The third and final California Senate debate is over. Here are 4 things to know.

Andrew Sheeler
·7 min read
155

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

FOUR KEY CALIFORNIA SENATE DEBATE TAKEAWAYS

Via Gillian Brassil....

The four leading candidates to succeed the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., met for their third and final debate before the March 5 primary.

Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, Katie Porter, D-Irvine, and Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey discussed issues including inflation, the military, immigration, foreign aid, climate change, artificial intelligence and public safety.

Schiff, 63, is leading in recent Senate polls. Garvey, 75, edged Porter, 50, out for second place in a recent Emerson College Polling survey; they’ve been neck and neck over the last couple months. Lee, 77, rounds out the top four.

There are two elections on the March 5 ballot that these candidates and others are running in: one for a full six-year term that starts in January 2025 and another to complete the final months of Feinstein’s unexpired term.

The top two vote-getters in both elections will advance to Nov. 5 elections. The winner of the special election for the partial term will be sworn in almost immediately. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., to serve in the interim; she is not running in either race.

Here are four takeaways from last night’s Senate debate in Los Angeles, moderated by reporters from NBCLA and Telemundo 52:

  • Garvey offered very little in the way of policy detail while saying a lot in his many responses —a strategy he’s employed throughout the campaign. Answering a question about protecting military service members and veterans, Garvey offered platitudes: “Freedom has no cost to it,” he said. “It’s whatever it takes.”



  • Telemundo 52 anchor Alejandra Ortíz called out congressional Democrats for failing to pass immigration reform in over two decades. All three conceded, but they did not go into much detail on how they would get legislation across the finish line. “We’re going to have to do it ourselves,” Schiff said, referring to Democrats working without GOP support, “which means we’re going to have to get rid of the filibuster and pass a truly comprehensive immigration reform.” (All four candidates said they would have voted “no” on a recent failed border deal.)



  • Porter focused her attacks on Schiff for using a congressional tool called earmarks and taking Big Oil PAC money. Schiff hit back, prompting Porter to name drop a Sacramento Bee fact-check on claims about donations to her campaign. Still, most of Schiff’s jabs were directed at Garvey to strike a broader contrast between himself and the Republican Party.



  • Lee, who has consistently trailed fourth in polls, drew from her personal story more often than her competitors to connect with voters. She talked about relying on public assistance as a single mother of two and the daughter of a WWII and Korean War veteran. “I know what it takes to make life better for everyone in California,” Lee said. “I have faced so many obstacles.”

TRANSGENDER BALLOT INITIATIVE ADVOCATES SUE ATTORNEY GENERAL OVER MEASURE DESCRIPTION

A month after vowing to sue California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a coalition of parents rights activists calling itself Protect Kids California has done just that, alleging that the AG’s office used biased language when rewording their proposed ballot measure.

The ballot measure in question would do three things.

First, it would require all school employees in the state to notify parents if their child goes by a different name or pronouns while at school, regardless of whether that would place the child in danger. Bonta and LGBTQ advocacy groups have called this practice forced outing, as many children will be out at school but not to their parents for safety reasons.

Second, it would ban transgender girls from participating in female sports, and also ban trans youths from using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. And finally it would ban trans youths from being able to access gender-affirming medical care, even if their parents consent to it and even if treatment is medically recommended.

That’s not how proponents would like it to be described. The lawsuit seeks to force the AG’s office to re-write the proposed ballot measure’s title and summary, and also to grant supporters more time to collect signatures. They have until May 28 to collect 546,651 signatures to put the proposed initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

The complaint, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, alleges that Bonta’s actions defy state elections code, “as it is branded with a misleading, false, and prejudicial title, and contains an inaccurate, blatantly argumentative, and prejudicial summary.”

Proponents of the measure wanted it to be titled the “Protect Kids of California Act of 2024.” The intent of the ballot measure, they say, is to “bring balance” to school policies regarding parental notification of their child’s gender identity, “maintain fairness in girls’ and womens’ athletic programs,” to “protect the privacy” of students in the bathroom and to prohibit the use of puberty blockers and hormones for the purpose of gender-affirming medical care.

Bonta’s chosen title: “Restrict Rights of Transgender Youth.”

Reached for comment, Bonta’s office said that it cannot comment on pending litigation, but that California law designates the attorney general’s office with the responsibility of issuing ballot titles and summaries.

”We take this responsibility seriously and stand by our title and summary for this measure,” the office said in an email statement to The Bee.

CALIFORNIA BILL WOULD BAN OCTOPUS FARMING BEFORE IT EVEN BEGINS

Raise your hand if you knew octopus farming was a thing. Soon, it might not be.

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill to ban the practice in the state, citing the inhumane treatment of the cephalopods as they are slaughtered for food.

AB 3162, by Assemblyman Steve Bennett, D-Ventura, would prohibit the cultivation of octopuses (or octopi, if you prefer) for the purpose of human consumption, as well as banning the importation of farmed octopus.

“These highly functional creatures have captured our fascination for as long as we have been telling stories,” Bennett said in a statement. “Octopuses are primarily solitary creatures that are not suited for large scale breeding. They have demonstrated an aptitude for learning and their acute intelligence is becoming well recorded among the scientific community.”

The bill is sponsored by the animal welfare groups Social Compassion in Legislation and the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

“Factory farms are environmental disasters whether on land or in the water, and the cruelty inherent in their business model is unspeakable,”SCIL’s Judie Mancuso said.

Mancuso noted that octopus farming hasn’t really taken off yet in the Golden State, but that AB 3162 is a preventive measure to make sure it doesn’t.

According to SCIL, methods of slaughtering octopuses — which have demonstrated remarkable intelligence — includes clubbing, slicing, asphyxiation and chilling.

“This is a key moment, not only in California but around the country, in the effort to protect octopuses from the scale of suffering that other animals already endure on factory farms,” said Jennifer Hauge of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Similar bills have been introduced in Hawaii and Washington.

Currently, octopus aquaculture is predominantly overseas, with the Spanish company Nueva Pescanova a leader in the industry. The company defends octopus aquaculture “as a method to reduce pressure on fishing grounds and ensure sustainable, safe, healthy, and controlled resources, complementing fishing.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I remember the fall of the Soviet Union & dawn of democracy in Eastern Europe. It was an exciting time. I never thought I’d see the day when a fascist Russia would seek to conquer a European democracy. I certainly never thought I’d see the day when a cult-like pro-Russia American political party would facilitate that conquest.”

- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, via Threads.

Best of The Bee:

  • The tug-of-war between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office over the state’s projected budget deficit took a new turn Tuesday, when the LAO announced a revised shortfall of $73 billion — $15 billion more than previously forecast, and significantly more than the $38 billion gap that Newsom has estimated, via Andrew Sheeler and Lindsey Holden.

  • California schools would be required to have at least one armed police officer, also known as a school resource officer or SRO, on campus during regular school hours, under a bill introduced last week, via Andrew Sheeler.

  • Several surprising endorsements — and the departure of a couple of candidates from the race — are shaking up the election to replace retired Rep. Kevin McCarthy, via Gillian Brassil.

  • California schools must use $2 billion of the federal and state money they received for COVID-19 relief to help students who experienced learning setbacks due to the pandemic, via Angela Rodriguez.