California Governor Gavin Newsom’s &#8220;first partner&#8221; Jennifer Siebel Newsom is going viral after a video resurfaced in which she said she gives her sons dolls and changes male protagonists in books to female protagonists when reading to her children.
The resurfaced conversation comes from a 2019 interview with the Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez honoring Women’s History Month. 
“I’ve given our boys dolls … to learn that care and caregiving is not just an activity reserved for women but is also an activity that is a responsibility for men,” she said. Later in the interview, she added, “If I’m reading a book and the protagonist is a male, I just change the he to a she.” She said it normalizes women being the star of a story and that “women matter and women are interesting.”
Her comments were quick to draw criticism from the Right.
Conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey said, &#8220;Being a boy isn&#8217;t a disease that needs to be cured. Masculinity is a strength that needs to be fostered and encouraged.&#8221;
Fox New&#8217;s Tomi Lahren added, &#8220;I told yall the other night on Watters PrimeTime as bad as Gavin is, the wife will be the woke weight on his ankles.&#8221;
Popular commentator Link Lauren said, &#8220;I&#8217;e sounded the alarm for years. Jennifer is on eof the most radical women in public life. Imagine how she is behind closed doors if this is what she says publicly.&#8221;
The Daily Wire obtained the interview in its entirety and found that in addition to her parental advice, Siebel Newsom said conservative politics conflict with viewing women as equal.
“I grew up revering Ronald Reagan … my father did, so therefore we did,” she said. “My dad has always been the biggest champion of women, especially marginalized and vulnerable women, but unfortunately his politics led him in a direction that is sort of in conflict with seeing women as equal.”
She also <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7_5zEr_OuM">blames</a> California’s K-shaped economy on the “devaluation of all that we’ve feminized.”
“Everything that we’ve feminized in American culture — whether entire industries like education, health care, etc., or just attributes like empathy, care, and collaboration — because of the devaluation of all that we’ve feminized, we actually have this incredible inequitable system whereby socioeconomic mobility has never been as poor.” She added that “with California, for example, being the richest and poorest state in our country, we know that we have a lot of work to do to ensure that every California resident achieves not just the American dream, but the California dream.”
Siebel Newsom concluded, saying this is a policy she’ll champion as &#8220;first partner&#8221; of California, a title she created, explaining that she sees it as a more inclusive alternative to the traditional title of “first lady.”
It’s not the first time critics have questioned the first partner’s beliefs and word choices. Siebel Newsom even mentioned her husband has at times been a critic. “Every once in a while, he’ll [Governor Gavin Newsom] say, ‘That’s not really helpful that you said that,’ and I’m like, ‘I know, I’m sorry,’ but it’s the truth and I’m always going to speak the truth, and I’m always a mama and I always care about not just my children, but California’s children, and I’m always going to advocate for women.”
CNN’s Scott Jennings has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWjVVMgAtfI/">argued</a> Siebel Newsom will be a problem for the governor of California if he chooses to run for president in 2028. Jennings made his remarks after Siebel Newsom discussed traveling to red states to learn about racism and misogyny.

California Governor Gavin Newsom Interview On The Circuit

‘I Just Change The He To A She’: Wife Of Gavin Newsom Draws Backlash With Parenting Advice

