Voters prefer Newsom in Sacramento + McCarthy to speak at CAGOP + Bass endorses Lee
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
NO, CALIFORNIA VOTERS DON’T WANT NEWSOM TO RUN IN 2024
A majority of California registered voters would prefer that Gov. Gavin Newsom stay in Sacramento next year, thank you very much.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows that 70% of registered voters, including 54% of Democrats, would oppose Newsom running for president in 2024.
Quinnipiac spoke with 1,091 California self-identified registered voters between Feb. 23-27. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Voters were mixed on Newsom’s job performance, with 44% approving and 43% disapproving. That is a less rosy assessment of Newsom’s performance than the one found by the Public Policy Institute of California last month, which gave the governor a 57% approval among likely voters.
It is, however, about on par with what voters gave President Joe Biden (48%-47%) and slightly better than what they gave Vice President Kamala Harris (42%-48%).
California’s congressional delegation also received mixed reviews, with retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein getting 37% approval and 44% disapproval and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy getting 33% positive and 48% negative. Voters had less of an opinion of Sen. Alex Padilla, who had a 38% favorable and 29% unfavorable rating.
Speaking of Feinstein retiring, the poll surveyed voters on their preferences for the three Democratic congressmembers who have announced campaigns to replace her: Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee.
Porter (30%) and Schiff (31%) enjoyed similar favorability ratings, but Schiff also had a 30% unfavorable rating, whereas only 11% had an unfavorable view of Porter.
Lee faces an uphill battle, if this poll bears out. She had just an 18% favorable and an 11% unfavorable, with 71% of voters surveyed saying they haven’t heard enough about her.
The survey also asked voters what they view as the most urgent issues facing the state — only homelessness (22%), affordable housing (17%) and inflation (10%) scored double-digit support. The poll found that 84% of California voters view homelessness as a very serious problem.
Meanwhile, just over half (53%) of voters said they feel like they can afford to live in California, with 43% saying they would move out of the state if they had the financial means to do so.
Regarding the proposed constitutional amendment to allow people currently incarcerated for felony offenses to vote, nearly two-thirds (64%) said they oppose the idea.
SPEAKER MCCARTHY TO COME TO SACRAMENTO NEXT WEEKEND
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, is returning to Sacramento next weekend, where he speak at the California Republican Party Spring 2023 Convention.
This marks his first visit to California’s capital since McCarthy was elected speaker after 15 rounds of voting in January.
McCarthy served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2006, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. While in the Assembly, McCarthy spent three years as minority leader.
The Caliifornia GOP announced the event on Twitter Wednesday.
McCarthy will address convention-goers during the lunch banquet at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento beginning at noon on Saturday, March 11.
LA MAYOR KAREN BASS ‘PROUD’ TO ENDORSE LONGTIME FRIEND REP. BARBARA LEE FOR SENATE
Via Jenavieve Hatch...
Rep. Barbara Lee is one of three prominent California Democrats to toss their name in the ring to replace outgoing Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2024, and on Tuesday she earned the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Bass was elected Mayor in 2022 after a decade in Congress, where she represented California’s 33rd and 37th Districts. She and Lee have both chaired the Congressional Black Caucus and were longtime collaborators during Bass’ tenure as a Congresswoman.
”I’ve seen her leadership firsthand,’ Bass tweeted on Wednesday. “Her work in a divided government to secure billions of dollars in COVID relief for underserved communities is just one example of the type of principled and tenacious leadership she will bring to California as our next United States Senator.”
Bass joins a chorus of Democratic women of color to endorse Lee.
Aimee Allison of She the People, Susannah Delano of Close the Gap California, and Irene Kao of Courage California released a joint statement Monday to endorse the Congresswoman.
”We trust Rep. Lee to carry issues that matter most to us — economic and racial justice, abortion rights, immigrant rights, and more. Among all those signaling they will run, Rep. Lee is the only leader who has earned a place in the hearts of Black, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native, and LGBTQ+ communities,” they said. “Additionally, Rep. Lee has deep roots in Northern California — a perfect complement to Senator Alex Padilla’s Southern California home base.”
In early polls, Lee is trailing behind Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. An endorsement from a prominent Los Angeles Democrat such as Bass could help bolster Lee’s campaign against the two Southern California Senate hopefuls.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Poverty & under-funded schools harm kids. Drag queens do not.”
- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
A California lawmaker will again try to reform the state’s conservatorship system to make it easier for people caring for those with severe mental illness to compel treatment, via Lindsey Holden.
California lawmakers thought they cracked the code last year on a construction union stalemate holding up housing bills. Despite the 2022 victories, rifts within labor could reignite the war over how best to craft affordable housing policy, via Lindsey Holden and Maya Miller.
As catastrophic wildfires become a norm across an extremely parched Golden State, vintners seeks answers to help the state’s famed grape and wine industry sustain the effects of climate change. Specifically, they’re asking the state to invest in research to answer some of the industry’s most pressing questions, including how to know which grapes have suffered damage, what level of harmful compounds can the grapes sustain before they become tainted and whether there are any ways to prevent smoke taint ahead of a wildfire, via Maggie Angst.
One of two Trump supporters behind a plot to firebomb Sacramento’s state Democratic Party headquarters was sentenced to prison Wednesday, but sentencing for the second was delayed after his attorney asked for the courtroom to be closed over concerns for his client’s safety, via Sam Stanton.
Getting a hold of a real person to talk about your tax situation takes strategy, patience and a little bit of luck, via Brianna Taylor.
California Universal Meals is the first of its kind in the country. Since the start of this meal program last year, children no longer need to pay for their lunches using cash, tickets or punching in their student identification. Breakfast and lunch are free at all California schools — no application is required. It’s an important step to ensuring children are healthy, fed and ready to learn, via Sawsan Morrar.