Going into tonight’s gubernatorial debate, incumbent Jerry Brown holds a significant lead in the polls over Republican Neel Kashkari.
David Siders reports for The Sacramento Bee: “Not only is Brown favored in the election by more than 80 percent of Democrats, he is supported by pluralities of independent and middle-of-the-road voters, according to the poll.”
““Brown (is) in a really strong position among most of the key subgroups,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll.”
For Kashkari, DiCamillo said the poll is “just reflecting reality – he hasn’t had a lot of money to spend to introduce himself to the broader public, and that’s been a disadvantage. He needs, basically, to get better known.”
But it was announced yesterday the Tesla battery factory is going to Nevada, along with thousands of jobs. And Kashkari is likely to throw that in Brown’s face tonight.
John Howard reports for Capitol Weekly: “A Tesla spokeswoman, Liz Jarvis-Shean was quoted Wednesday as saying the Palo Alto company “looks forward to joining the governor and legislative leaders tomorrow (Thursday) in Carson City,” referring to Nevada lawmakers and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval. Sandoval’s office issued a statement saying only that a “major economic development announcement” was planned.”
“California’s economic recovery has been a core issue in the gubernatorial campaign between Gov. Brown, a Democrat who is seeking an unprecedented fourth term and already is the state’s longest serving governor, and Kashkari, a Republican and former treasury official. Brown is heavily favored.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned reporters of the country’s dire foreign affairs crises.
John Wildermuth reports for the San Francisco Chronicle: “The country has never dealt with a terrorist organization quite like Islamic State, she said, one with ample financial resources, an army with heavy weapons and a leadership "that's absolutely ruthless and pure evil."”
"I have no doubt they will come after us," Feinstein said. "This is a movement beyond anything we've seen before today."”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti handed out free tickets to the two-day Made in America music festival to fellow city officials.
Emily Alpert Reyes reports for The Los Angeles Times: “Bob Stern, former president of the now-closed Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, said such arrangements are common when cities sponsor events -- and are often spelled out in the event contracts.”
“"Usually the rationale is, the city really needs to monitor what's happening, so the city shouldn't be paying to monitor an event on their own property," Stern said. "The other reason is that city officials like to attend these events and don't like to pay for it."”