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.

Gavin Newsom

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

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

California

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.

California Governor Gavin Newsom Interview On The Circuit

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

<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.
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<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>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<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

Kamala Harris

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

In a display critics describe as historical revisionism, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office claimed Tuesday that former President Barack Obama was &#8220;the man who actually got Iran to make a deal that kept Americans safe.&#8221;
Critics argued that the statement ignores controversies surrounding the 2015 nuclear deal, including the humiliation of American servicemen, financial concessions to Iran, and the regime&#8217;s continued support for terrorist groups.
The backlash was swift. Opponents pointed to January 2016, when ten U.S. sailors were captured by Iran and forced to kneel at gunpoint in widely circulated propaganda images. The American public remembers the humiliation of our military — an act the former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised as an &#8220;act of God.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This safe? <a href="https://t.co/YZyvDb9pI8">pic.twitter.com/YZyvDb9pI8</a>
&mdash; Katya Sedgwick (@KatyaSedgwick) <a href="https://twitter.com/KatyaSedgwick/status/2036544203485028484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
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They also cited the Obama administration&#8217;s $1.7 billion payment to Iran, which was delivered in cash as part of a settlement that coincided with the release of four American prisoners. While the administration denied it was a ransom, even the State Department eventually <a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/08/19/490591313/state-department-iran-payment-used-as-leverage-in-prisoner-swap">admitted</a> the timing was linked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Let’s talk about that deal, Gavin.
Obama gave Iran $150 billion in sanctions relief.
Then put $1.7 billion in cash on a cargo plane and flew it to Tehran in the middle of the night.
Iran literally called it a ransom payment.
Iran then took the money, and; A) Funded Hezbollah.…
&mdash; Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattvanswol/status/2036608010064396343?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
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As noted by critics and whistleblowers, this windfall didn’t buy peace; it bought bullets. Iran, the world&#8217;s leading state sponsor of terrorism, used its newfound liquidity to:
<ul>
<li data-path-to-node="5,0,0">Fund Hezbollah</li>
<li data-path-to-node="5,1,0">Arm the Houthis, who spent the subsequent decade targeting American ships</li>
<li data-path-to-node="5,2,0">Bolster the Assad dictatorship in Syria</li>
</ul>
Furthermore, reports from the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-report-reveals-obama-biden-state-departments-refusal-to-exact-justice-against-iranian-terrorists">revealed</a> a &#8220;chilling&#8221; pattern of interference where the Obama State Department, led by John Kerry, allegedly ordered the FBI to &#8220;stand down&#8221; on arrests of Iranian criminals to avoid upsetting the nuclear negotiations.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Governor Newsom defends the modern version of the 1938 Munich Accords between the U.S. and Islamic regime of Iran &#8211; the 2015 Nuclear Deal. Newsom is worse than &quot;peace in our time&quot; Neville Chamberlain because Chamberlain didn&#39;t have his historical example of appeasement of an evil…
&mdash; Adam Mossoff (@AdamMossoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamMossoff/status/2036645488041066888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Opponents of the deal have long argued that its provisions, including a clear <a href="https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/sites/default/files/jcpoa-fact-sheet-pdf-052019.pdf">&#8220;sunset&#8221;</a> path to nuclear weapons, allowed 24-day delays for inspections, and enabled Tehran to eventually expand its nuclear capabilities.
The debate resurfaced this week as critics rejected Newsom&#8217;s characterization that Obama &#8220;kept Americans safe,&#8221; arguing instead that it was appeasement disguised as diplomacy that only strengthened a hostile Iranian regime.

