and combat the spread of COVID-19, here’s a rundown of all the state COVID-19 mandates and their current status, via Andrew Sheeler.
DUI-related crashes and deaths are skyrocketing in California, warned district attorneys across the state on Wednesday, via Carmen Kohlruss.