California

Gavin Newsom

General

Parenting

Politics

A California group positioned to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence regulation for children believes drag queens are positive role models for 4-year-olds.
Common Sense Media, a California nonprofit with a stated <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/">mission</a> to protect kids online, gave a children&#8217;s show featuring two male drag queens a <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-fabulous-show-with-fay-fluffy">perfect</a> child safety score and recommended it for kids ages 4 and up. &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGyr45BKn_o&amp;list=PL2F3nYtGth8cylKCts9if0EkyoZF1FRiI">The Fabulous Show With Fay &amp; Fluffy</a>&#8221; received a 5/5 star rating and was praised for offering positive role models, having educational value, and showcasing diversity.
Bluey, the popular family-friendly cartoon, was outshined by the drag queens and only received a 4/5 star rating.
Common Sense Media provides safety reviews of movies, books, and video games through a vast database that includes many positive reviews for LGBTQ+ content aimed at young children. The nonprofit has an entire <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/celebrate-lgbtq-pride">webpage</a> devoted to &#8220;LGBTQ+ Stories for the Whole Family.&#8221;
&#8220;From affirming, relatable stories about queer kids and teens, to history-making moments and figures on screen, LGBTQ+ representation in media is increasing. Now, kids have more choices that reflect their world and lived experiences, whether they&#8217;re queer, straight, trans, cisgender, or figuring it all out,&#8221; states its website.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1071609" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-736x576.png" alt="" width="736" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-736x576.png 736w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-300x235.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-768x601.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-1536x1202.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM.png 1766w" sizes=" (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px" /></div>
Recent reports say it&#8217;s attempting to extract millions of dollars from AI companies to help them self-regulate in the litigious environment. It&#8217;s simultaneously supporting legislation in California that would require AI chatbot products to submit to regulation from groups like Common Sense Media.
The nonprofit, which claims it&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/what-we-stand-for/tech-accountability">holding tech companies accountable</a>,&#8221; is asking for millions of dollars to launch a new institute focused on providing safety assessments for AI products, according to reporting from <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/04/key-nonprofit-pitches-tech-giants-to-pay-100m-each-for-ai-safety-effort-00853205?site=pro&amp;prod=alert&amp;prodname=alertmail&amp;linktype=headline&amp;source=email">Politico</a>. Common Sense Media offered the tech companies the opportunity to provide input on the safety assessments if they provided a donation, Politico reported.
Its current ratings, however, indicate it&#8217;s in no position to assess what is appropriate for children.
The group recommends transgender content for 4-year-olds, including &#8220;I Am Jazz,&#8221; which it <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/i-am-jazz">calls</a> a &#8220;Sweet, straightforward story about a transgender girl.&#8221; It also <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/jacobs-new-dress#modal">recommends</a> &#8220;Jacob&#8217;s New Dress,&#8221; a story about a young boy who likes to crossdress and was written by parents of a &#8220;gender-nonconforming child,&#8221; and “Sparkle Boy,” the <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/sparkle-boy">story</a> of a 3-year-old boy who “loves all the glittery stuff his older sister loves” and “causes a stir” when he crossdresses.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1071613" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-844x576.png" alt="" width="844" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-844x576.png 844w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-300x205.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-768x524.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-1536x1048.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM.png 1864w" sizes=" (max-width: 844px) 100vw, 844px" /></div>
Common Sense Media also <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/marleys-pride">recommends</a> &#8220;Marley&#8217;s Pride,&#8221; the &#8220;joyful&#8221; story of “Marley and their grandparent&#8221; who identify as nonbinary and attend their first pride celebration together.
“RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Show” is <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/rupauls-drag-race">recommended</a> for teenagers 15 and older and called a program that promotes &#8220;self-love and compassion for heavily marginalized communities.&#8221; The review tells parents to expect &#8220;lots of sexual innuendo, including references to various sex acts and partial nudity, mostly bare torsos&#8221; and warns it includes strong language and sexual terms such as &#8220;f&#8211;k,&#8221; &#8220;s&#8211;t,&#8221; &#8220;doggy style,&#8221; but notes these words are mostly used &#8220;for tongue-in-cheek humor and camp.&#8221;
The nonprofit also has an education wing and has partnered with schools to provide training about media and online safety to more than <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/">1.4 million</a> educators, according to its website. Common Sense Media has also worked with the <a href="https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/et/dc/index.asp">California Department of Education</a> and the <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/common-sense-educations-digital-literacy-curriculum-selected-as-connecticuts-statewide-model-for-k-12#:~:text=%22Connecticut%20has%20taken%20an%20important,new%20technological%20developments%20and%20challenges">Connecticut State Department of Education</a>, who announced in February 2025 that they were implementing the nonprofit&#8217;s K–12 Digital Citizenship <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship">Curriculum</a> statewide.
Common Sense Media provides <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/supporting-lgbtq-students-in-the-classroom-and-online">ways</a> teachers can create LGBTQ+ inclusive classrooms, telling them, &#8220;Your courage is critical. Know that you may be the only adult in a kid&#8217;s life who shows acceptance &#8212; their only oasis,&#8221; according to its website. Teachers are recommended to funnel gender confused students to transgender activist groups like the Trevor Project and PFLAG.
Common Sense Media now has its eyes on shaping the safety standards of artificial intelligence products for kids. Common Sense Media is <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/common-sense-media-2026-ca-legislative-priorities.pdf">supporting</a> two <a href="https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/assemblymembers-bauer-kahan-and-wicks-and-senator-padilla-introduce-legislation-protect">California</a> bills aiming to regulate AI chatbot products for minors.
&#8220;Because of the potential risks of AI to children and teens, California must take the lead in establishing a process for vetting the impact of AI products and services on kids,&#8221; states a Common Sense Media <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/common-sense-media-2026-ca-legislative-priorities.pdf">document</a>.
California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan introduced <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2023">AB 2023</a> in <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billHistoryClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1119">February 2026</a> saying the bill will establish &#8220;nation-leading safety standards for AI companions used by children and teens,&#8221; in a <a href="https://bauer-kahan.asmdc.org/press-releases/20260326-assemblymembers-bauer-kahan-and-wicks-and-senator-padilla-introduce">press release</a>.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1071611" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-801x576.png" alt="" width="801" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-801x576.png 801w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-300x216.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-768x552.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-1536x1104.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM.png 1764w" sizes=" (max-width: 801px) 100vw, 801px" /></div>
Chatbot operators will be required to undergo an annual safety assessment of any &#8220;child safety risks&#8221; posed by the AI chatbot if the bill becomes law.
&#8220;This bill would require an operator of a companion chatbot to&#8230;annually perform and document a comprehensive risk assessment to identify any child safety risk posed by the design, configuration, and operation of the companion chatbot that assesses, among other things, the likelihood of a covered harm,&#8221; states the bill.
One of the &#8220;covered harms&#8221; included in the bill is &#8220;gender identity&#8221; discrimination. California considers <a href="https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2022/11/The-Rights-of-Employees-who-are-Transgender-or-Gender-Nonconforming-Fact-Sheet_ENG.pdf">declining</a> to use a person&#8217;s preferred pronouns or not allowing a man to use the women&#8217;s bathroom forms of &#8220;gender identity&#8221; discrimination.
Under AB 2023 if an AI chatbot product is found to be unsafe by the safety assessment, the operator must make changes to the product and then undergo an independent compliance audit that, upon completion, will be submitted to the California Attorney General.
Common Sense Media is positioning itself to be the go-to for AI chatbot safety assessments and stands to play a powerful role in shaping how information is defined and disseminated, if California&#8217;s chatbot bills pass.
&#8220;Three of the people familiar said Common Sense will be positioned to become a default safety auditor in California for AI products aimed at kids,&#8221; Politico reported.
Public figures known for their transgender activism spoke at the March 2026 Common Sense <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/common-sense-summit-speakers-2026">Summit</a> on Kids And Families including <a class="gmail-team-profile-title gmail-link gmail-link--title" href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/common-sense-summit-speakers-2026#">Randi Weingarten</a>, President of The American Federation of Teachers, JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois, and Rob Bonta, Attorney General at the California Department of Justice. Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan also spoke at the summit.
Common Sense Media did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s requests for comment.

Drag3

It Says Drag Queens Are Safer For Kids Than Bluey. Now It Wants To Regulate AI For Children.

Artificial Intelligence

Children's Books

Entertainment

Transgender

A California judge dismissed the case against pro-life investigator David Daleiden over undercover videos he released over a decade ago, showing Planned Parenthood executives discussing the sale of aborted baby body parts. 
Judge Brian Ferrall of the Superior Court of San Francisco approved the dismissal on Wednesday following an agreement between Daleiden and the state of California. The decision comes after state officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-finally-drops-prosecution-of-journo-who-exposed-planned-parenthood-with-damning-videos">agreed last year</a> to end the prosecution against Daleiden, but pro-abortion activists attempted to intervene and block the deal. 
“As promised, the final charge has been DISMISSED and the case completely expunged — after a couple months&#8217; administrative delay, and a truly bizarre last-minute ‘April Fool&#8217;s’ attempt by [Planned Parenthood] and [the National Abortion Federation] to overturn the State&#8217;s agreement,” Daleiden <a href="https://x.com/daviddaleiden/status/2039499385256751230">posted</a> on X. 
Court records show that groups like the Feminist Majority Foundation and the National Abortion Federation filed motions seeking to block the dismissal. 
The case against Daleiden was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-harris-made-a-damning-planned-parenthood-video-disappear-now-its-public">launched</a> in 2016 by then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who would go on to become vice president during the Biden administration. It was over the videos released in 2015 by the Center for Medical Progress, a pro-life organization founded by Daleiden. The recordings showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue and organs. 
After the footage was released, California authorities raided Daleiden’s home and seized materials, claiming the videos were illegally recorded. The legal battle has stretched on for nearly a decade. 
In January 2025, the Center for Medical Progress said California prosecutors had agreed to end the case against Daleiden and fellow investigator Sandra Merritt. 
“The agreement — a negotiated settlement with zero punishment — is in exchange for a new ‘no contest’ plea by Daleiden and Merritt on a single video recording charge. It involves no jail time, no fines, no admission of wrongdoing, and no probation,” the Center for Medical Progress said at the time. 
According to the group, the no-contest plea would be entered as a misdemeanor and later converted to a not guilty plea before being dismissed and expunged.
The dismissal drew praise from Daleiden&#8217;s supporters, including Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Justice Department, Harmeet Dhillon, who had previously represented him.
&#8220;Praise God! One of my favorite clients of all 33+ years of law practice in service to advancing liberty!!&#8221; Dhillon <a href="https://x.com/HarmeetKDhillon/status/2039875112871113095">said</a>.
Live Action President Lila Rose also celebrated the outcome, saying, &#8220;After a decade of California bureaucrats attempting to prosecute, bankrupt and imprison [Daleiden] for his courageous and groundbreaking pro-life reporting, they have officially FAILED.&#8221;
&#8220;David beat Goliath, and he’s only getting started,&#8221; she added.

Pro-Life Activist David Daleiden Appears In Court Over Planned Parenthood Video Sting

He Exposed The Grim Reality Behind Planned Parenthood. His Decade-Long Battle Is Finally Over.