Trump Takes Out Iran’s Top Terror Figure But Newsom’s Team Tips Cap To Obama

Barack Obama

Iran

Iran Nuclear Deal

America is developing an appetite for killing its elderly. A recent <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/23/about-6-in-10-americans-dont-have-moral-objections-to-medical-aid-in-dying/">Pew Research poll</a> suggests that comfort is growing: 63 percent of Americans now say physician-assisted death is either morally acceptable or simply not a moral issue at all. Only 35 percent call it morally wrong. The conscience is not yet gone. But it is losing ground fast.
Perhaps most jarring is the dramatic erosion of beliefs of self-ascribed Catholics. The Pew data shows majority support among my cohort: fifty-nine percent see no moral problem with physician-assisted death, even though <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20200714_samaritanus-bonus_en.html#The_prohibition">Church teaching</a> explicitly prohibits it. That number should trouble any Catholic paying attention. But the same poll does contain a stubborn holdout. Among Americans for whom religion is very important, nearly six in ten still call physician-assisted death morally wrong. These are not fringe positions. However, they are being told their position is extreme. It is not extreme. It is the last line of a civilizational argument that, if lost, will not easily be recovered.
Those who support euthanizing the elderly have a habit of arguing from what columnist Louise Perry <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/opinion/assisted-suicide-economics.html">called</a> a &#8220;motte-and-bailey&#8221; position: from the easily defended high ground, they describe a terminally person in pain, surrounded by loved ones, seeking a peaceful end. But the bailey is something else. Canada is set to hit 100,000 deaths under its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Program by this summer, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/07/world-news/canada-set-to-pass-100000-assisted-suicide-deaths-before-programs-10th-anniversary-societal-failing/">more than twice</a> the number of Canadians who died in World War II. Among those deaths were people whose <a href="https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/02/22/canadas-suicide-service-is-coming-to-britain/">only diagnosis</a> was depression or poverty. This is not a slippery slope argument but a description of where the slope already leads.
Now the selling begins in earnest.
The financial argument comes first: dying in America is ruinously expensive. Nursing home care runs $8,000 to $12,000 a month. Funeral costs average over $10,000. The Washington Post recently <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2026/death-retirement-expenses-funeral-taxes/?itid=hp_opinions_p001_f023">walked through</a> the full cost of a late American life: retirement drawdown, long-term care, estate taxes, and burial. Retirement savings intended for forty years vanish in eighteen months of assisted living. The implied solution being marketed is not better coverage or more humane care. It is a shorter timeline.
Then comes the emotional argument: the agony of watching a parent decline, the exhaustion of caregiving, the loneliness of the elderly. These, too, are real. Across the country, aging parents like mine repeat the same lines with increasing frequency: that they hope to go without too much pain; that they don&#8217;t want to be a burden; that they&#8217;ve seen what caregiving did to a sibling, a neighbor, a close friend. Their grown children absorb this, often from a distance, while managing the reality of parents facing serious mental and physical decline. The exhaustion is genuine. So is the love. But the two together, in a culture that has quietly made peace with the early exit, add up to something worth fighting.
The pandemic made the underlying failure plain. Nursing home residents died alone, without a hand to hold, and the country was horrified. The right response was obvious: no one should die without someone present. Instead, the lesson drawn in too many quarters was that a faster, tidier death might spare everyone the ordeal. The answer to abandonment turned out to be more of it.
A recent <a href="https://www.cnn.com/audio/podcasts/all-there-is-with-anderson-cooper/episodes/ba400e12-13e8-11f1-b53a-e37ce62a27dc">episode</a> of Anderson Cooper&#8217;s CNN podcast featured California Governor Gavin Newsom describing his mother&#8217;s death by doctor-assisted suicide, which was illegal in California at the time. His dying mother had left him a voicemail because he hadn&#8217;t been returning her calls. This was a failure to show up. The interview treated it as a prelude to something beautiful.
Newsom called the doctor who administered the lethal cocktail &#8220;an angel&#8221; who &#8220;risked everything.&#8221; He called being at her death &#8220;a gift.&#8221; A sitting governor celebrating an illegal assisted suicide on national radio is not sharing a private grief. He is making an intimate and tearful case that does more to shift public opinion than any policy paper ever could. He is also, not coincidentally, a likely future presidential candidate cultivating a national profile. The cause has found its spokesman. The pitch never changes: voluntary, patient-directed, a matter of personal choice. 
Twelve states currently allow for physician-assisted suicide, with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker <a href="https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/governor-pritzker-signs-bill-expanding-end-of-life-options-for-terminally-ill-patients">signing</a> his state&#8217;s law last December. New York followed in February. The Pew poll shows why the momentum is building: 76 percent of Democrats see no moral problem with the practice. Among self-described liberals, that number hits 87 percent. The progressive left has made up its mind.
But a choice made under financial ruin, family exhaustion, or the enforced isolation of institutional care is not really a choice. It is resignation with a medical co-signature.
There is dignity in dying on God&#8217;s schedule, not on an insurance company&#8217;s or a hospital&#8217;s budget projections, or the schedule of a son too busy to return his mother&#8217;s calls. The lesson is not that she was right to spare him a natural death. It is that he should have picked up the phone.
***
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is director of the Conscience Project and recipient of the Religious Freedom Institute’s 2025 Religious Freedom Impact Award.

