After months of dodging the question, Steve Garvey says he’ll vote for Donald Trump over Biden

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GARVEY SAYS HE WILL VOTE FOR TRUMP

Via David Lightman...

Steve Garvey voted for former President Donald Trump in California’s March 5 primary and said he’d vote for him again in November against President Joe Biden.

Garvey told Fox LA’s Elex Michaelson that Biden is “a man who is 81 years of age and has difficulty focusing at a time when I think this country has never been in more danger.”

Garvey, 75, is seeking a California U.S. Senate seat. He’d be 82 when his term expired in January 2031.

Until the Tuesday night interview with Michaelson, he had not said whether he voted for Trump this year. Monday, The Bee asked about his vote and got no answer. He has repeatedly said, and reiterated Tuesday, that he’s trying to appeal to all voters.

Trump remains highly unpopular in California. He lost the state in 2016 and 2020 by big margins, and trailed by 24 percentage points in the May 23-June 2 poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Garvey told Michaelson that “I talk to people, very smart people, that we need leadership that’s able to be responsive to make tough decisions. I feel for him (Biden) but we’re in a state of crisis in terms of leadership.

“Maybe that’s why I decided to run, somebody is running for all the people, not just half the people.”

Michaelson brought up questions about Trump’s own lapses. Garvey joked whether he himself was “mentally sound” to run as a moderate in California, a state that hasn’t elected a Republican statewide since 2006.

CALIFORNIANS FOR PRESIDENT 2024?

Via Gillian Brassil...

Two Californians fared similar or better than President Joe Biden in a CNN poll taken June 28-30 pitting them against former President Donald Trump in a potential 2024 election match-up.

Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom were among a handful of names on the poll, with Harris faring better than Biden after Thursday night’s debate raised concern from some Democrats about his candidacy.

Harris, a former U.S. senator and attorney general for California, earned the support of 45% of respondents to Trump’s 43%. Respondents were asked to choose between her or Trump as if they were competing on the November ballot.

Newsom gathered 43% to Trump’s 48% when those two were side by side.

Biden collected 43% to Trump’s 49%. The margin was the same as in April.

Biden has made no indication that he is bowing out of the race nor have any of the Democrats in CNN’s poll suggested that he should drop out since Thursday’s debate.

The other two lawmakers included on the poll were Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Buttigieg got 43% to Trump’s 47% and Whitmer got 42% to Trump’s 47%.

BIDEN HEAT RULE FOLLOWS CALIFORNIA

The Biden administration proposed the first-ever federal workplace standard aimed at reducing heat-induced illness and death for indoor and outdoor employees on Tuesday.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposed rule mirrors those of California and a handful of other states.

California was the first state to adopt a heat exposure rule for outdoor workers such as farm and construction workers in 2006; its requirements are considered to be some of the toughest. Now four other states have protections for outdoor workers against heat-induced illness and death.

California last month passed a rule to protect indoor workers too. Once it goes into effect this year, California will become the third state with an indoor heat standard.

The Biden administration’s rule comes as California and other states endure scorching temperatures. Much of California is under excessive heat warnings.

If finalized, the federal rule would implement workplace rules based on a two-tiered heat-and-humidity index where employers must offer drinking water and mandatory breaks.

Under the proposed federal standard, when combined heat and humidity reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit, employers must provide water and break areas. Employers must also institute a workload plan for new and returning workers to adjust to the heat. At 90 degrees, employers must have systems to monitor for heat-related illness and 15 minute breaks every two hours.

Still, the federal rule wouldn’t be final until at least 2026, by which point it’s possible that a potential Trump administration tosses it. Multiple industry groups have opposed such heat standards, claiming that it would raise costs and be burdensome to employers.

The Biden administration’s rules would override state measures. States with heat standards must be at least as stringent as the federal rule.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Hate loses again. For the second time this year in California, school board members supporting anti-LGBTQ policies have been recalled — here, school board members who banned the Pride flag. Despite all the noise by homophobic/transphobic haters, they’re not a majority.”

- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, discussing news of a successful recall of two Sunol Glen Unified School District school board members, via X.

Best of The Bee:

• Gavin Newsom heading to the White House as Democratic governors meet with Biden, via David Lightman and Nicole Nixon.

• Gavin Newsom drops Prop. 47 initiative days after announcing it. He’s leaving to back Joe Biden, via Lindsey Holden and Nicole Nixon.

• These student loan payments can still be halved this month. What Californians should know, via Gillian Brassil.

• Gun rights group sues to block firearms and ammunition excise tax from being enforced, via Andrew Sheeler.