Pelosi joins Newsom in backing Kamala Harris

As Democratic leaders, donors and advocacy groups jump on the Kamala Harris bandwagon, it can be more intriguing who doesn’t immediately get on board. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a political frenemy of the vice president and long-rumored presidential hopeful, waited a beat on Sunday after President Joe Biden’s announcement and endorsement. Monday, he sent out a fundraising email saying that he plans “to spend the next several months working to defeat Donald Trump and elect Democrats everywhere.” 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who reportedly helped orchestrate Biden’s exit from the campaign, didn’t add her support until Monday — after suggesting as recently as last week she preferred an open competition to decide the Democratic nominee if he withdrew.

In a statement, Pelosi said her “enthusiastic support … is official, personal and political.”

• Pelosi: “Officially, I have seen Kamala Harris’s strength and courage as a champion for working families, notably fighting for a woman’s right to choose. Personally, I have known Kamala Harris for decades as rooted in strong values, faith and a commitment to public service. Politically, make no mistake: Kamala Harris as a woman in politics is brilliantly astute — and I have full confidence that she will lead us to victory in November.”

With Pelosi making the motion Monday evening, the California Democratic Party formally endorsed Harris, locking up nearly 500 delegates to the Democratic National Convention next month and essentially securing the nomination, though delegates won’t officially start voting until next week. In a statement, Harris said that “as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state’s delegation helped put our campaign over the top.”

Earlier Monday at Biden-Harris campaign headquarters, in her first speech as the likely nominee, Harris leaned into her California record as a local prosecutor and state attorney general to outline the case she’ll make against Trump. 

“I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said, before listing her history of prosecuting sexual predators, for-profit colleges that ripped off students and banks that defrauded homeowners.

Also on Monday, Mayor London Breed and other Democrats whipped up support for Harris during a rally in San Francisco, where they outlined the work ahead in the roughly 100 days left.

• Breed: “We’re going to have to travel to battleground states. We’re going to have to hit the doors and the phones. We’re going to have to do text messages. We’re going to have to defend her record because there are people right now as we speak that are trying to tear her down and will consistently go after her every single step away.”

Republicans have already started their attacks on Harris — including that she’s a “San Francisco radical” with an “extreme agenda,” that she covered up Biden’s mental decline and that she’s just weird.

It’s not shocking that Republicans have called for the president to resign immediately, saying that if he isn’t up to campaigning, he shouldn’t be running the country.

But one person who’s also suggesting that Biden should step down now might be surprising: Longtime California political icon (and one-time Harris boyfriend) Willie Brown.

• Brown, to reporters Sunday: “Her chances go up if he would at this moment say not only am I no longer the candidate, I’m no longer the president — she is.”

From CalMatters data reporter Jeremia Kimelman:

Who’s the most interested in California’s November ballot measures?

If you judge by the amount of money invested in campaigns, it’s clearly Realtors and landlords: They have donated at least $50 million — more than half of the nearly $94 million total so far for the 10 propositions.

The biggest checks are focused on Proposition 33, which would expand local rent control, and on Prop. 5, a constitutional amendment that would lower the voting thresholds for local governments to borrow for housing and other infrastructure.

A whopping $52 million has been reported by the committees supporting and opposing Prop. 33, most to persuade voters against it, according to a CalMatters analysis of reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office by the start of last week.

The California Association of Realtors and its political action committee put $22 million into the opposition campaign, while the National Association of Realtors gave $5 million. The California Apartment Association ponied up $7.25 million. The “Homeownership for All Families” committee is also spending money against Prop. 5.

Many California rent control battles pit the Realtors and landlords against the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. This year is no different: The foundation has committed $16.7 million to sponsor Prop. 33. 

This election, the two groups are also fighting another, very pointed battle through Prop. 34, which would severely restrict the foundation from contributing to ballot measure committees. The foundation — which spent more than $104 million on ballot measures in the last decade — has contributed $1.2 million to oppose the measure. The apartment association has given nearly $16 million to pass the measure.

The most recent rent control measure was on the statewide ballot in 2020, when the apartment association spent more than $72 million to defeat Prop. 21.

It’s only July, so there’s still plenty of time to raise and spend money on the ballot issues, and contributions are unlimited. Still, the fundraising has a long way to go to approach the most expensive ballot measure fights in California. For instance, more than $700 million was spent to sway voters on seven ballot measures in 2022 — nearly $620 million on two sports gambling measures that both failed.

The ballot measure money wars would have been even bigger this year, but five measures were withdrawn by their proponents in deals with lawmakers, and another was kicked off the ballot by the state’s highest court. Monday, Gov. Newsom’s office put out a press release bragging about a “streamlined, less costly ballot.”

November election: It’s not too early to get informed. Read up on the 10 ballot measures and the history of propositions in California. Check out our Voter Guide, including the FAQ on how to vote. And keep up with CalMatters coverage.

A year after California State University was found mishandling sexual harassment claims, the system says it’s on track on most of the fixes outlined in a state audit, hitting a crucial deadline this month. Cal State also says it expects to implement the remaining recommendations by 2026.

But how well are the changes really going?

As Elizabeth Wilson of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network explains, following allegations that then-chancellor Joseph Castro mishandled sexual harassment complaints (which forced him to resign), two reports, published in July 2023, concluded that Cal State fell short in dealing with sexual misconduct claims. One was conducted by Cozen O’Connor, a law firm hired by the university’s Chancellor’s Office, while the other was led by the state auditor, at the request of legislators.

According to the law firm’s report, nearly every Title IX office at Cal State’s 23 campuses, which handle gender discrimination and sexual assault reports, was understaffed and underfunded. But 10 campuses still report staff vacancies, and turnover remains a problem at several campuses. Cal State Monterey Bay, for example, had more than 7,000 students and only two Title IX staff members in 2023. Fresno State has 24,000 students and four Title IX staff members. 

Campuses have also not received extra funding for Title IX positions. All this contributes to long delays in settling victims’ claims. For Amanda, a Sonoma State alumna who requested that we didn’t use her last name, her case lasted more than a year — during which time she would still run into her alleged rapist on campus.

• Amanda: “​​It was like psychological torture. Because this big, big traumatic thing happened and I was already falling apart from it. … And then you’re put through this process. And it’s like, they just keep ripping the wound open over and over again.”

Read more about Cal State’s efforts in Elizabeth’s story.

California seized more than 100 tons of illegal fireworks this year, prompting TNT Fireworks to seek an agreement to curb the influx from Nevada. CalMatters politics intern Jenna Peterson and producer Robert Meeks have a video segment on Jenna’s story on the issue as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here. 

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.