Gavin Newsom and John Cox advance to November showdown.
From the Sacramento Bee: "Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Republican John Cox face off this November in the race to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown."
"Our values are under assault... We're engaged in an epic battle," Newsom told supporters Tuesday, calling Cox a "footsoldier in (Donald Trump's) war on California."
"I've never backed down from a fight," Newsom said, signaling the Democrat-on-Republican matchup this November."
READ MORE related to Election Day: Villaraigosa calls for extending election day through Friday after more than 118,000 LA County voters' names left off rolls -- LA Times's SEEMA MEHTA; The pomp and circumstance of voting is missing.' Some are sad without Sacramento polling places -- Sacramento Bee's DIANA LAMBERT/JORDAN CUTLER-TIETJEN
Hours before the polls closed, Capitol Weekly and Political Data did exit polls on key statewide races -- and the numbers were solid.
Capitol Weekly's JOHN HOWARD: "Since 2015 Capitol Weekly has been conducting polling to inform readers about policy and politics in the Golden State. This latest installment is an exit poll of voters compiled by Capitol Weekly using data and tools from Political Data, Inc."
This polling focuses on early voters who cast ballots in the mail or at voting centers."
"The full survey includes more than 11,000 respondents surveyed over a three-week period of ballot returns. All respondents were presented with the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate contests, and then assigned to one of the other competitive statewide races."
118,522 voters accidentally left off LA County polling place rosters
LA Times's MATT PEARCE: "If you are a registered voter in Los Angeles County and poll workers say they can’t find your name on the roster at the polling place when you go to vote, don’t worry — you can still cast a provisional ballot."
"Some Angelenos needed a bit of reassurance that their votes would be counted in Tuesday’s primary election after 118,522 voters’ names were accidentally left off rosters due to a printing error, according to L.A. County Registrar Dean C. Logan."
Dianne Feinstein secures top spot as 2nd place remains undecided
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH/JILL TUCKER: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein sealed a spot in the November general election in her bid for a fifth full term, while fellow Democrat Kevin de Leónand Republican James Bradley were locked in a tight battle for the chance to face her."
"Feinstein had 44 percent of the vote Tuesday night with half of precincts reporting. De León, a state senator from Los Angeles, was narrowly in the lead for the second spot, with 11 percent of the vote, following closely behind by James Bradley, an Orange County businessman, with 9 percent. A few other candidates were initially within striking distance, but fell well back as the evening wore on."
"Takeaway: Feinstein was expec ted to have an easy run in the top-two primary. Her hefty lead over de León and the rest of the field, if it holds up, would make her a prohibitive favorite for re-election in the fall."
READ MORE related to Senate Race: Who is James P. Bardley and why is he staring down Dianne Feinstein? -- Sacramento Bee's TARYN LUNA
Gavin Newsom's top issues for California: affordability and homelessness
The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS: "Gavin Newsom rose to statewide prominence on gun control and same-sex marriage, but in the upcoming general election campaign for governor, he sees a new issue at the forefront of voters’ minds — affordability."
“It’s the No. 1 issue in Stockton, Riverside, Bakersfield — all up and down the state,” Newsom said at a stop in Oakland in the final days of the primary campaign. “It’s not unique to San Francisco or the Bay Area anymore.”
"Homelessness is second, Newsom said. “People want to talk about it everywhere I go. It’s tents. It’s the mentally ill out there. It’s no longer just in the urban areas."
SF mayor's race: London Breed holds lead over Mark Leno, Jane Kim
The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "Preliminary election results showed London Breed leading in the San Francisco mayor’s race with 35.6 percent of the vote Tuesday night. Mark Leno was in second place with 25.9 percent, Jane Kim was third with 22.85 percent and Angela Alioto trailed in fourth place with 7.6 percent."
"Those returns from the San Francisco Department of Elections represent votes cast at polling places and by mail. The elections department will continue to release one updated election report each day until a winner is declared."
"Who ultimately will step into the city’s top job probably won’t be known for several days because of the city’s ranked-choice voting system, under which the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and his or her votes are redistributed to supporters’ second choices."
READ MORE related to Local Elections: Sacramento DA Schubert declares victory, calls it 'a good day for the people' -- Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH
In the heart of the Trump resistance, so much apathy in California
LA Times's STEVE LOPEZ: "Sure, it’s just a primary."
"And the general election is five months away."
Judge allows ACLU suit on California's death penalty law
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "A judge has refused to dismiss an American Civil Liberties Union suit challenging some of the state’s new rules for executions, including procedures for determining whether a condemned inmate is sane enough to be executed."
"The ACLU, on behalf of Death Row inmate Jarvis Lee Masters, sued state prison officials in February for approving rules for putting inmates to death without first submitting them to the public for comment."
"Two previous versions of the execution standards drew thousands of public comments, mostly critical, and were rejected by a state administrative agency, which found they were inconsistent with state law. But in November 2016 state voters approved Proposition 66, an initiative sponsored by death penalty supporters to speed up executions and eliminate requirements of public notice and comment for procedures used to administer the lethal drugs."
Judge Aaron Persky, who ruled in sex assault case, recalled in Santa Clara County
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky was recalled from office by the voters Tuesday, two years after he set off national outrage by sentencing a Stanford athlete to six months in jail for sexually assaulting and attempting to rape an unconscious woman."
