THIS IS CANDIDATE SELF-DESTRUCTION SEASON

 

CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2025 OR THEREAFTER

BY THOMAS D. ELIAS

“THIS IS CANDIDATE SELF-DESTRUCTION SEASON”

 

For California politicians who fancy themselves as the state’s next governor, this fall has become an unprecedented season of self-destruction.

 

The field aiming to succeed Gavin Newsom is the most crowded in modern memory. So far, the open seat with no obvious successor has drawn the likes of former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Assemblyman Ian Calderon, former state Controller Betty Yee, former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton, former state Attorney General Xavior Becerra, state Schools Supt. Tony Thurmond and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

 

Waiting in the wings: Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, who would probably become the favorite if he declares for the office.

 

For awhile, the polling leader was former Vice President Kamala Harris, the ex-U.S. Senator who dropped out after taking months of considering a run. She was the first candidate to self-destruct, when her September book belittled and griped about major national Democratic figures like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Newsom and even her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

 

Harris removed herself from the run for governor, but her book might take her out of the 2028 presidential campaign, too, having established her as a first-rate whiner.

 

Soon after, Porter – the early leader in most gubernatorial polls – was videotaped snapping at a CBS News reporter who asked tough questions and threatening to walk out of their interview. Another tape quickly emerged revealing her as a screaming boss reaming out an aide. Her behavior forced her to apologize, and will hurt her poll standing.

 

These episodes revealed two inept politicos harming themselves, but the episodes cannot match the ineptitude demonstrated by current poll leader Hilton.

 

His campaign office sent out a press release one day after Newsom shut down the I-5 freeway, the high-speed coastal road running 19 miles between San Onofre and Oceanside.

 

The reason was a celebration of the Marine Corps’ upcoming 250^th anniversary featuring Vice President JD Vance. It featured live artillery fire over the freeway. Despite assurances from the Marines that this could not happen, Newsom feared firing artillery shells over the freeway might cause accidents and even deaths.

This drew derision from Hilton the day after the closure. Said Hilton, “(The) I-5 scandal was the final straw. For months, it has been clear that the focus of Gavin Newsom’s attention has been running for president. Instead of an actual governor, California for the last few months has had a social media manager focused on dopey posts …

 

       “This weekend was the final straw…Newsom caused real harm to Californians with his pathetic, divisive stunt: needlessly closing the I-5 so he could blame President Trump for the resulting chaos.”

 

     In fact, Newsom’s action likely spared Californians a lot of grief. By the time Hilton’s campaign sent his release, Newsom’s worries had been proven valid.

 

     This became clear after one chunk of shrapnel from an artillery shell fired over the I-5 landed on the hood of a Highway Patrol cruiser parked on an off-ramp and some more hit a police motorcycle in the Vance motorcade. Other shrapnel landed on the freeway.

 

     Imagine the havoc had traffic been moving at its usual 75-80 mph pace along the same stretch of 10-lane highway. Consider the traffic jam that might have ensued. Imagine the rear enders and potential injuries averted because the road was closed.

 

     Yet Hilton blithely sent out his press release a day later, when the shrapnel shower had been widely documented. He led the entire field by one point in the latest Emerson College poll, but that doesn’t figure to last once voters learn of his press release faux pas.

 

     Hilton’s office did not respond to requests for an explanation of why the press release went out when it did and has carried on as if nothing happened. No apology, with phone calls and emails not returned. When will rivals start advertising Hilton’s blunder?

 

     In the end, Hilton’s main gripe about Newsom was proven false. It should be difficult for any candidate to survive this, let alone a California Republican hoping to make next year’s runoff by unifying the GOP vote around himself.

 

     Talk about a season of self-destruction.

 

  -30-

    Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net.

CAN NAMING RIGHTS, PLUS $1B PER YEAR, RESCUE THE BULLET TRAIN?

 

CALIFORNIA FOCUS
1720 OAK STREET, SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA 90405
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2025, OR THEREAFTER

 

BY THOMAS D. ELIAS

“CAN NAMING RIGHTS, PLUS $1B PER YEAR, RESCUE THE BULLET TRAIN?”

Imagine the “Google Switching Center.” Now try on the “Sony Pictures In-Railroad Entertainment System.” And the “Morton’s Steakhouse dining car.”

 

Naming rights have rescued major California businesses before. Now the chief of the often-belittled California High Speed Rail Authority (HSR) thinks they might be at least part of the answer to keeping the half-built bullet train system going long enough to actually carry passengers. Call this Part 2 of HSR’s survival strategy. Just make sure much of the fees are collected in advance and that they’re enough to make a difference.

 

Frequently called a boondoggle, the train has already achieved Part 1 of its fiscal plan, an absolute must after President Trump cancelled $4 billion in federal grant money for the poorly planned but partly-built project.

