It’s crunch time for CA election

Californians have five more days to vote, and as of Thursday, more than 5.8 million of the 22.8 million registered voters had returned their ballots.

In the final stretch, campaigns are amping up outreach efforts and some of the stakes in the election are coming into sharper focus:

Legislative races: Democrats hold two-thirds supermajorities in both the Assembly and Senate, giving them power over the budget and policy. Whether that one-party dominance is good or bad for California is a debate that even some Democrats are having. 

• Sen. Bill Dodd, to the Los Angeles Times: “I certainly don’t think it’s good for democracy overall and in the end it’s not going to be good for the Democratic caucus.” 

The Napa Democrat is one of the three dozen departing lawmakers, which will mean the Legislature will look quite different next year. The party split, however, may remain largely unchanged: There are 11 Democrat vs. Democrat races on the ballot, compared to only six Republican against Republican contests.

Transgender voters: As part of L.A. County’s efforts to set up voting centers in diverse communities, several LGBTQ community leaders plan to unveil today a voting center at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center in West Hollywood. Seeking to “provide safe and welcoming places for everyone to vote,” they will be joined by Mayor John Erickson and Dean Logan, the county’s registrar.

Ballot props: To drum up support for Proposition 4 and Prop. 6, proponents are drawing attention to key endorsements. For the bond issue that would allow the state to borrow $10 billion for climate projects, the Yes on Prop. 4 campaign has highlighted backing from several local governments and a handful of groups representing California cities and counties, including the League of California Cities and the Association of Bay Area Governments.

And while Prop. 6 is trailing in the polls, several high-profile female politicians and activists publicized their support for amending the state constitution to limit forced prison labor. This includes U.S. Reps. Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and labor leader Dolores Huerta.

Also, CalMatters politics intern Jenna Peterson has her last TikTok and Instagram reel (with three personas!), this one on Prop. 35, which would require the state to spend revenue from a tax on health plans on Medi-Cal. See her earlier ones on other props on TikTok and Instagram.

Though the state enshrined abortion protections in its constitution in 2022, California’s Department of Justice is cracking down again on what it argues are obstacles to abortion rights.

As CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff explains, Attorney General Rob Bonta slammed Beverly Hills Thursday after the justice department found the city had unlawfully and improperly delayed the opening of a third-trimester abortion clinic last year.

Now, in what Bonta described as a “first-of-its kind agreement,” one of California’s wealthiest and well-known cities must train its employees about state and federal protections for abortion clinics, and develop a process for people to report potential violations to the state.

• Bonta, to CalMatters: “Unfortunately, it’s a reminder that anti-reproductive freedom actions don’t just happen in Texas or red states that are cracking down on reproductive health care, but it can happen right here in California. … We will prevail if any other cities or jurisdictions seek to follow Beverly Hills’ poor example here.”

City officials continue to deny any wrongdoing, with Mayor Lester Friedman saying in a statement that they “did not and will not discriminate against any reproductive healthcare provider and strongly supports a woman’s right to choose.”

In another settlement with the justice department Tuesday, a Catholic-owned hospital in Eureka agreed to comply with state law after it refused to provide emergency abortion care to a pregnant woman who was miscarrying.

Read more about the Beverly Hills abortion settlement in Alexei’s story.

An invasive species of mussel native to China and Southeast Asia has found its way to California — and biologists are ringing the alarm, writes CalMatters environment reporter Alastair Bland.

Golden mussels — which can attach themselves to underwater surfaces and form “reefs” that can grow as fast as 150 miles a year — were reported in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near Stockton on Oct. 17. This marked the first confirmed appearance of the mussel in North America, and it has since been found in one other location in Merced County.

The small freshwater mollusks can clog vital water supply systems, such as the Delta pumping stations that send water south to 30 million people and millions of acres of farmland. They can also push out native vegetation and rob native animal species of essential nutrients.

• California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a statement: Golden mussel “poses a significant immediate threat to the ecological health of the Delta and all waters of the state, water conveyance systems, infrastructure and water quality.”

The wildlife department is partnering with various local, state and federal agencies to contain the spread. How the mussels journeyed to California is unclear, though experts suspect they hitchhiked inside commercial ships.

Learn more about the threat of golden mussels in Alastair’s story.

While California voters decide the fate of 10 propositions, the only one from March was Prop. 1 — a mental health measure championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that voters narrowly approved. CalMatters’ Jocelyn Wiener, Mia Henry and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on how Prop. 1 would impact people with serious mental illnesses. Watch it here.

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