Making it rain in the Central Valley

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

Apr 04, 2024 View in browser   By Melanie Mason CASH CROP:  Turns out, House Speaker Mike Johnson knows where the Central Valley is after all. Republicans in battleground seats in the often-overshadowed swath of California’s farm country have been feeling especially anxious after its patron, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, abruptly quit Congress after being ousted as speaker. Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar sprinkled some salt in the wound this week when he mused that the current speaker “probably … doesn’t know where the Central Valley is.” As if on cue, the Louisiana Republican this week made his first fundraising trip to California and today had a particularly Valley-centric itinerary: Bakersfield, Fresno and Stockton. House Speaker Mike Johnson, seen at the U.S. Capitol in January, was in California's Central Valley this week to raise funds for GOP candidates. Kent Nishimura | Getty Images The events raked in money for a slate of targeted GOP incumbents including Reps. David Valadao, John Duarte, Kevin Kiley, Mike Garcia, Ken Calvert, Michelle Steel and Young Kim. The speaker is backing several Republicans looking to flip blue seats, including Scott Baugh, who is running in the open Orange County seat currently held by Rep. Katie Porter, and Matt Gunderson, who is challenging Rep. Mike Levin. In Fresno, Johnson was hosted by Richard and Karen Spencer, who own a construction business and are deeply involved with Central California Right to Life. Democrats seized on the connection to the anti-abortion group, noting its blog has called the morning-after pill, also known as Plan B, as a potential “abortifacient” and linked to resources opposed to in-vitro fertilization. “There’s not enough vague ‘I support women’ tweets in the world that can save California Republican congressional candidates,” said Matilda Bress, spokesperson for American Bridge, a liberal outside group. “They voted to attack reproductive rights, spoke against reproductive rights, and are now proudly raising money with some of the biggest reproductive rights haters in the state. Californians won’t support them and their extreme stances.” Greg Steele, a spokesperson for Johnson, brushed off the jab and turned the focus on Democrats Rudy Salas and Adam Gray, who are running to unseat Valadao and Duarte in the two fiercest Central Valley races. “California Democrats should be more concerned with the fact they have nominated self-serving Sacramento politicians who skipped hundreds of votes while collecting millions in taxpayer pay and supporting increases in gas prices, inflation and taxes on agriculture — all issues that do not reflect the values of Central Valley families,” he said. Abortion did not come up much during the event, said Karen Spencer, who said it was “very sad” the issue had become so politically toxic. “I think Democrats are desperate,” she said. “They want to take the emphasis off their presidential candidate.” She had much better things to say about Johnson, who was making his debut in front of a crowd that knew his successor well. “A lot of people knew Kevin McCarthy. He was a very grassroots kind of guy, he grew up in the Valley. So they were interested in meeting the new speaker,” Spencer said. “I think we’re blessed to have him. I personally can’t imagine how anyone handles all the drama in Congress, but I think he’s cut out for the job.” IT’S THURSDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on 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 X. DMs are open.   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas smiles as he talks with reporters at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on June 30, 2023. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP A BILLION HERE, A BILLION THERE: Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders announced an agreement today on $17 billion in spending cuts, delays and shifts to shrink California’s deficit before final negotiations on next year’s budget. The agreement includes most of the “early action” cost saving measures Newsom asked for in January. Votes on the plan are expected in the state Senate and Assembly next week. It would allow the governor in his May Revision to present a smaller deficit than the $38 billion he announced in January. Provisions of the deal include a $500 million cut to school facility construction, a $1 billion delay for intercity rail funding and a one-day deferral of state employee pay in 2025 that would push $1.6 billion in costs to another budget year. Newsom, Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas also agreed to spend around half of the state’s reserves to offset deeper spending cuts. “We've got to be very prudent and judicious and careful with our reserves,” Rivas said in a phone interview today. “We don't want to use all of those reserves this year.” — Blake Jones ON THE BEATS Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple A team Sacramento River Cats, is shown in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4, 2024. The Oakland Athletics announced Thursday the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028, after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. Rich Pedroncelli | AP STEALING HOME: Oakland’s loss is a gain for the Sacramento region. Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher and Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé today announced that the A’s will move to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento next year for three seasons, with an option for a fourth. After lengthy and unsuccessful negotiations between the A’s and the city of Oakland, the team will play in the home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats until its new stadium is built in Las Vegas. While unfortunate for Oakland, it’s a happy announcement for Sacramento-area sports fans — a note of ambivalence that an otherwise “over the moon” Mayor Darrell Steinberg sought to convey in his reaction to the announcement. “Oakland is a great city that rightfully deserves professional sports, including Major League Baseball,” he said in a statement. “The circumstances leading to the A’s departure were beyond our control as the capital city and region.” CALIFORNIA DREAMIN': A new poll from opponents of the California Forever project may be cause for concern for the billionaire-backed proposal to build a new city on farmland in Solano County. The poll commissioned by the Solano Together coalition finds strong opposition to a ballot measure that would rezone farmland to allow construction of a city with an eventual population of 400,000 about 55 miles northeast of San Francisco. The March poll of likely voters found 61 percent of people would “definitely” vote no and 7 percent would “probably” vote no on a project that has received widespread attention in the media and has been the subject of town hall forums organized by the developer. The poll, which had a margin of error of just under 5 percent, found that 13 percent were “definitely” a yes and 10 percent were “probably” yes on a project that the backers have portrayed as a pedestrian-friendly city in a region in dire need of more housing. California Forever, which has the backing of prominent Silicon Valley investors, is dismissive of what campaign manager Matt Rodriguez called a “push poll” by the Greenbelt Alliance. “We look forward to submitting in the coming weeks the signatures of tens of thousands of Solano residents who are excited about the future of the county and who are looking forward to casting their votes this November,” he said in a statement. — Ben Fox SILICON VALLEY TOSS-UP: Three Democrats will advance to the general election in CA-16 after election officials this afternoon officially certified the vote count, cementing the second-place tie between Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian. Both will join top vote-getter Sam Liccardo on the ballot in November, barring any changes. Voters and candidates now have five days to request a recount, but Low, in a statement, didn't indicate that he'd pursue that avenue. "I hope to earn your support once again in November," he said. — Lara Korte   Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Use our Legislative Tracker to see what’s on the Albany agenda. POLITICO Pro. Inside New York. Learn more.     WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY JUDGMENT CALL: A Republican-appointed federal judge sentenced a man linked to a Southern California white supremacist group to time-served for punching a journalist, instead of the six months recommended by prosecutors, reasoning that it would “only increase the disparity” in punishment and prosecution of leftists for violent acts. (Los Angeles Times) GLORY DAYS: A deep dive into the high school and college baseball career of Gov. Gavin Newsom finds that media outlets and a stadium announcer have embellished his career and that the governor may not have done much to discourage them in his discussion of the transformative role of the sport in his life. (Cal Matters) AROUND THE STATE LOS ANGELES: Thieves made off with up to $30 million from a cash storage facility in the San Fernando Valley, a record-setting haul that would seem to require inside knowledge and some prior experience. (Los Angeles Times) SAN JOSE: Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and killed 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993 and inspired a wave of tougher sentencing measures, is expected to be in a San Jose court on Friday in a bid to overturn his death sentence. (The Mercury News)   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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