Hemlock Society Holds Annual Convention in San Diego

Even Religious-minded Americans Are Willing To Accept Assisted Suicide

Assisted Suicide

Canada

Catholic

Morality

Nursing Homes

Poll

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

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) admitted during a recent podcast interview that there was one thing he truly admired about President Donald Trump, despite their obvious and often contentious political differences.
Newsom told Politico&#8217;s Jonathan Martin — for Tuesday&#8217;s episode of his &#8220;<a href="https://www.politico.com/video/2026/03/24/newsom-we-could-lose-the-country-in-2028-1971501">On the Road with Jonathan Martin</a>&#8221; podcast — that Trump&#8217;s constant desire to close the deal, to win people over in person, was what he admired about the president.
Martin began by pointing out that Trump and Newsom, despite the heated words that often pass between them on social media, were not necessarily on the worst of terms when they met in person.
&#8220;And even most recently, Davos, he was there, you were there at the same time, and he’s talking to you backstage, but he’s like coaching you on politics and PR, right?&#8221; Martin asked. &#8220;What did he say?&#8221;
&#8220;It was a fascinating conversation where he’s just, you know, saying, &#8216;We used to get along great! What the hell? Hey, we’re gonna be great–&#8217;” Newsom replied.
&#8220;He wants to win you over in person,&#8221; Martin summed up the situation.
&#8220;Yeah he wants to win everyone over,&#8221; Newsom agreed. &#8220;That’s who he is.&#8221;
Martin observed, &#8220;He wants to sell you the car.&#8221;
&#8220;Yeah, everybody. And look, yeah, I admire that on some level,&#8221; Newsom admitted, suggesting that it implied Trump&#8217;s need to be accepted was somewhat pathological. &#8220;I mean, there’s a human quality to that. He needs to be needed. He needs to be loved. And you know and – but then you get into some clinical components of that as well.&#8221;
Newsom concluded by saying that his main goal was never just to &#8220;get&#8221; Trump: &#8220;So look, I’m not – I don’t wake up every day to try to find, you know, a crowbar to put in the spokes of his wheel.&#8221;
Newsom pivoted then to claim that Democrats needed to win back the House in 2026, claiming that if they didn&#8217;t, he couldn&#8217;t promise that the 2028 presidential election would be without underhanded actions from Republicans.
&#8220;That said, I’m going to stand my ground. I’m going to fight fire with fire. We’re going to have the backs of our diverse communities, and we’re going to fight back. And, yeah, fight fire with fire. And I know two wrongs don’t make a right, but with all due respect, we’ll lose this country as we try to win that argument, and Democrats are constantly trying to be right,&#8221; Newsom claimed. &#8220;The other side is ruthless, and with respect, my party needs to be more ruthless about winning, because if we don’t win back the House of Representatives, we may not have a fair and free election in 2028, and I really believe that.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-fires

Gavin Newsom Admits There’s Something He ‘Admires’ About Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Media

Politics

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

Transportation

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom has yet to contact the family of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/congress-to-spotlight-illegal-immigrant-trucking-crashes-in-upcoming-hearing">Dalilah Coleman</a>, 7, who suffered life-altering injuries at the hands of an illegal immigrant truck driver who received his license from the Golden State, the young girl&#8217;s father, Marcus Coleman, told The Daily Wire.
Indian illegal immigrant Partap Singh allegedly caused the multi-car pileup while driving an 18-wheeler with a California commercial driver&#8217;s license in June 2024, causing significant injuries to Dalilah. The young girl, who was 5 years old at the time of the crash, suffered a traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, and developmental delay.
She currently cannot eat orally and is learning to walk again. She also has the &#8220;mentality of an 18 to 24 month old&#8221; as a result of her injuries, according to Marcus.
Dalilah&#8217;s father has repeatedly said that Newsom hasn&#8217;t contacted the family. He also said he&#8217;s lost hope and is &#8220;not holding&#8221; his &#8220;breath&#8221; anymore after making his own attempts to contact their office.
Marcus, who happens to be a truck driver himself, recently shared his frustrations with Newsom’s silence with The Daily Wire.
“How do you not see Dalilah? How do you allow politics to blind you from a five-year-old girl at the time whose life is forever changed, and your only answer is it’s the federal government,” Marcus said.
Newsom&#8217;s office told The Daily Wire on February 25 that they had &#8220;no record of outreach from the Coleman family,&#8221; adding &#8220;we would welcome the opportunity to connect them to available state resources.&#8221; With Marcus&#8217;s blessing, The Daily Wire shared his number with their office, which confirmed receipt and said it was &#8220;much appreciated.&#8221;
“What happened to Dalilah is heartbreaking, and we commend her family for turning their grief into advocacy,” Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo said at the time.
Still, Marcus says he hasn&#8217;t heard anything as of publication.
President Donald Trump honored Dalilah and Marcus as guests to his State of the Union speech last month to highlight the surge in illegal immigrant trucking crashes.
“We will take care of this problem,” Trump said during the address. “We’re going to take care of this problem. We are not playing games. Dalilah — Dalilah Coleman was only 5 years old in June 2024 when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer plowed into her stopped car, traveling at 60 miles an hour or more. The driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver’s license by open borders, politicians, and California. Doctors said Dalilah would never be able to walk or talk, have a good life.&#8221;
“She wouldn’t even be able to eat again. But against all odds, she is now in the first grade, learning to walk, and she is here this evening with her dad, Marcus, a fantastic man. Dalilah, please, you are a great inspiration. Please stand up. Thank you, Dalilah,” Trump said.
The Trump administration is currently withholding roughly $160 million in federal funds from Newsom’s California “for failing to cancel over 17,000 illegally issued” commercial driver’s licenses “by the agreed-upon deadline of January 5, 2026.”
Newsom has blamed the federal government for handing illegal immigrants the work permits used to obtain the trucking licenses.
Republican Indiana Senator Jim Banks recently introduced &#8220;The Dalilah Law&#8221; to ensure illegal immigrants lose their commercial driver’s licenses and that the issuance of new licenses has stricter requirements.

