This year's presidential election could draw the biggest early-voting turnout in L.A. county history.
RYAN FONSECA and SUSAN ABRAM with L.A. Daily News in Press-Telegram: "Close to 100 people cast ballots on the first day that early voting became available in Los Angeles County, officials said this week."
"That’s seven times more voters than those who showed up in 2012, when a sitting President Barack Obama was running against Republican nominee Mitt Romney."
"Early voting began Monday at the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office in Norwalk, and drew 88 people who either didn’t need another debate, want to see the latest poll numbers or wait until Nov. 8 to cast a ballot."
Speaking of La La Land, many don't realize the relationship Hollywood and politics have outside of the big screen, but this election cycle has seen a lot of cash pouring out of Tinseltown, with Clinton and her PAC claiming a big chunk of all the donations.
Chuck McFadden in Capitol Weekly: "Hollywood and Sacramento are not cities that normally leap into our thoughts at the same time."
"Sacramento is leafy streets and politics and scorching heat. Hollywood is, well, Hollywood."
"Nonetheless, there are important and longtime associations, and they go ‘way beyond Democratic campaign consultants thinking wistfully of George Clooney."
Loretta Sanchez claimed during the debate that she had front-and-center involvement in drafting a deportation deferment plan, but factcheckers say she's only got a fingerprint on said legislation -- if any actual contribution at all, despite Sanchez's debate claims.
SARAH D. WIRE with L.A. Times: "Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez hasn’t been in the public eye on national immigration policy in the same way as her Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Immigration and Border Security Task Force co-chairman Rep. Luis Gutierrez."
"So it was a bit surprising when during Wednesday’s Senate debate with Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, Sanchez said she was front and center in drafting a plan to defer deportation for millions of people brought to the country illegally as children or defer deportation for parents of U.S. citizens."
"I was the one that stood up and fought for you. We put together a six-page menu of things that could happen once we lost the opportunity to push through a reform, and we went to the president and we said, this needs to be done," she said. "That’s how DACA and DAPA and these other projects came up.""
Gov. Brown talks about the specifics and propoganda surrounding his prison-reform policies.
ADAM ASHTON with Sacramento Bee: "In 1976, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law ending an era in which California prison inmates received open-ended sentences, earning their release by convincing corrections officials that they had reformed their lives."
"The action shifted the state to definite sentences that let inmates know exactly when they’d go free."
"This fall, the Democratic governor is asking voters to reverse course, undoing some of the very prison reforms he championed 40 years ago."
Bernie Sanders is headed back to California to rally for a prescription drug pricing measure on the November ballot.
CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO with Sacramento Bee: "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose revolution-stirring presidential bid reverberated across California ahead of the June primary, will return to the state this week to rally for a proscription drug pricing measure on the fall ballot."
"Sanders, already appearing in TV ads for Proposition 61, is scheduled to hold an afternoon rally Friday in Los Angeles and a morning event Saturday in San Francisco, said a source familiar with Sanders’ plans."
"Proposition 61, sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and supported by the California Nurses Association, major supporters of Sanders’ failed presidential campaign, would would prevent California from spending more on prescription drugs than the lowest price paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs."
Reps. Mike Honda and Ro Khanna square off in federal court over computer espionage charges.
ERIC KURHI with Mercury News: "Rep. Mike Honda and his re-election rival Ro Khanna appeared in federal court Tuesday over the incumbent’s lawsuit accusing Khanna’s campaign of illegally accessing Honda’s donor database."
"Honda asked a judge to order that Khanna must stop using Honda’s allegedly pilfered donor information to contact them, and destroy any unauthorized Honda files in his possession, with verification by a court-appointed computer expert. His lawsuit last month claimed a former Khanna campaign manager who had worked for a Honda consultant continued accessing Honda donor files after joining Khanna."
"Khanna, a Fremont attorney making his second bid for Honda’s seat, has insisted that he was unaware of any campaign staffer accessing Honda files and that he already had independently obtained contact information for the Honda donors his campaign had emailed last fall. He has offered to destroy any records that overlapped with information from Honda’s files."
Challenger Doug Applegate and incumbent Rep. Darrell Issa release attack ads in the wake of the Donald Trump 'locker room talk' scandal.
JOSHUA STEWART in Union-Tribune: "In recent days, four attack ads were released in the contest between Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Democratic challenger Doug Applegate, which has become increasingly bitter."
"Applegate and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee both unveiled commercials that refer to the explosive video where Republican nominee for presidentDonald Trump 11 years ago bragged about making aggressive, non-consensual sexual contact with women."
"The spots continue a campaign message that Issa and Trump are close allies and that neither candidate respects women."
Supporters of Prop. 54 say it will lead to greater government transparency, while its critics claim the proposition will open up the floodgates to more campaign attack advertisements.
KATIE ORR with KQED: "Proposition 54 is being touted by supporters as a way to bring more transparency to the state Legislature. It would generally require a bill to be in print for 72 hours before it can be passed. Critics say the waiting period would be exploited by lobbyists and special interest groups to kill bills they don’t like."
"But the ballot initiative contains another element that opponents say could lead to more campaign attack ads. The proposition would allow the public to record and share legislative proceedings, something not currently allowed. Democratic consultant Steven Maviglio is representing the No on 54 campaign. He says it’s inevitable those recordings will be used for political purposes."
"I think the net result of that will be two things,” he says. “First of all, a lot of grandstanding by people who know their political TV commercials are being made on the floor of the Assembly or Senate. And also, attack ads."
READ MORE related to Ballot Measures: Prop. 58 would restore bilingual education in California. But is the issue 'dead and forgotten?' -- JAZMINE ULLOA with L.A. Times; Prop. 60 puts condoms on porn actors, but critics say it's a barrier to business -- SUSAN ABRAM with The Sun; Prop. 55: Initiative to extend income tax increases to benefit schools -- JOHN FENSTERWALD with EdSource
California scolds Wells Fargo over recent scandal and now lawmakers are calling for statewide banking reforms.
JAMES RUFUS KOREN with L.A. Times: "More than a month after regulators announced a sweeping settlement against Wells Fargo & Co. over its creation of unauthorized customer accounts, lawmakers went after the bank again Tuesday and called for reforms that could rein in abusive practices by banks."
"The hearing, called by the Assembly’s Banking Committee, lacked the outrage federal lawmakers displayed at Capitol Hill hearings on the issue. But Assembly members attacked Wells Fargo for harming its customers by allowing thousands of employees to open as many as 2 million unauthorized accounts over the last five years."
READ MORE related to Wells Fargo: Federal agency that investigated Wells Fargo scandal dealt blow by court -- James Peltz with L.A. Times
