Snapping a winning streak

Your afternoon must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State

Oct 11, 2023 View in browser   By Melanie Mason Rep. Adam Schif (D-Calif.) flanked by Reps. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), left, and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), during a U.S. Senate candidate forum on Sunday hosted by the National Union of Health Care Workers in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) | AP TICK TOCK: Rep. Katie Porter had several reasons to celebrate when she scooped up her first endorsement from a statewide labor group today. Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, who voted on the endorsement over the last three days, picked Porter with 48 percent of votes cast, beating rivals Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Adam Schiff by double digits. The outcome was a seal of approval for Porter’s feisty performance at a Senate candidate forum hosted by the union on Sunday. It helped her snap Schiff’s streak of winning endorsements from statewide labor groups, though he is still the undisputed leader with backing from seven of them. And it showed how she can siphon support from Lee on what should have been friendly territory for the congresswoman, a progressive union with a strong Bay Area presence. But it also helped underscore the time crunch facing another potential opponent: Sen. Laphonza Butler, who has still not revealed whether she plans to run for a full term. With two major unions announcing their endorsements this week — NUHW for Porter and the Teamsters for Schiff — it’s clear that the Senate race has not frozen as the political world awaits Butler’s decision. NUHW noted in its news release that it invited Butler to participate in the forum or address the audience separately, but she did not attend. As Jeremy B. White reported last week, some in the labor world are proceeding full speed ahead with their endorsement process, regardless of Butler’s moves. That’s a notable difference from the California Democratic Party, which announced soon after Butler’s swearing-in that it was moving to Oct. 27 its deadline to apply for the party’s endorsement. For her part, Butler, a longtime union leader in California, was in San Francisco today making the rounds with labor members. She met with members of both the California Teachers Association and SEIU 1021, which represents employees in local governments, nonprofit agencies, health care programs and schools. These were not campaign stops; union officials were quick to emphasize she was visiting in her new capacity as senator. Still, as the clock ticks for her to make a decision, a little labor face time probably doesn’t hurt. IT’S WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check of California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to mmason@politico.com or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY BRINGING UP THE HOUSE: Gov. Gavin Newsom embraced a YIMBY trifecta today in signing bills to expedite housing construction: Senate Bill 423, which extends a prior law streamlining approvals in cities that lag their state goals; Senate Bill 4, which expedites approval of developments on religious groups' land; and Assembly Bill 1633, which limits local government's ability to deny projects by invoking CEQA. The bills surmounted opposition from organized labor, and in some cases environmentalist groups, to make it to Newsom's desk. — Jeremy B. White ON THE BEATS SMALL HOMES, BIG PROBLEM: State officials joined Sacramento city leaders today to unveil the site of 175 tiny homes, part of the promise Newsom made earlier this year to send 1,200 of the structures to cities around California. The city hopes to break ground on the 13-acre plot by the end of the year, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. Working with the county, the development will also feature a wellness center on-site. JUDGE SHOPPING: San Francisco won’t be able to ditch a federal judge who blocked the city from clearing homeless camps. The city recently requested that a different judge take over the case from U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu, whose decision on homelessness prompted the ire of San Francisco officials, including City Attorney David Chiu and Mayor London Breed. Newsom has joined in, criticizing judges who have prevented the removal of encampments that have proliferated in recent years. But U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar, who’s presiding over another case challenging the city’s homelessness policies, rejected the city’s request today in a one-line ruling in which he declined to merge the cases. City officials are still holding out hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will intervene. — Dustin Gardiner PICKING MUSHROOMS: Magic mushrooms are out, but the glorious golden chanterelle is in. This week, after rejecting a law that would have decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms, Newsom signed a measure crowning the Cantharellus californicus as the Golden State’s official fungus. It’s been a good legislative season for state symbols, especially those that thrive in the dark. Newsom also signed a bill designating the pallid bat as the official state bat. That means there’s still plenty of time to get golden chanterelle and pallid bat costumes together for a state-symbol-themed Halloween costume. Send us your pictures. — Rachel Bluth  WHAT WE'RE CLICKING CRUISE CONTROL: A lack of federal software safety testing standards for autonomous vehicles means that it’s up to states like California to decide whether driverless cars are safe — and they might not be, as recent incidents appear to demonstrate. (The New York Times) ON SECOND THOUGHT: San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston has recalibrated his much-criticized earlier response to the deadly Hamas attack on Israeli citizens, saying today that “I’m heartbroken as I read the news, and talk to people with friends and relatives in the region.” (San Francisco Chronicle)   Follow us on Twitter POLITICO California @politicoca   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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