 

That happened when Gov. Gavin Newsom this fall signed a new law called SB 840, giving the train project one-fourth of the state’s take (or about $1 billion a year) for 20 years from cap-and-trade fees of companies that pay to continue their polluting ways. That won’t build much in a project whose cost is now estimated at over $100 billion. But it’s decent seed money.

 

HSR director Ian Choudri first floated the idea of leveraging that money’s presence to help sell naming rights. Some laughed. But Inglewood’s year-old Intuit Center brought in about $500 million for its naming and Aspiration Partners, a financial technology firm that went bankrupt in March, reportedly offered $1 billion. And the Intuit Center cannot even move.

 

If it costs that much to plaster your name on a building, imagine how much could be raised by selling naming rights for a constantly-running luxury train. When finished, the project is to link San Diego and Sacramento. Naming rights could be sold for everything from the entire system to engines, rail cars, stations, and even individual seats, along with exclusive rights to advertise inside train cars. Names could also be advertised beside each mile of track.

 

Consider what might have happened to the former Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, home to the basketball Lakers and Sparks and the hockey Kings. When Staples office supplies removed its name and money from the building, it might have turned moribund, without an identity.

 

But the Singapore-based Crypto.com exchange for bitcoin and related financial products stepped in. Now the arena has a name and $35 million yearly in naming fees, the largest such deal anywhere. It’s about double what AT&T pays for naming rights on the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium.

 

Now think of the bullet train, which appears more desperate for cash than any sports facility.

 

This project is many years behind schedule in carrying its first passenger, and even then, it will likely be in 2033 and only between Merced and Bakersfield.

 

The original plan voters approved was to open the Los Angeles to San Francisco run by 2020.

 

The first leg of this system will now cost an estimated $35 billion, more than the original budget for the entire plan.

 

Enter naming rights. Besides putting their name on various parts of the project, companies could buy development rights for land around stations. They could fund and name tunnels and perhaps charge for each passing train. Or they could buy rights to name stretches of rail. All this could add up to a lot.

 

Whether it could produce the sums still needed to build out the system is strictly speculative. But Choudri notes that all environmental reviews for the Los Angeles to San Francisco run are in hand and a rail system suitable for high speed operations already exists between San Francisco and San Jose.

 

HSR officials note they have built 54 structures and laid 70 miles of track, almost half what’s needed for the Merced to Bakersfield run.

 

The real question is whether this system can ever overcome its founding mistake, which was to build essentially parallel to Highway 99, rather than on the often-wide state-owned median strip of Interstate 5 along the western side of the San Joaquin Valley.

 

In short, can it overcome the greed of politicians who insisted this system run through towns they represented, rather than open spaces devoid of job-seeking constituents?

 

   -30-

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

 

SB 79 WON’T SOON HELP MANY CALIFORNIANS

 

CALIFORNIA FOCUS

FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2025 OR THEREAFTER

BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
"SB 79 WON’T SOON HELP MANY CALIFORNIANS"

 

By far the most attention this in this fall’s state legislative session went to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to counteract a Texas move to convert Democratic House seats to Republican via a special redistricting election early in November.

 

But another new law just signed by Newsom will probably prove far more consequential for the future of California’s cities.

 

It’s called SB 79 and once it plays out, will leave many California skylines altered in the direction of population-dense high-rise buildings.

 

Yes, multi-unit apartment construction is down statewide this year from last year’s figures by about 20 percent (based on partial numbers for 2025), making 2024 building look like it may have been on steroids. That's largely because new apartments today need $4,000-$5,000 monthly to break even.

 

But SB 79 has the long-term potential to change things in the name of housing density that might help solve the state’s shortage. The problem is that it probably won’t do that, because the vast majority (about 70 percent) of units being built are to be rented or sold at market rates, rather than seeking occupancy as subsidized affordable housing. Given that more than half of all California renters pay upwards of 30 percent of income for housing, relatively few can afford what are called market rates. So thousands of units built in the last three years now lie vacant, while shortages persist elsewhere.

 

Here's what SB 79 sponsor Scott Wiener, a Democratic San Francisco state senator, aims to do: Create a series of mini-downtowns near major transit stops with up to nine-story buildings gradually dropping off in all directions into two-and-three story construction, often within current single-family areas nearby.

 

Because of resistance from rural lawmakers, the upzoning near transit hubs will only apply in eight urban counties. When big changes come, they will be in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo and Sacramento counties.

 

Height limits will depend on just how much bus and light rail traffic a stop handles. But for the busiest stops (designated as “Tier 1”), no local government can limit heights to less than 75 feet for buildings within a quarter-mile of the stop.

 

No one knows how many of these buildings will actually rise over the next few years. If developers doubt they can make profits off market-rate units mixed with a lesser number of affordable ones, they won’t build very much. Many have such qualms due to the pricing problem. So the trouble with much new construction in California is that most Californians can’t afford to live in it.

