Senate Rs delete TikTok + An Assembly dress code change? + Min runs + Shepard concedes

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

SENATE REPUBLICANS CANCEL TIKTOK

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, has a message for California Gov. Gavin Newsom: Delete your account.

Specifically, Jones would like Newsom to delete his TikTok account (which has more than a quarter-million followers), citing cybersecurity risks associated with using the social media app.

The Senate Minority Leader has already deleted his own, as well as the account for the Senate Republican Caucus.

“I’m hoping (Newsom will) follow the example of the Senate’s bipartisan efforts to keep California safe,” Jones said in an interview with The Bee.

Why now?

Jones said that safety concerns about TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, have prompted a widespread crackdown by state and federal government officials on their employees using the app.

The U.S. military has banned it, and President Joe Biden signed a budget in December prohibiting most federal employees from having the app on their government-issued smartphones.

More than half of the states have initiated some level of pushback against TikTok, including Texas and Florida. California lawmakers are considering two bills that would block state workers from putting the app on their state-issued phones.

“It’s obviously becoming more of an issue nationwide,” Jones said.

But what about the youths? Isn’t TIkTok an effective way to reach a notoriously elusive age demographic?

Jones conceded that getting rid of TikTok stings a bit. Some of his videos had over 700,000 views.

“We’re getting great positive response from the younger voters in California,” he said.

But there is just too much danger in handing over personal data to the Chinese Communist Party, he said.

“We’ll find other ways to be just as effective,” Jones said.

For example, there’s still Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“All my stuff is on (Instagram) Reels,” Jones said.

The Senate Minority Leader said this isn’t a partisan issue, but a security matter, and that he intends to sign on as co-author to the proposed TikTok ban bill authored by Napa Democrat Sen. Bill Dodd.

CHANGING THE LEGISLATURE’S DRESS CODE?

As Missouri lawmakers voted to tighten their dress code by forcing women in the state House to cover their shoulders, California lawmakers may go the opposite direction.

House Resolution 9 would modify the Assembly floor dress code’s definition of appropriate attire to allow “an individual’s cultural, ethnic, or nationally accepted professional attire or garb.”It was introduced by Assemblyman Corey Jackson, D-Perris.

Jackson and Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, said in a joint statement this week:

“Eurocentrism, which refers to a bias on the vantage point of European and Western cultures, has played a role in establishing what is considered ‘appropriate’ fashion, often forcing individuals to adopt various forms of professional attire that conflict with their ethnic or religious backgrounds. Consequently, individuals who wish to wear ancestral garments are considered unprofessional and prohibited from stepping onto the Assembly floor,” the statement reads.

MIN LAUNCHES BID TO SUCCEED PORTER

As Rep. Katie Porter keeps one eye on the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, she’s keeping the other on the race to replace her in California Congressional District 47 in 2024.

To that end, Porter has endorsed State Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, as her preferred successor in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Min, who announced he is running on Wednesday, announced Porter’s endorsement in a tweet.

“I began my career holding Wall Street accountable during the financial crisis & protecting families from foreclosure. In the State Senate, I have fought for bold legislation to challenge politics as usual,” Min said in a statement announcing his candidacy.

Min unsuccessfully ran against Porter in what was then California Congressional District 45 in 2018, coming in third in that year’s top-two primary, behind Porter and then-incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters.

As Rob Pyers of California Target Book noted on Twitter, “Min’s decision averts a member vs member race in #SD37 against Dem State Senator Josh Newman, whose senate district was dismembered during the last round of redistricting.”

SHEPARD FINALLY CONCEDES

State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, was officially sworn in on Dec. 10, but an extremely close race with Porterville Republican David Shepard resulted in a recount that revealed Hurtado’s lead to be just 13 votes.

Unfortunately for Shepard, that was 13 more votes than he had, and so the Republican senate candidate finally conceded the race on Wednesday, more than two months after Election Day 2022.

“This election has exemplified the saying that ‘every vote counts.’ Although the result is not the one we had hoped for, I am so incredibly thankful for the team that surrounded me during the recount and believed in me and my candidacy for State Senate,” Shepard said in a statement.

Shepard didn’t say goodbye without a parting shot at the county registrars who tabulated the votes.

“During the recount we uncovered blatant mismanagement and inconsistencies of vote counting procedures in multiple counties, which excluded numerous voters from having their votes counted in this election. Violation of the basic constitutional rights upon which our democracy is founded can change election results. We believe that had these voters been allowed to have their ballots counted, the outcome of this election would have been very different,” Shepard said, adding that in the coming weeks his team would release “a very detailed summary” of findings that will be critical of country elections officials.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The price of the CA Dream is unaffordable. CA Senate Republicans are seeking solutions to reduce our cost of living. A good start for renters: Expand the state’s renter’s tax credit! #CantAffordCA”

- Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• Gov. Gavin Newsom recently proclaimed that “95% of Texans pay higher taxes than Californians.” But is that true? Some Sacramento Bee sleuthing concludes that, well, Newsom’s statement cannot be independently verified, via David Lightman.

• A conservative legal group has filed a lawsuit against the superintendent and school board members for the Chico Unified School District, alleging that a district employee helped a fifth grade student transition their gender identity without informing the child’s parent, via Andrew Sheeler.