"With 43 percent of precincts reporting, 59 percent of the county’s voters favored recalling Persky while 41 percent opposed the recall. On the same ballot, Assistant District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson led civil rights lawyer Angela Storey, 70 to 30 percent, in the election to serve the last four years of Persky’s term."
CW Podcast: Steve Swatt
Capitol Weekly Staff: "On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the Podcast’s John Howard and Tim Foster are joined by Steve Swatt, a veteran political analyst and former news reporter who, at the age of 24, covered RFK’s murder and the trial of the assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, for United Press International."
"Swatt shares memories of the intense days following the assassination and the three-month trial that ended in a guilty verdict."
"During a 25-year journalism career — mostly as a political reporter — Steve worked for the San Francisco Examiner, UPI in Los Angeles and KCRA-TV in Sacramento. He is the lead author of Game Changers:Twelve Elections That Transformed California, which won the California Historical Society book award. He also is the lead author of the forthcoming book, Paving the Way: Women’s Struggle for Political Equality in California."
Environmentalists sue to stop expansion near Highway 99
Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "A long-standing battle between Elk Grove growth advocates and environmentalists has spilled into court."
"The Environmental Council of Sacramento and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit with others in Sacramento Superior Court last week challenging a county decision to allow the city of Elk Grove to expand onto 1,156 acres of farmland west of Highway 99 and south of Kammerer Road."
"City officials have their eye on that site as land they can use to entice companies to bring jobs to the south county. Environmentalists though, say the city has plenty of other land to build houses and businesses."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Why emergency drought assistance will be needed in California for years -- Water Deeply's TESS TOWNSEND
Top USC medical school official feared dean was 'doing drugs' and alerted administration, he testifies
LA Times's ADAM ELMAHREK/PAUL PRINGLE: "A former vice dean of USC’s Keck School of Medicine testified Tuesday that he feared the school’s then-dean, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, “could be doing drugs” and expressed concerns about his general well-being to the university’s No. 2 administrator before Puliafito abruptly left his job in 2016."
"Dr. Henri Ford’s testimony at a hearing of the state Medical Board marks the first suggestion that any USC administrator had suspicions about Puliafito’s possible drug use before he stepped down. A Times investigation in 2017 found Puliafito led a secret second life of using illegal drugs with a circle of young criminals and addicts. Puliafito testified about his behavior at the hearing Tuesday, saying he took drugs with one young woman on a weekly basis."
"Ford said that he decided to alert USC Provost Michael Quick after receiving reports in early 2016 that Puliafito was partying in hotels with people of “questionable reputation,” and that he came to worry about his mental stability."
Primaries in seven other states help set the political battlefield for November
AP: "No state will play a more significant role in the fight for control of Congress than California. But seven other states also held primaries Tuesday, helping set the political battlefield for the first midterm election of Donald Trump's presidency."
"In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, a former federal prosecutor and Navy pilot and now the Democratic establishment favorite, bested a field of party rivals in the race to replace retiring Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen. She'll take on GOP Assemblyman Jay Webber in one of several races Democrats view as prime opportunities in their effort to retake the House."
"Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker won his primary contest, as did New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat who faced federal bribery charges last year. The jury deadlocked, but Republicans hope to use Menendez's legal troubles to tar Democrats like Sherrill across the state."
Fatal shootings by LAPD down but less lethal use of force is up, report says
LA Times's NICOLE SANTA CRUZ: "Despite adopting new policies to reduce police shootings, use of deadly force by Los Angeles police increased slightly in 2017 from the previous year, but the number of fatal shootings continued a downward trend, according to a report released Tuesday."
SCOTUS bemoans 'hostility' to religion in wedding cake case, but what about Trump's 'Muslim ban?'
LA Times's DAVID G SAVAGE: "The Supreme Court resolved the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple by ruling the government may not show “hostility” to religion."
"As Justice Anthony M. Kennedy put it: “The Free Exercise Clause (of the 1st Amendment) bars even ‘subtle departures from neutrality’ on matters of religion.” He cited the comments of one member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission who had lectured baker Jack Phillips about the role religion has played throughout history to justify bigotry, slavery and the Holocaust."
"Such words suggested “that religious beliefs and persons are less than fully welcome in Colorado’s business community,” Kennedy wrote, adding the state had “violated its duty under the 1st Amendment not to base laws or regulations on hostility to a religion or a religious viewpoint."
Come campaign in California, Donald Trump, Democratic leader says
Sacramento Bee's ANGELA HART: "Now that Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox has advanced to the general election runoff against Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the leader of California's Democratic Party can hardly wait for President Donald Trump to come visit."
"I want him to come here," said Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman. "I want to give him welcoming committees wherever he goes."
"Bauman encouraged Trump to visit because "it will do so much for Democratic voter turnout," and potentially boost his party's efforts to defeat Republicans in competitive races across the state."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate: Trump self-pardon would 'destroy' the GOP, Graham warns -- McClatchy DC's CHRISTINE CONDON; 'The Daily Show's' Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library coming to LA on Friday -- LA Times's CHRIS BARTON
