California's Republicans are expected to get a real boost when presidential candidate Donald Trump appears on the primary election ballot in June in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Chronicle's Joe Garofoli reports: "With no statewide officeholders, little pull in the Legislature and a dwindling number of registered voters, California Republicans have teetered on the brink of irrelevancy for years."
"But there’s an unlikely savior on the horizon who could help them inch back toward relevancy just in time for the June 7 California primary: Donald Trump."
"The Republican presidential campaign front-runner is projected to be very close to securing the 1,237 delegates for the GOP nomination on California primary day, and analysts predict his name on the ballot could bring 15 to 30 percent more Republicans to the polls — both to vote for and against him. Only registered Republicans can vote in the party’s closed GOP primary, where 172 delegates are up for grabs."
Speaking of Trump, his campaign price tag now exceeds $25 million, almost all of which was self-financed.
By Matea Gold & Anu Narayanswamy with The Washington Post: "Donald Trump put $6.9 million more of his personal money into his presidential campaign in February, significantly increasing his investment as he began racking up wins in the Republican presidential primary contest, new filings show."
"Since he began his White House bid last year, the billionaire real estate developer has lent or given his campaign nearly $25 million, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Although he maintains that he is self-funding the effort, his supporters have contributed $9.5 million, including $2 million in February."
"As Trump barreled through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, he raced through nearly $9.5 million, largely on media buys ($3.46 million), printing and design services ($1.1 million) and event production ($587,000). Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski’s New Hampshire-based consulting company was paid $75,000 for the month, including $25,000 the day after the Iowa caucuses."
Meanwhile, California's Democrats seem to have differing points of view when it comes to, well, just about everything.
LAT's Cathleen Decker writes: "There’s a disconnect between the message being delivered by the Democratic candidates for president and the message being delivered by Democrats running on the presidential ballot for California’s seat in the U.S. Senate."
"Driven by the success of Bernie Sanders’ presidential challenge, the national campaign has lurched to the left in a big way. Hillary Clinton’s campaign speeches are now almost echoes of the Vermont senator’s, as both emphasize condemnation of Wall Street for excesses leading up to the nation’s 2008 economic crash. Both demand better behavior from what Sanders calls “corporate America,” and both threaten a crackdown otherwise."
"The biggest presidential issue of late has been trade and its effect on American jobs. Sanders argues that almost all trade deals should be shredded, blaming past accords for decimating manufacturing and other jobs located in the United States. Clinton— who has supported past agreements, although she opposes the pending Trans Pacific Partnership measure — has countered that as president she would enforce new job-protection measures."
Teamsters and California's organized labor are not pleased with Rep. Ami Bera as they publicly endorse his rival, Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones.
Dan Morain writes in Sacramento Bee: "In the 1970s, 100,000 Teamsters found their way to the middle class by working in California canneries."
"Now, the number of union cannery workers sits at 15,000. Doug Bloch, political director of the Teamsters Joint Council 7 in Northern California and Nevada, blames much of the job loss on the North America Free Trade Agreement."
"Rep. Ami Bera, the Elk Grove Democrat seeking a third term in what will be a close race, is feeling labor’s burning anger, after breaking with unions and voting to give President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal."
California law requires students be fully immunized unless granted an exemption by a medical doctor, but debate continues in the Capitol in relation to these vaccination policies.
CPR's Ben Adler reports: "One year after a debate over vaccinating public school children reverberated through the California Legislature, a new proposal would protect doctors from discipline or liability for issuing students medical exemptions."
"California law now requires all public and private school students to be fully immunized – unless they get a doctor’s medical exemption."
"Asm. Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) opposed last year’s bill for constitutional reasons. He says given the toxicity of that debate, it’s important to protect physicians from discipline and liability."
If you've ever wondered why California's reservoirs fill up at different rates, you might enjoy this brief geology lesson.
Reported by The Chronicle's Tom Stienstra: "
“Dear Tom,"
"Why do a few of the reservoirs seem to lag so far behind the others in terms of their water levels? In particular, why is Trinity Lake so low, when relatively nearby Shasta is now above historical average?” — Chris Kagay"
"Years of drought followed by the recent pounding storms to hit the Bay Area and Northern California has turned water watching into a spectator sport."