Untitled design – 2026-03-12T091426.162

Illegal Immigrant Trucker Wrecked A Little Girl’s Life. Newsom Won’t Even Take Her Father’s Calls.

Newsom Has Yet To Contact Family Of Young Girl Injured By Illegal Immigrant Trucker In California, F

illegal immigrant

Katie Couric made history when she became the first woman to solo-host a primetime news program — The CBS Evening News — but now she&#8217;s making news by asking Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on her podcast whether he&#8217;s too pretty for national politics.
Couric hosted the governor on a recent episode of her &#8220;Next Question&#8221; podcast, and while she did ask him about a number of more serious policy positions, she also asked whether he was too handsome to be taken seriously.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Couric: Do you have a Zoolander problem? Are you just ridiculously good looking as Vogue said? What do you do about that?
Newsom: You don’t do anything about it…It’s just who I am.
Good. Lord. <a href="https://t.co/aFmvpDLlaa">pic.twitter.com/aFmvpDLlaa</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/2029623877865800188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Do you have a &#8216;Zoolander&#8217; problem?&#8221; Couric asked, laughing.
&#8220;Oh, Jesus,&#8221; Newsom laughed. &#8220;&#8216;Zoolander.'&#8221;
&#8220;Are you just ridiculously good-looking as Vogue said? No, seriously, what do you do about that?&#8221; Couric asked.
&#8220;You don’t do anything about it,&#8221; Newsom replied. &#8220;Because if you&#8217;re going to do something about it then you&#8217;re bullsh*tting people. You know what? I am who I am. It&#8217;s fine. You don&#8217;t have to like me. Or maybe you like a slick person, I don&#8217;t know. Whatever, it&#8217;s okay. If I start showing up —&#8221;
&#8220;I brought that up because you talked about being authentic,&#8221; Couric interrupted. &#8220;And I think it sometimes works against you.&#8221;
&#8220;Yeah, it’s just who I am. It&#8217;s just who I am,&#8221; Newsom repeated.
Couric capitalized on that moment to tease the interview, cutting it into the introduction for the podcast episode. Her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E-mlna_XVk&amp;t=1s">YouTube</a> caption began, &#8220;California Governor Gavin Newsom has spent his career outrunning a public image that reduces him to a caricature—slick, ambitious, and impossibly polished.&#8221;
Couric&#8217;s line of questioning follows a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vogue-puff-piece-on-gavin-newsom-delivers-overdose-of-cringe">fawning profile</a> from Vogue&#8217;s Spring 2026 issue that opened with the following statement: &#8220;Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address.&#8221;
The piece, authored by Maya Singer, continued, &#8220;It must drive Trump nuts. Newsom: lithe, ardent, energetic, a glimmer of optimism in his eye; Kennedy-esque. Add to that his stunning wife and four adorable kids, and the executive strut of a self-made millionaire who has spent the past seven years at the helm of a state big, complex, and rich enough to be a nation of its own.&#8221;
Newsom, who term-limits out at the end of this year as California governor, is widely expected to run for president in 2028.

Governor Newsom And San Francisco Mayor Lurie Announce New Funding For Homelessness And Mental Health Ffforts In The City

Feminist Hero Katie Couric Asks Gavin Newsom If He’s Too Hot To Be President In Hard-Hitting Interview

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