Abortion

Center for Medical Progress

David Daleiden

Kamala Harris

Planned Parenthood

A stunning <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/gavin-newsom-california-fraud">report</a> from City Journal alleges that while California collects some of the nation&#8217;s highest taxes to fuel a $300 billion annual budget, a mounting body of evidence suggests that systematic fraud has siphoned off at least $180 billion during Governor Gavin Newsom&#8217;s tenure.
From the collapse of the unemployment system to &#8220;ghost&#8221; healthcare providers and embezzled homelessness funds, public records paint a picture of a state government that has allegedly frequently suspended basic oversight, creating a vacuum filled by international crime rings and opportunistic scammers.
The most documented alleged failure occurred within the Employment Development Department (EDD) during the pandemic. According to fraud specialist Haywood Talcove and subsequent state admissions, the Newsom administration &#8220;suspended all of the rules&#8221; for eligibility to expedite payments.
The state officially <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/california-edd-fraud-payments-20-billion/">admitted</a> to paying out $20 billion in fraudulent claims, though independent experts like Talcove place the figure at $32.6 billion. State records confirmed the EDD paid out hundreds of millions in claims to active prisoners, including 133 inmates on death row. Memphis rapper &#8220;Nuke Bizzle&#8221; pleaded guilty to federal charges after recording a music video bragging about exploiting the EDD; he successfully obtained $700,000 using stolen identities.
California’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) has seen its budget double to nearly $197 billion under Newsom. However, the California State Auditor has designated &#8220;Medi-Cal Eligibility&#8221; as a &#8220;high-risk&#8221; issue every year since 2007, noting &#8220;eligibility discrepancies&#8221; that the state has failed to fix.
In 2025, the DOJ announced charges against three individuals for using Monte Vista Pharmacy to process fraudulent prescriptions by exploiting loosened pandemic-era restrictions. Sources at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimate a 25% fraud rate in Medi-Cal since 2019. Using a more conservative 15% rate, experts calculate a loss of $146 billion on Newsom&#8217;s watch.
<div>
&#8220;Meantime, in Sacramento, state legislators have begun sounding the alarm,&#8221; City Journal writes. &#8220;In February, Leticia Castillo, a Republican in the California State Assembly, proposed a <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2670&amp;utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> that would create a Medi-Cal &#8216;fraud assessment task force&#8217; to &#8216;review current fraud prevention tools&#8217; and &#8216;evaluate how best practices from the federal government and other states could be applied in California.&#8217; To date, Newsom has not supported the bill publicly.&#8221;
</div>
The In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, which pays family members to care for the elderly, lacks basic oversight like unannounced home visits. Recent federal prosecutions have targeted caregivers who claimed hours for recipients who were actually incarcerated or deceased.
Despite spending $24 billion on homelessness in five years, California’s state auditor reported in 2024 that the government lacked sufficient data to even assess if the programs were working.
Cody Holmes, CFO of a state-funded developer, was charged with embezzling $2.2 million in homelessness funds to pay for exotic cars and a 6,500-square-foot mansion.
In 2024 and 2025, federal authorities charged over 50 individuals—many with alleged ties to Romanian organized crime—for using &#8220;skimming&#8221; devices to steal millions from the state’s Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) system.
In November 2025, Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was charged with fraud for allegedly siphoning campaign and COVID-19 recovery funds. While Williamson has pleaded not guilty, two other well-connected aides struck plea deals.

Audit Records, Indictments Show $180 Billion ‘Empire of Fraud’ In California: Report

Audit Records, Indictments Show $180 Billion 'Empire of Fraud' In California: Report

Fraud

California Governor Gavin Newsom excels at failing, as a cringe-worthy example involving his “First Partner,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom, reveals. With the confidence of a Pacific Heights wine mom, Siebel Newsom told former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in a 2023 interview that she had deliberately taken her children to Alabama, Florida, and other Red states so they could witness bullying, misogyny, and racism firsthand. It was educational poverty tourism for the Bay Area set. 
Siebel Newsom embarked on a fact-finding mission to discover she was missing the facts. Too bad the Sunshine State’s governor failed to intercept her on the way out — it would’ve saved the first couple a lot of time and frequent flyer miles — because the data exists and it starts in their own backyard.
Since 2015, <a href="https://data-openjustice.doj.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/Hate%20Crime%20In%20CA%202024.pdf#:~:text=From%202015%20to%202024%2C%20hate%20crime%20events,2023%20to%202%2C023%20in%202024%20(Table%2011).">hate</a> crime events in California have increased by 141.7%. In 2024 alone, hate crime offenses rose nearly 9%, with anti-LGBTQ incidents up over 13% and anti-Jewish bias events reaching 310. Meanwhile, California’s own Civil Rights Department estimates that roughly 1 in 11 Californians directly experienced an act of hate in 2024 — approximately 3.1 million people. That is not a Red State statistic. That is the state Siebel Newsom’s husband governs, with runaway hate crime statistics and a blatant failure of public safety. 
The racial inequality picture inside California is no more flattering. The black homeownership rate in California stands at just 36.6% — nearly 28 percentage points below the rate for white households, the second-lowest homeownership rate of any state in the nation. According to the most recent census data, the gap between white and black homeownership rates in California has actually widened — from 20 points in 1980 to 27 points in 2020. A UCLA analysis found that closing the racial <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/persistent-gaps-black-californians-would-take-over-248-years-close">gap</a> between black and white Californians at the current rate of progress would take over 248 years.
Contrast those findings with the targets of Siebel Newsom’s red-state &#8220;racism safari.&#8221; Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana — the very states she treated as cautionary tales for her children — consistently rank among the lowest in per-capita hate crime rates nationwide. Far from being the racist hellscapes her narrative requires, these states are, statistically, among the least likely places in America for a bias-motivated crime to actually occur.
Black Americans are noticing. They are leaving California and <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/do-southern-states-offer-black-families-best-opportunities-build-wealth#:~:text=/-,Do%20Southern%20States%20Offer%20Black%20Families%20the%20Best%20Opportunities%20to,segregation%20and%20continuing%20discrimination%20today.">relocating</a> to the South in significant numbers, drawn by lower costs of living, genuine economic opportunity, and the basic dignity of being able to afford a home. The states Siebel Newsom used as props for her children’s moral education — Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas — have historically led the nation in both the number and percentage of black elected officials. These are not Jim Crow relics preserved in amber. They are places where black Americans hold real, consequential political power, and increasingly, real economic opportunity.
On the other hand, California lost over <a href="https://usafacts.org/answers/is-the-population-growing-or-shrinking/state/california/">200,000</a> residents to other states in the last year alone. These are people escaping not Republican cruelty, but Democratic policy outcomes: soaring taxes, pervasive homelessness, brazen property crime, and a cost of living that has rendered the middle class functionally extinct in most major cities. 
What Siebel Newsom failed to address was her own house.
Just last week, her husband — the former mayor of the most gay-friendly city in America, San Francisco — used homosexuality as a <a href="https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/2036864339722875380?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fmedia%2Fnewsom-team-mocks-conservative-snowflakes-after-gay-dating-app-insults-spark-homophobia-claims">slur</a>. Also last week, a scheduled debate among Democrats vying for the California gubernatorial nomination had to be canceled because the candidate field was too <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/2028-so-white-why-californias-canceled-debate-shows-democrats-incoming-race-problem?author=Ben+Domenech&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=2028+So+White%3A+Why+California%E2%80%99s+Canceled+Debate+Shows+Democrats%E2%80%99+Incoming+Race+Problem">white</a>. In California, the state is lecturing the rest of the country on racial inclusivity. And who could forget Gavin Newsom’s recent attempt to connect with black voters by informing them that he, too, can’t read. These aren’t exactly the types of things one would include in the equal rights “W” column.
Then there is the misogyny. Siebel Newsom built her public identity around Miss Representation, a documentary that explicitly condemns the objectification and exploitation of women in Hollywood. It is her brand and the moral foundation of her platform as First Partner. So it is worth noting that, even after Weinstein&#8217;s lawyers <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/defense-attorney-jennifer-newsom-transactional-sex-weinstein/">described</a> their relationship as &#8220;transactional sex,&#8221; she still kept in <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/18/ufgj-n18.html">contact with him</a>, and asked Weinstein — the very face of the exploitation she built a career opposing — for PR help regarding her husband&#8217;s extramarital affair. This was all after the alleged assault took place.
And when it became public that her husband cheated on his first wife with the wife of his then-campaign manager, she reportedly called the other woman the &#8220;culprit.&#8221; The woman who made a film about how women are blamed and diminished for being victims called the woman her husband pursued the culprit.
For someone who has built a career performing progressive virtue, the optics aren’t ideal.
If Jennifer Siebel Newsom wanted to show her children what intolerance and moral failure look like, she did not need to book flights south. She could have opened the door of her $9 million gated estate and schlepped through the state her husband governs. All the tent cities, crumbling schools, and public disorder are on full display.
The most corrosive thing about performative progressivism is not the hypocrisy itself — hypocrisy is often a human constant. Rather, it&#8217;s the confidence. The certainty that the lesson is always somewhere else, in someone else’s state, in someone else’s home, even as the governor’s policy failures are undeniable.

