Trump’s 2024 Republican running mate, J.D. Vance, has ties to California’s Silicon Valley

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

J.D. VANCE’S CALIFORNIA CONNECTIONS

J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s chosen running mate in the 2024 election, was at one time a venture capitalist living in San Francisco.

Before becoming a U.S. senator for his home state of Ohio, Vance worked as a Silicon Valley investor. He moved to San Francisco in 2013 after graduating from Yale Law School, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday, the day Trump announced Vance as his choice to be vice president.

Vance, 39, worked for Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capitol Management in California. Thiel, a billionaire investor and prominent GOP donor, was an early supporter of Trump.

Vance rose to fame after publishing his book “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2016 about growing up in a working-class Ohio family. He left California for Ohio in 2017.

When he ran for U.S. Senate in 2022, opponents poked fun at his California tenure. Around then, Vance changed his tune on Trump from critical to supportive. Once a “never Trump” guy, he publicly called the Republican presidential candidate in 2016 an “idiot” and said he was “reprehensible.” Privately, he compared him to Adolf Hitler, according to Reuters.

The Republican senator’s wife, Usha Vance, also has California connections. She was raised in San Diego.

Usha Vance was a litigator for prominent California-based Munger, Tolles and Olson, working in the law firm’s San Francisco and later Washington D.C. offices. She resigned her position on Monday when her husband was named Trump’s running mate.

SFGate reported her online bio for the law firm disappeared after Trump announced his VP pick.

NEWSOM VETOES HOMELESSNESS GRANT ACCOUNTABILITY BILL

Via Nicole Nixon ...

As California struggles to get a handle on the scale of its homelessness crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected a measure that would require an annual report on how effectively local governments use state homelessness grants.

The bill, AB 2570 by Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Roseville, would have required the state Department of Housing and Community Development to annually report the efficacy of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, known colloquially as HHAP.

In a veto message, Newsom said the bill is no longer necessary since other accountability measures have been put in place following a state audit that raised questions about the state’s homelessness spending.

“I support increasing transparency and accountability for cities and counties’ use of state funding to address homelessness,” Newsom wrote. “Earlier this year, I directed California’s Housing Accountability Unit to increase its oversight and enforcement of existing housing laws to address homelessness.”

His message continued: “Additionally, the recently adopted 2024 Budget includes statutory language that requires more frequent reporting by HHAP grantees on their expenditures, corrective action plans for grantees not meeting specified performance measures, and maintenance of compliant Housing Elements prior to receiving additional HHAP funding.”

In a statement, Patterson noted the bill received no opposition and enjoyed bipartisan support.

“Clearly the legislature agreed on the need to rein in Newsom’s wasteful spending on ineffective homelessness programs. I’m glad we were able to get some safeguards written into the budget, but the state can’t keep cutting corners on accountability when dishing out billions of taxpayer dollars and seeing the problem get worse,” he said.

GARVEY OUTRAISES SCHIFF IN SENATE RACE

Former California baseball star Steve Garvey outraised U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, in the last three months, federal filings show, in his long-shot U.S. Senate bid.

Garvey, a Republican, raised $5.44 million to Schiff’s $4.2 million from April through June.

But Schiff has $6.47 million in the bank to Garvey’s $3.29 million. Cash reserves can make a huge difference to pay for campaign advertisements, events or unexpected complications.

California hasn’t elected a Republican in a statewide race since 2006. Schiff, 64, held a 25 percentage point lead over Garvey, 75, in a recent Public Policy Institute of California poll ahead of November’s election.

According to Garvey’s campaign, 110,000 individuals contributed to the former LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres first baseman since he announced his bid for Senate in October 2023, and 67,000 individuals donated in the second quarter of 2024 alone.

“Californians are tired of the status quo, they are tired of the division, they are tired of Washington D.C. not working together, they are tired of Adam Schiff representing his party bosses rather than them, and now they are speaking up with their checkbooks,” Garvey said in a statement Tuesday.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“From the very start Judge Cannon has demonstrated an utter and complete lack of impartiality. Her dismissal of this case, pertaining to the safeguarding of our nation’s national security secrets, is an affront to the rule of law,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., on X Tuesday concerning a Florida federal judge dismissing Trump’s classified documents case.

Best of The Bee:

• Does watchdog group actually represent Californians when challenging insurance prices? via Stephen Hobbs

• California’s grid passed the reliability test this heat wave. It’s all about giant batteries, via Ari Plachta

• Gov. Newsom signs bill to ban school district ‘forced outings’ of transgender students, via Andrew Scheeler and Jenavieve Hatch

• California Democrats killed drug dealer warning. It wound up in failed Prop. 47 initiative, via Lindsey Holden

• After Trump shooting, GOP called for unity. Do their words at RNC match their actions? via Danielle Battaglia and David Lightman