 

Two places whose nature this law won’t change soon are Altadena and the Pacific Palisades district of Los Angeles, both decimated in last January’s firestorms. Unless transit agencies run major new routes through them, they will be exempt from the top heights. There are no such plans today. 

 

Then there’s the matter of pricing out many who now live near transit stops. As a general rule, these immediate areas are less attractive and less desirable than nearby single-family zones, so rents and prices are lower there. But tear down existing housing and replace it with more modern and expansive housing, and current residents could be priced out.

 

But when Democratic Assembly member Rick Zbur of West Los Angeles argued SB 79 would be destructive for existing lower-cost neighborhoods, he was laughed off, while the bill passed the state Senate with applause from most legislators present.

 

Also ignored were complaints that SB 79 removes any authority many existing homeowners have over their surroundings.

 

These kinds of reasons were behind the 8-5 vote by which the Los Angeles city council voted to oppose the measure. The council called for Los Angeles to be exempted because it already has a state-approved housing plan, with thousands of units underway.

 

But labor unions backed AB 79, pretty much all the Legislature needed as most Democratic legislators get a big slice of their campaign money from organized labor.

 

The upshot is that SB 79 will solve few immediate housing problems, while not helping the many Californians who will continue to find new housing priced beyond their means.

-30-

    Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

 

“DID HARRIS WRITE HERSELF OUT OF THE ’28 RACE?

 

CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2025, OR THEREAFTER

 

BY THOMAS D. ELIAS

 “DID HARRIS WRITE HERSELF OUT OF THE ’28 RACE?”

 

Two absolute essentials must accompany any candidate who seeks to make a serious run for president, or even lesser but still powerful jobs like governor or U.S. senator:

 

No one can make a serious run without serious funding. So multiple sources of big money are a must. So are major allies. Not only do they go on the road as surrogates at times, but they recruit other supporters, some of whom provide the first essential, big money.

 

For a candidate to alienate the most powerful individuals in their political party even before a race gets going seriously is an unheard-of no-no.

 

But that is what former Vice President Kamala Harris may have done in her campaign memoir 107 Days, published in a season when many candidates issue bland autobiographical tomes that purport to carry important messages aimed to draw millions of voters. Most don’t attract many voters, while also containing few important messages.

 

The new Harris book is different. It’s almost like a deliberate effort to alienate potential supporters and snub her nose at the money they might be capable of raising.

 

Take her complaint about Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who she briefly considered as her vice presidential running mate in 2024: He was initially reluctant or non-committal when she asked for his endorsement just after ex-President Joe Biden gave up the Democratic nomination for his office and handed it off to Harris.

 

Did Pritzker want a day or two to determine whether the party would accept Biden’s edict and quickly anoint Harris as the candidate? Did he want to be offered an incentive?

Both would have been reasonable responses to Harris’ quick ascension.

 

But his pace did not satisfy Harris, a fact now announced in print. So much for Pritzker’s support if Harris runs again in 2028.

 

And there’s her response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, her fellow endorsee of former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, and her longtime supposed friend and stablemate (they’ve shared campaign consultants). 

 

She claims he didn’t take her first call after Biden dropped out, texting back “Hiking. Will call back.” He didn’t do that. So even though he did issue a full endorsement within hours, that was too slow for Harris, who apparently expects her colleagues to ask “how high” the moment she says “jump.”

 

If this sounds like minor byplay, that’s what it should have been. It probably wasn’t worth a mention in her book, or any other, but reflects an irritability that hasn’t worked well for any modern presidential candidate except Donald Trump. The rest have all tried to appear universally amiable.

 

Harris sprinkled other, similar, bon mots though her book. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whom she considered for vice president, is “overly ambitious (and) confident,” Harris writes, and “would want to be in the room for every major decision.” Shouldn’t any veep want that?

 

Then there’s Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Biden’s transportation secretary. He would have been “too big a risk,” as she didn’t believe the electorate was prepared to back both a gay man (Buttigieg) and a black woman (herself) simultaneously. But she writes Buttigieg was actually her first choice for vice president, even though she picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. What now, if Walz is reelected next year?

 

If someone wanted to alienate powerful Democrats, it would be difficult to do it more thoroughly than Harris seems to have tried to do. Mark Kelly, senator from Arizona, “lacks political battle scars.” Does that mean he’s too popular, for he certainly has other kinds of scars as the steadfast, supportive husband of onetime assassination target Gabby Giffords.

 

All of which raises the question of whether Harris really wants to run for president again. Would she have criticized so many powerful Democrats if she were hungry for both their support and the further backing they could bring along in 2028?

 

Harris plainly didn’t want to be governor of California, or go through the rough campaign that she’d need to win that job. Now she’s also given voters plenty of reason to wonder how much she wants to be president.

 

    -30-

    Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net