Hey Jennifer Newsom, Is The Racism In The Room With You Right Now?

Blue States

governance

Hate Crime

public policy

Californians’ quality of life has plummeted under Governor Gavin Newsom’s leadership. Utility rates have <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/02/09/us-news/california-electricity-bills-spiked-39-over-six-years/?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1770684088">increased</a> 39% over the past six years, and the Golden State heavily <a href="https://x.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/2036586673337675939">imports</a> oil and gas from hostile nations like Brazil and Iraq. Yet, Governor Newsom is now seeking to fail up — planning to run for president in 2028. More importantly, though, it risks the spread of contagious, toxic ideas from California’s policy laboratory to the entire country.
Newsom’s low <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/02/18/us-news/california-voters-disapproval-of-gavin-newsom-hits-highest-level-since-2024-poll-show/">approval rating</a>, a meager 44% among Californians, hasn’t deterred his presidential aspirations. He gave this labyrinthine response in a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/24/gavin-newsom-interview-trump-2028-israel-00840635">recent interview</a> when asked if he was running: “You gotta have a big enough why, right? You gotta meet the moment. You gotta have the humility and the confidence at the same time to think that you can add value that doesn’t exist versus the lineup of other people.” This word salad would make Kamala Harris proud. Newsom clearly covets the Oval Office, but isn’t willing to say so yet.
Life with Newsom in charge is challenging. The governor&#8217;s tenure has seen him trade affordability and human flourishing for a radical policy agenda. His policies have <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-cars-program/states-have-adopted-californias-vehicle-regulations">begun to spread</a> to left-wing states. Cars, solar panels, and water are just some of Newsom’s policy weapons of choice. 
First, California’s <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/drive-forward-light-duty-vehicle-program/advanced-clean-cars">Advanced Clean Cars II</a> Act, which would require 100% of vehicles purchased by 2035 to be electric vehicles (EVs), has been <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-cars-program/states-have-adopted-californias-vehicle-regulations">adopted</a> by 12 other states. The EV example shows Newsom’s nanny-state mentality and logical contradictions. He claims the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQzuOT9MoO4&amp;t=1s">reason</a> we need EVs is “because people want something differently,” but is using government coercion to <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/12/us-news/trump-doj-sues-california-over-ev-mandate-forcing-mileage-rules-on-automakers/">force</a> people to buy EVs — meaning it’s not really about what people want. According to Newsom, without EV mandates, America will be left in “the dust” by China. Of course, that is totally backwards: EV mandates <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2025/10/27/the-ev-hangover-is-coming-00624344">harm</a> American automakers’ competitiveness, only aiding Beijing. Already, some states are jumping ship and reversing Newsom’s nonsensical lead: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/vermont-governor-pauses-electric-vehicle-requirements-2025-05-13/">Vermont</a>, <a href="https://landline.media/two-more-states-halt-enforcement-of-advanced-clean-trucks/">Oregon</a>, and <a href="https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/press-release/eo-delaying-md-gas-ban">Maryland</a> have stopped enforcing their EV mandates.
Second, California <a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards/energy-code-support-center/solar">requires</a> solar panel installations in all new nonresidential, multifamily, and single-family buildings with a few exceptions. All the while, electricity prices are astronomical due to solar power flooding the grid and regulations crippling baseload power. Since Newsom became governor, his <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/wall-street-journal-calls-gov-gavin-newsom-loosen-environmental-regulations-all-californians">regulatory madness</a> has <a href="https://fong.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-fong-fox-news-newsoms-war-energy-crippling-california-and">caused</a> over 300 energy companies to stop operating in California, and the number of oil drilling permit submissions has <a href="https://fong.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-fong-fox-news-newsoms-war-energy-crippling-california-and">fallen</a> by 95%. Yet climate mandates have made California susceptible to energy insecurity with increased renewable energy curtailments. This occurs when excess power is “thrown away” to avoid overloading the system. The <a href="http://www.caiso.com/informed/Pages/ManagingOversupply.aspx">California Independent System Operator</a> (CAISO), California’s grid operator, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65364">reports</a> that solar, one of the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nuclear-power-most-reliable-energy-source-and-its-not-even-close#:~:text=Nuclear%20energy%20is%20considered%20reliable%20because:%20*,of%20America's%20power%20each%20year%20since%201990">least reliable</a> energy sources available, accounts for 93% of energy curtailments in 2024. Unsurprisingly, these mandates end up <a href="https://www.heritage.org/energy/commentary/renewable-subsidies-are-poisoning-the-nations-electricity-grid">poisoning</a> the electricity grid and raising power costs. No wonder California’s energy prices <a href="https://www.chooseenergy.com/electricity-rates-by-state/">rank</a> 49th out of 50 states.
Finally, Californians are permanently urged to <a href="https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/californias-water-crisis-isnt-a-drought-its-bad-policy/">ration</a> water and take very short showers. Why? Save water during droughts. However, the California water rationing only applies to urban areas and affects <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/california-adopts-permanent-water-rationing#:~:text=only%20about%2010%20percent%20of%20California%E2%80%99s%20annual%20water%20consumption">10%</a> of California’s annual water consumption. Forcing rationing on the masses just to virtue-signal is the definition of bad policy. According to the EPA, practical water conservation involves a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/water-research/drought-resilience-and-water-conservation">focus</a> on infrastructure, not arbitrary mandates.
Under the full Newsom plan, a Californian’s daily routine could be as follows. After waking up, the Californian would eat breakfast — at a <a href="https://californiaglobe.com/fr/californias-war-on-plastic-becomes-a-war-on-food-producers/">far higher price</a> than the same meal would cost in another state. Then they would need to drive to work — but their state-mandated EV either <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251227004144.htm">needs maintenance</a> or is <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ev-charging-infrastructure-slowing-growth-here-technologies/760442/">out of charge</a>. They can’t go to work. So, they decide to stay home — in the sweltering heat. The air conditioning stays off at Newsom’s <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/wearing-a-fleece-jacket-newsom-tells-californians-not-to-use-ac-after-4-pm-to-save-energy-gavin-california-heat-wave-air-conditioning">request</a>. At their children&#8217;s school, the air conditioning <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article315103354.html">doesn’t work or perhaps doesn’t even exist</a>.
Newsom says his opponents do not care about the environment and just want money. He recently <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/03/19/california-is-taking-donald-trump-to-court-for-breaking-the-law-to-put-polluter-profits-before-american-lives/">accused</a> President Trump of “making deadly pollution great again.” Yet, of course, Newsom has <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3798720/california-great-place-to-do-business-newsom-donors/">no corporate interests</a>, and he simply wants the best for everyone. Sure.
If Newsom were to become president, he would do much of what he has already done in the Golden State: use his <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-california-governor-president-2028-moderate-7dfb281af0674e8b09304de94a6a8868">facade of moderation</a> to foist <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/gavin-newsom-record-democrat-california/685423/">radical agendas</a> on the public. Under Newsom’s tenure, each aspect of Californians’ lives has been put under a microscope — micromanaged, then mismanaged. The results plainly speak for themselves. Rampant crime, the skyrocketing cost of living, and resource mismanagement plague the Golden State. Even liberal Californians are <a href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/how-voters-fleeing-california-turn-other-states-blue/">leaving</a> in droves to escape Newsom’s vision — the same vision he has for governing America.
Newsom wants to turn California&#8217;s environmental policy laboratory into a national experiment. The experiment has failed, yet Newsom is not reconsidering his hypothesis. Instead, he wants to make the United States his new lab rat.
* * *
Sydney Rodman is a visiting fellow with Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation.

