A Senate face-off in San Francisco

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

Feb 12, 2024 View in browser   By Christopher Cadelago The first California Senate debate at Bovard Auditorium at UCLA on Jan. 22, 2024. Pictured onstage from left: Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Steve Garvey. | Jenna Schoenefeld for POLITICO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: We want to hear from our California Playbook PM readers about the issues that matter to them. Please take a few minutes and fill out this survey and help us shape our coverage. FIGHTING WORDS: The four leading Senate candidates in California will appear tonight in their second TV debate of the race. The debate between Democrats Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Republican Steve Garvey is happening at KRON studios in San Francisco and will air on Nexstar’s KTLA in Los Angeles, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento, KSEE in Fresno and KGET in Bakersfield. But let’s be honest, the real race for the Senate is playing out on TV — all-day, every day. We’re talking, of course, of the advertising wars. It’s not that nothing the candidates say tonight, as we nurse our sad Super Bowl hangovers, will matter. POLITICO’s debate, last month in Los Angeles, revealed how little Garvey knows about his own policy positions, or cared to share with the rest of us. But short of a major newsmaking debate exchange — or a clip that goes certifiably viral — most Californians are watching the contest play out via 30-second TV spots. That’s because they don’t really watch debates (let alone on the night after the 49ers lost the big game). And in a down-ticket race like this one for the Senate, many won’t give it much thought until later, if at all. The frontrunner Schiff has a massive spending advantage on TV — 2-to-1 over Porter, and that’s just the two campaigns proper. As of late Friday, AdImpact was tracking more than $20 million being spent by Schiff, compared with about $9 million by Porter. Schiff also has a super PAC that mimicked his tactic of criticizing Garvey — with the clear goal of boosting the longshot Republican into the November runoff. Garvey doesn’t have the money for his own TV ads and his campaign has been … sporadic. On Monday, came word of another big-spending super PAC buying airtime in the Senate race. Fairshake, a group of cryptocurrency billionaires, has purchased about $3 million in ads — for this week alone. That number is expected to climb much higher. Porter has been critical of the industry (many industries, really) and people briefed on Fairshake’s creative say she’s the likely target. A spokesman for the group did not immediately comment on the ads, which haven’t aired yet. This gets us to the big questions — which can’t be answered on stage: Will the money propping up Garvey to Republicans and, as we suspect, going after Porter, be enough to sink her? Or, will the roughly $10 million and counting Porter is spending on her own behalf be enough for her to sneak through? It would take something quite dynamic tonight to throw off those larger dynamics. IT’S MONDAY 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 ccadelago@politico.com or send a shout on X. DMs are open. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY STARTING YOUNG: Everyone would have to send their kid to kindergarten under legislation from two Southern California lawmakers — apparently undeterred by the fact that Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill in 2022. California doesn’t mandate kindergarten, unlike at least 17 states and Washington, D.C. State Sen. Susan Rubio and Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi have in the last few days introduced bills that would change that. Around 5 percent of kindergarten-age students don’t attend in California, partly because it can be difficult for working parents to get their kids from school to child care if their school only offers half-day kindergarten. Newsom’s 2022 veto of a similar bill by Rubio looms large. Even then, as the state enjoyed a near $100 billion surplus, Newsom cited the annual $268 million cost of teaching more kindergarteners when he rejected the proposal. The state now faces a $38 billion deficit, and tax collections have been lower than expected since that shortfall estimate was made. Muratsuchi, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, may hear his version on March 9, according to his office. — Blake Jones ON THE BEATS Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 23, 2020. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP NOT JUST A PHASE: Menopause will get serious policy treatment starting this week as the Assembly’s Select Committee on Reproductive Health holds the first of three scheduled hearings on the phase of life. The hearings, which start Thursday, are expected to be more bipartisan than you usually see in the reproductive health space, one that’s typically dominated by abortion and contraception. The idea came from the select committee’s chair, Democrat Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who wants to make progress on research and education, insurance coverage and labor issues like employee accommodations for people experiencing symptoms. GETTING SERIOUS — California hospitals whose staff members fail to complete anti-bias training would face penalties under legislation announced today. The training is intended to tackle elevated maternal mortality rates among Black women and has been required since 2020. The new bill from Assemblymember Lori Wilson would establish deadlines and financial penalties for medical institutions whose staff fail to complete the required training. It comes after an investigation by the Department of Justice found that many facilities failed to complete it. SPOTTED San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney and Newsom rubbing shoulders with celebs at the Super Bowl, including Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian and Bay Area rap stars E-40 and Too Short. Newsom and Haney weren’t the only California lawmakers who went to Las Vegas to cheer on the 49ers. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was seen in the stands with her husband, Paul. The pair received a lot of attention over the weekend for flying economy out of SFO. WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY WIRES CROSSED: Charging power customers based on household income is facing pushback from Democratic lawmakers. (The Sacramento Bee) MEAN STREETS: A crowd surrounded a driverless Waymo vehicle in San Francisco’s Chinatown, broke the windows and tossed fireworks inside, causing it to be engulfed in flames. (San Francisco Chronicle) PANDA DIPLOMACY: The San Diego Zoo appears to have the upper hand in behind-the-scenes efforts to host the next pandas on loan from China, but faces competition from the San Francisco Zoo. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)   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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