Networth And Chill With Guest Governor Gavin Newsom Featured Session – 2026 SXSW Conference And Festival

America Is Next For Newsom’s Failing Policy Experiments

Newsom’s Failed Environmental Experiment Could Flunk America

2028 presidential election

Democrats

electric vehicles

Energy

Opinion

The Justice Department launched a probe Thursday into multiple women’s prisons across California and Maine, where transgender-identifying men have been accused of rape and making other sexual advances toward female inmates. 
The investigation from the Justice Department will look at whether the states violated the constitutional rights of the imprisoned women with their policies of allowing men to be placed in women&#8217;s prisons. One of the prisons under scrutiny is the Central California Women’s Facility in Madera County, where a man who served time at the facility was charged with raping a female inmate. 
“Keeping men out of women’s prisons is not only common sense – it’s a matter of safety and constitutional rights,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The Trump Administration will not stand by if governors are facilitating the abuse of biological women under the guise of inclusion.”
At the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, a 27-year-old man named Andrew Balcer, <a href="https://apps1.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/correctionssearch/detail.pl?mdoc_number1=156589">serving</a> 40 years for murdering his parents, is currently housed at the women’s unit. State <a href="https://apps1.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/correctionssearch/detail.pl?mdoc_number1=156589">records</a> list him as “female” and standing 6’1’’ tall and 310 pounds. The man has been accused of forcibly kissing incarcerated women and offering to impregnate them, <a href="https://www.sunjournal.com/2026/03/04/women-say-they-are-being-harassed-by-transgender-inmate-at-maine-prison/">according</a> to the Sun Journal. 
<div id="attachment_1067567" style="width: 431px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067567" class="wp-image-1067567 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-27-at-9.52.34-AM-421x576.png" alt="" width="421" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-27-at-9.52.34-AM-421x576.png 421w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-27-at-9.52.34-AM-219x300.png 219w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-27-at-9.52.34-AM.png 578w" sizes=" (max-width: 421px) 100vw, 421px" />Maine Government.</div>
In a case out of Madera County, California, a 53-year-old man named Tremaine Carroll was charged with rape after he was placed at the Central California Women’s Facility. A fellow inmate was found to be pregnant, and two other women also accused him of rape.
&#8220;After his first cellmate became pregnant and was moved to Los Angeles, two other cellmates of his had complained that he had raped them, so we have filed rape charges against this inmate,&#8221; <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/post/pronoun-use-center-rape-case-involving-former-chowchilla-central-california-womens-facility-prisoner-tremaine-carroll/15696730/">said</a> District Attorney Sally Moreno in December 2024.
The case is still working its way through the court system, but court officials have mandated that female pronouns be used for Carroll. Court records indicate that Tremaine has had a number of different lawyers and is in the process of getting a new lawyer appointed by the county from an outside legal firm.  
Thanks to a law sponsored by far-Left state Senator Scott Wiener and <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB132">signed</a> by Governor Gavin Newsom, at least 45 males who identify as transgender have been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-dems-vote-to-keep-male-sex-offenders-in-female-prisons">transferred</a> into female prisons since the law was implemented in September 2020. Last year, state Democrats rejected a proposal to keep male sex criminals out of female prisons. 
“California’s Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act has provided none of these qualities to the female inmates of state prisons who have been forced to share space with biological men who are violent felons,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California. “Our Constitution protects women from having their civil rights violated by harmful state legislation wrapped in the language of ‘equity’ and ‘progress.’”
The California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County is also being scrutinized.  
&#8220;Despite the Department of Justice&#8217;s claims, this is yet another politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump Administration and its abuses,&#8221; <a href="https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/justice-department-investigates-prison-housing-policies-maine-california/97-f2623a63-f421-4c62-a899-17b138fb2d8b">said</a> Democratic Maine Governor Janet Mills. 
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said her office will ensure that women are protected from male inmates. 
“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates,” she said. “These investigations will uncover whether the dangerous national trend of housing men in women’s prisons has resulted in violations of women’s constitutional rights.”

MixCollage-27-Mar-2026-10-32-AM-6603

DOJ Demands Answers After Women Housed With Hulking Transgender Murderer

DOJ Takes Action As Female Prisoners Housed With Transgender Murderer

Department of Justice

Harmeet Dhillon

Maine

Pam Bondi

Trump Administration

<div class="gmail_default">
This week&#8217;s scheduled debate at USC between the plethora of Democrats vying for the California gubernatorial nomination had to be<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/peak-california-usc-backs-out-of-gov-debate-over-lack-of-diversity"> canceled</a>. Not for any of the normal reasons debates get canceled — disputes about rules, moderators, venue, or the metrics used to determine candidate eligibility — all those were in order and agreed upon in advance. No, it had to be canceled for a more<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-23/california-leaders-call-to-boycott-debate-if-other-candidates-not-included"> basic reason</a>: all the candidates who qualified were noticeably, inconveniently, white. 
In an announcement, the university acknowledged that it canceled the debate because its selection criteria had “created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters.” That selection criteria was based on a combination of polling and fundraising, a fairly standard measure of potential success. Unfortunately for Democrats who want to project an image of diversity (even if all their leading candidates in this race are white), this effectively excluded former HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Superintendent Tony Thurmond, and former State Controller Betty Yee from the debate. That&#8217;s racist, criteria! Bad criteria, bad.
The hue and cry that followed blamed a USC election professor for coming up with the racist popularity + money = viability metric, which has never previously been applied to politics, as each candidate demanded to be included and the university was afraid of saying no. Think of it as similar to California&#8217;s inability to pick a single state nut — it currently has almonds, pistachios, walnuts and pecans all occupying the same vaunted role. “[W]e have four state nuts, nobody wanted to be left behind,” Alex Vassar, the communications manager for the California State Library,<a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/03/26/the-professor-at-the-center-of-the-debate-debacle-00845901"> told Politico</a> this week. Only four California nuts? Have you seen the debate stage? It has Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter, AND Tom Steyer — there have to be more than four.
</div>
<div>
<div id="attachment_1066875" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1066875" class="size-large wp-image-1066875" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-864x576.jpg" alt="PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 28: (L-R) Eric Swalwell, Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Louise Bedsworth, Sammy Roth and Mary Creasman attend &quot;Our Climate Future: A Forum with California's Next Governor&quot; on January 28, 2026 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Matei Horvath/Getty Images for California Environmental Voters)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Matei Horvath/Getty Images for California Environmental Voters</div>
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<div class="gmail_default"></div>
<div>The problem that faced California Democrats presages the racial challenge they&#8217;re going to face in 2028, when their debate stage will almost certainly be dominated by white candidates. California&#8217;s own Gavin Newsom, former Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly all routinely rank in the top ten candidates in early polling for 2028. The only non-white candidates who share the same status are &#8220;falling out of a coconut tree&#8221; 2024 disaster Kamala Harris and Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Maybe if Jasmine Crockett had more of an opportunity in Texas, she&#8217;d sneak into the top ten — but no, the party chose another bland-looking white guy because they think that&#8217;s what dumb voters want.</div>
<div>
Republicans would be wise to recognize the opportunity here. Having built an elitist left coalition overwhelmingly dependent on identity politics above all else — while offering minority voters nothing of substance when they hold power — Democrats are ripe to correct for Kamala in 2028 and nominate some white guy who they think is &#8220;safe&#8221; from a pool of candidates who all have to wear SPF 70 and above. When all the left has to offer is checking a racial box, it leaves an opening for the right to build on Donald Trump&#8217;s success in attracting voters who are tired of the visual pandering California Democrats think is more important than actual policy. If what they have to offer in 2028 connects with what people actually care about, maybe they can even do it with a white guy from Ohio. And as Kamala Harris showed us, play stupid DEI games, win stupid DEI prizes.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom Continues Book Tour In San Francisco

2028 So White: Why California’s Canceled Debate Shows Democrats’ Incoming Race Problem

2028 So White: Why California's Canceled Debate Shows Democrats' Incoming Race Problem

Democratic Debate

A recent poll of the California gubernatorial field backed by the California Democratic Party confirmed their own fears about the potential for a lockout in the top-two primary race.
The EVITARUS Research <a href="https://cadem.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CA-Voter-Index-Baseline-Survey-03.23.26.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> of 2,000 likely voters from March 12-17 showed Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco leading the pack at 16% and 14%, respectively. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer are the top three leading Democrats tied at 10%.
Other candidates ranked significantly lower in the poll. Biden-era Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, are polling at three percent.
“But this initial survey shows two Republicans in the lead with multiple Democrats trailing behind. These results confirm the possibility – albeit a low one – of Democrats being ‘locked out’ of the General Election,” California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks said in a <a href="https://cadem.org/cadem-chair-rusty-hicks-releases-new-california-voter-index-poll-results/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> on Tuesday.
Hicks then doubled down on his warning from earlier this month, in which he suggested that Democrats consolidate their list of candidates.
“Most importantly, it’s yet another clear reminder of an undeniable fact – all candidates must honestly assess their viable path to win. I continue to call for them to so do,” he added. “Simply put, it’s the best way to ensure we elect a Democrat as our next Governor and that California continues its strong leadership at home and abroad.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will be termed out in 2027, has yet to make an endorsement in the race. However, Swalwell has recently racked up some key endorsements, including from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Other polls have indicated favorable numbers for Hilton and Bianco, including some showing them alternating in first or third place, with Swalwell sometimes coming in second.
Still, the race among the Democrats has been messy in its own right. Steyer has raised questions about Swalwell’s California residency, and Porter faces ongoing criticism about her temperament following a tense interview with CBS News California last year, as well as reports about the poor treatment of her staff.
The University of Southern California canceled its scheduled Tuesday debate with the six candidates over concerns that candidates of color were not included, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/peak-california-usc-backs-out-of-gov-debate-over-lack-of-diversity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported. The candidates invited were Hilton, Bianco, Swalwell, Porter, Mahan, and Steyer.
There have also been calls for a consolidation of the Republican field if Democrats end up surging and locking out Republicans, which has happened in past statewide races in the deep blue state.
“Even though polls show two Republicans in the top two, there&#8217;s no way the Democrat machine will let it happen,” Hilton <a href="https://x.com/SteveHiltonx/status/2022363342812385360?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> in February. “The real risk is two DEMOCRATS. That&#8217;s why we MUST get behind one Republican. Chad Bianco has too much baggage: Democrats will use it to depress the Republican vote.”
Bianco, who is the Riverside County Sheriff, is at odds with Attorney General Rob Bonta over the seizure of an estimated 650,000 ballots from November’s Proposition 50 election in order to recount them, and a state court shot down Bonta’s request to have it stopped, according to <a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/03/bonta-chad-bianco-ballots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CalMatters</a> on Tuesday.
“For those not aware, we are conducting an investigation into an alleged and potential 45,000 extra votes counted than the number of ballots cast in the November 2025 special election,” Bianco said in a Monday <a href="https://x.com/ChadBianco/status/2036279504629334333?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>.
Bonta’s office told CalMatters in a statement that “the Sheriff has not identified any particular crime that may have been committed by anyone — a necessary predicate to obtain a criminal search warrant.”
“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is not equipped nor legally authorized to play the role of elections monitor. By all appearances, this investigation is little more than a fishing expedition meant to sow distrust and undermine public confidence in our elections,” the statement continued.

In Race To Become Newsom’s Successor, Democrats Have Fears Confirmed

California Democrats Have 'Lockout' Fears Confirmed In Race To Be Newsom's Successor

2026 election

Eric Swalwell

Katie Porter

The University of Southern California canceled a high-profile gubernatorial primary debate just hours before it was set to take place following backlash over the event’s lack of racial diversity among invited candidates. The debate, scheduled for Tuesday and hosted by USC’s Dornsife Center for the Political Future, was scrapped after criticism that the selection criteria excluded several candidates of color.
The original lineup featured six candidates: Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Democrats Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell, and Matt Mahan. Absent were several established Democratic candidates of color, including former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former State Controller Betty Yee, and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond.
USC had initially defended its selection process, saying invitations were based on a “data-driven” formula developed by a university professor that weighed polling and fundraising. But critics argued the methodology produced a skewed outcome in a crowded race with no clear frontrunner.
The controversy escalated after California legislative leaders <a href="https://x.com/Elex_Michaelson/status/2036275609316499957">demanded</a> the university expand the debate field. “Every excluded leading candidate—Xavier Becerra, Betty Yee, Tony Thurmond, and Antonio Villaraigosa—is a person of color,” lawmakers wrote in a letter to USC President Beong-Soo Kim. “When a methodology produces this outcome … the burden falls on USC to explain itself, not on everyone else to accept it.” The letter went further, calling on voters to boycott the event if the university refused to revise its criteria.
“If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate,” the lawmakers wrote. “If the university will not give voters a fair shot at evaluating everyone running for governor, voters should find other ways to learn about the candidates.”
Despite standing by the formula’s academic backing, USC ultimately <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-governor-debate-usc-candidates-bias-91539c81a8ecaf8612c0eacd04dc1312">reversed course</a> late Monday, announcing the debate would be canceled after organizers failed to reach an agreement on expanding the stage. “We recognize that concerns about the selection criteria … have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters,” the university said in a statement.
The decision comes amid an unusually crowded and fluid race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, with no candidate <a href="https://www.270towin.com/2026-governor-polls/california">polling</a> above 20% in the last month and multiple contenders clustered within single digits of one another. That lack of a clear frontrunner has heightened the stakes around debate access, with candidates arguing that exclusion from major forums could significantly impact voter awareness in a low-information primary.
California’s primary system adds another layer of complexity. Under the state’s “top-two” format, all candidates, regardless of party, appear on the same ballot, and only the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election. That structure has raised concerns among Democrats that a fragmented field could allow two Republicans to advance if the vote is split.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, whose inclusion drew particular scrutiny due to his late entry into the race and strong fundraising from <a href="https://localnewsmatters.org/2026/02/14/matt-mahan-billionaire-tech-donors-california-governor/">wealthy donors</a>, said canceling the debate was the wrong approach. “The answer isn’t to cancel debates, it’s to hear all voices,” he wrote on <a href="https://x.com/MattMahanSJ/status/2036437715823239453">X</a>.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, one of the excluded candidates, praised the decision. “USC made the right call, even if it came late and under pressure,” he wrote in a <a href="https://x.com/AVillaraigosa/status/2036421070748787047">post</a> after the decision.
The tension surrounding how institutions balance data-driven decision-making with political and social considerations is not unfamiliar in California, a state where <a href="https://www.govops.ca.gov/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/#:~:text=California%20has%20taken%20action%20to%20embed%20equity,methodologies%20and%20opportunities%20to%20advance%20racial%20equity">diversity</a> is treated as a central benchmark of legitimacy. In this case, sadly, a formula designed to measure candidate viability ended up triggering the very kind of equity concerns it was meant to avoid, ultimately leaving voters with no debate at all.
The California gubernatorial primary election will be held on June 2, 2026.

Peak California: USC Backs Out Of Gov Debate Over Lack Of Diversity

Debates

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Elections

California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed an emergency writ with the court of appeals to halt Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s investigation into potential voter fraud, raising questions about why the state’s top law enforcement official is so desperate to stop a physical count of ballots.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨 BREAKING: Attorney General Rob Bonta just filed an emergency writ with the court of appeals to stop ballots from being counted in California by Sheriff<a href="https://twitter.com/ChadBianco?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChadBianco</a>&#39;s investigating team. 
What are they afraid of? 
For those not aware, they are investigating a reported… <a href="https://t.co/uHvfQVDCQ2">pic.twitter.com/uHvfQVDCQ2</a>
&mdash; Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) <a href="https://twitter.com/DefiyantlyFree/status/2036283641203237251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The legal showdown began after Sheriff Bianco, a leading Republican candidate for governor, executed search warrants to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-23/riverside-county-sheriff-has-seized-650-000-ballots-heres-what-we-know#:~:text=According%20to%20Bonta's%20office%2C%20Bianco's,partisan%20redistricting%20in%20Republican%20states%2C">seize</a> approximately 1,000 boxes containing more than 650,000 ballots from the November 2025 special election. The investigation was <a href="https://www.kvcrnews.org/2026-02-26/riverside-county-sheriffs-office-investigating-alleged-election-irregularities">sparked</a> by the Riverside Election Integrity Team (REIT), a citizen watchdog group that reported a staggering discrepancy: 45,896 more votes were tallied than the number of physical ballots received and logged by the Registrar of Voters.
In a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/1015362106/Letter-from-California-Attorney-General-to-Riverside-County-sheriff-dated-March-26">March 4 letter</a>, Bonta slammed the probe as &#8220;unsubstantiated&#8221; and a &#8220;dangerous precedent,&#8221; demanding that Bianco &#8220;stand down&#8221; and hand over his case files. Bonta argued that Bianco’s team lacks the training to handle ballots and suggested the sheriff may have misled the magistrate who signed the warrants.
However, Bianco remains undeterred. &#8220;It is basically a fact-finding mission,&#8221; Bianco told reporters. &#8220;This investigation is simply to physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported.&#8221;
State officials argue that election security falls under the authority of designated election administrators, not local law enforcement.
The ballots in question are tied to Proposition 50, a controversial measure that supporters dubbed the &#8220;Election Rigging Response Act.&#8221; Backed by Governor Gavin Newsom, Prop 50 effectively suspended California’s independent redistricting commission, allowing the Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw maps specifically designed to flip five Republican-held congressional seats. Supporters say the measure was a response to Republican-led redistricting efforts in Texas.
The timing of Bonta’s intervention is fueling concerns of a cover-up. The seized ballots are currently scheduled for destruction in May 2026. If Bonta succeeds in blocking the count, any evidence of a 45,000-vote discrepancy could be lost forever.
While Riverside Registrar Art Tinoco claims the discrepancy is a &#8220;misunderstanding of raw data&#8221; and insists the real variance is only 103 votes, Bianco argues that only a transparent hand count can restore public trust. A Riverside Superior Court judge appeared to agree with the need for transparency, recently ordering the appointment of a special master to oversee the count.
The battle over Riverside County’s ballots has national implications. Republicans have already filed federal lawsuits alleging Prop 50 is an unconstitutional &#8220;partisan and racial gerrymander.&#8221; Bianco has even suggested that since the election affects federal seats, the U.S. Department of Justice under President Trump may eventually intervene.
As Bonta takes to the courts to seal the ballot boxes, the central question remains: If the election results are as secure as the state claims, why move so aggressively to stop a sheriff from simply counting the paper?

California Attorney General Rob Bonta Interview

Democrat AG Makes Behind-The-Scenes Ballot Move: ‘What Is He Afraid Of?’

Chad Bianco

Rob Bonta

Vote Fraud

This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute&#8217;s world-class team of scholars.
In this piece, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/california-wallis-annenberg-wildlife-crossing-gavin-newsom">originally published in City Journal</a>, Christopher Rufo and Kenneth Schrupp dive into California&#8217;s over-budget animal bridge, a boondoggle that exposes the flaws in Governor Gavin Newsom&#8217;s approach to governance.
In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a project featuring an overpass for animals atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. At the ceremony, Newsom boasted that the state had committed $54 million. He promised to “complete the job within another $10 million,” before seeming to hedge on whether that final sum would do the trick. Officials <a href="https://smmc.ca.gov/liberty-canyon-wildlife-corridor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">projected</a> a 2025 completion date for the overpass, and estimated that the entire project—which includes the bridge and other ancillary developments—would <a href="https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-7/district-7-projects/d7-101-annenberg-wildlife-crossing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cost</a> $92 million, some of it coming from private philanthropists.
Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is past due and the project <a href="https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2026-01-26/la-wallis-annenberg-wildlife-crossing-is-on-track-for-november-opening" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some</a> $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass “for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions.”
Pratt, a cougar-sweater-<a href="https://www.noozhawk.com/wilderness-spirit-brunch-honors-human-beth-pratt-and-cougar-p-22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wearing</a> environmental activist who <a href="https://101wildlifecrossing.org/partners-stakeholders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">serves</a> on WAWC’s Partner Leadership Team, is the program’s public face. She is also a regional executive <a href="https://www.nwf.org/About-Us/Leadership/Beth-Pratt-Bergstrom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">director</a> of the National Wildlife Federation. In 2021, the group <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Latest-News/Press-Releases/2021/05-14-21-Annenberg-Foundation-Wildlife-Crossing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received</a> a $25 million grant from “Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation” for the bridge that bears the late philanthropist’s name.
That money apparently was not enough. This past January, donning a hard hat and a “#SAVELACOUGARS” jersey, Pratt announced a possible $21 million overage. She effectively <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=916599217377224" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blamed</a> President Trump, attributing the multimillion-dollar overrun to “tariffs, inflation, [and] labor problems.”
“There’s no boondoggle,” she said. “Given the times we’re living in,” a potential $21 million overage is “not that bad.”
In response to our request for comment on the cost increases, Pratt argued that they were consistent with those faced by other construction projects.
Within days of Pratt’s announcement, the California Transportation Commission <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/02/02/california-closes-in-on-completing-the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funneled</a> another $18.8 million to the project, well exceeding the governor’s $10 million cap. The project’s total price tag now <a href="https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2026-01-26/la-wallis-annenberg-wildlife-crossing-is-on-track-for-november-opening" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reaches</a> about $114 million, reportedly including some $77 million in state <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/climate/california-mountain-lions.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1A.-9if.eoqUNFE3ikzX&amp;amp;smid=url-share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funds</a>. Newsom’s office <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/02/02/california-closes-in-on-completing-the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed</a> us to a press release in response to our request for comment.
Why has a project primarily consisting of a <a href="https://101wildlifecrossing.org/crossing-faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bridge</a> for animals cost over $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC’s philanthropic supporters apparently don’t mind it becoming a patronage program. As the WAWC-<a href="https://wildlifecrossingfund.org/california-wildlife-reconnected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsing</a> Wildlife Crossing Fund notes, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rd-xEKMC0FCDPRwDEgCvXJrjCLS431Dy/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">citing</a> the California Department of Transportation’s estimate, “for every $1 billion spent” on wildlife crossings, “13,000 jobs are created.”
Some of these jobs are absurd. The National Wildlife Federation’s WAWC website <a href="https://101wildlifecrossing.org/crossing-faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> that “[o]ur Native Plant Nursery”—apparently <a href="https://samofund.org/wildlife-crossing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funded</a> by the nonprofit SAMO Fund and other “partners”—“has prioritized hiring Indigenous team members to help steward the plants that will vegetate the bridge.” The nursery’s co-manager <a href="https://youtu.be/zLcfau1I3_4?si=pyMSbBRjv4x3uQMF&amp;t=414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> she makes an “offering” after collecting seeds, sometimes including pieces of her hair.
Or consider the ways one of the nursery workers and her associates have spent their time. The nursery’s founding manager <a href="https://youtu.be/zLcfau1I3_4?si=kfrzqW220co-6iEj&amp;t=222" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worked </a>with “helpers and volunteers” to “seed scout[]” across the Santa Monica Mountains. Her associates on the “design team” received “feedback from all the various project partners”—including state and federal bureaucrats—for their plant list.
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A group of experts apparently adds to the operation’s expense. A fungi whiz, Pratt says, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/101wildlifecrossing/posts/from-beth-pratt-i-found-this-really-weird-looking-fungus-in-my-yard-in-the-sierr/1222140663280746" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worked</a> as a WAWC habitat designer, periodically <a href="https://youtu.be/zLcfau1I3_4?si=BCpw_81tBakfpUuh&amp;t=597" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrutinizing</a> root samples under a microscope. A <a href="https://www.aol.com/news/worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing-finally-100025034.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contracted</a> soil scientist <a href="https://youtu.be/zLcfau1I3_4?si=XXwO9pCrNeK1U_V3&amp;t=758" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his process involves assessing local dirt to “rebuild it . . . as close to nature as possible.”
One reason California supposedly needs this overpass is to ensure the safety and genetic diversity of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, where only about a dozen non-kitten cougars <a href="https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/nature/pumapage.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">live</a> at any given time. While bridge proponents <a href="https://savelacougars.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claim</a> that the local mountain lion population could otherwise face extinction, researchers suggest the bridge is not the only solution to ensure their survival.
According to a 2016 <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/283/1837/20160957/78213/Interactions-between-demography-genetics-and" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paper</a> published by the Royal Society, the mountain lion population living in and around the Santa Monica Mountains is “demographically vigorous.” Still, the paper argues, the population could face “rapid extinction” if it becomes less genetically diverse.
California Governor Gavin Newsom at the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing Groundbreaking Celebration in 2022 (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for The National Wildlife Foundation)
While bridge proponents have <a href="https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/news/local-mountain-lion-population-faces-precipitous-decline-in-genetic-diversity-within-50-years-possible-extinction.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> this study, the researchers say adding just one new mountain lion to the population per generation was apparently sufficient to reduce extinction risk. If Newsom and the philanthropists were really interested in protecting these lions, $114 million could likely <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105042" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fund</a> translocations for thousands of years.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Newsom envisioned WAWC as a catalyst for the construction of wildlife crossings across the state. California, he boasted, set aside $105 million “to replicate projects like this all up and down the state.” Pratt reportedly thinks “<a href="https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/wildlife-crossings-california-public-private-partnership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds</a> more crossings are needed.”
Californians can’t afford it. The Newsom administration <a href="https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">projects</a> a $2.9 billion budget deficit for 2026–2027. The state legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal advisor had published steeper estimates and <a href="https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> the deficit could rise to $35 billion in coming years.
If the state wants to fund a nine-figure overpass project for animals, it should turn to the Annenberg Foundation, which holds <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/236257083" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$1.27 billion</a> in net assets. (The foundation did not respond to our request for comment.) California taxpayers shouldn’t have to spend another cent. Gavin Newsom, unfortunately, seems committed to bankrolling what for now is a multimillion-dollar bridge to nowhere.
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/person/christopher-f-rufo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Christopher F. Rufo</a> is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and the author of <a href="https://manhattan.institute/book/americas-cultural-revolution-how-the-radical-left-conquered-everything" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">America’s Cultural Revolution</a>. <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/person/kenneth-schrupp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kenneth Schrupp</a> is an investigative reporter at City Journal.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Gavin Newsom’s $114 Million Butterfly Bridge

Environmentalism

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