Rituals-
Mike Lindell , CEO of MyPillow and a known Trump supporter, is excited about what's happening in Shasta County.
Faced with unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud, the majority right-wing Northern California County Board of Supervisors has terminated its contract with Dominion Voting System and is considering a manual vote count.
"Every county should do this," Lindell told Times reporter Jessica Garrison . "I think it's great that they're leading the way in California."
During a board meeting this week, Shasta County Executive Kevin Cray told colleagues that he had contacted Lindell about the county's election system and that the executive director had offered to provide "all necessary resources" to resolve the potential lawsuit.
Also this week, Kern County supervisors heard hours of testimony from residents who believe Dominion County's election system is rigged, Garrison reported .
The episode left Shasta County's voter and recorder saddened and speechless. "I'm focused on the fact that we don't have a voting system," said Cathy Darling Allen . "This incident worries me a lot."
Dominion is one of the largest providers of voting machines and software in the United States, currently operating voting machines in 41 of California's 58 counties. The company became the target of baseless conspiracies after President Trump lost his 2020 re-election bid, and his supporters, including Lindell, spent months spreading false allegations that Dominion machines were used to fraudulently elect President Biden .
Fox News officials have perpetuated the allegations, given significant airtime to election detractors, and even found evidence in Dominion's lawsuit against the network that they personally fabricated the voter fraud allegations.
Shasta County's decision to abandon Dominion voting machines is "another example of how lies about Dominion have harmed our campaign and undermined public confidence in elections," the campaign said in a statement.
It's a stark example of what happens when propaganda drowns out reality, says Times columnist Anita Chhabria.
Lindell "offers a softer, softer, more dangerous version of the Big Lie that voter fraud stole Donald Trump's 2020 presidential election," Chabria wrote.
"And we need your Giza Dreams™ sheets as much as we need them."
For more on how electoral intrigue is shaping rural California, read Garrison's report and Chhabria's column here .
I'm Laurel Rosenhall, the Times Sacramento bureau chief, and here's what happened in California politics this week.
Will more Californians go hungry?
About 3 million California families will stop receiving supplemental federal food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, straining budgets as people continue to struggle with rising costs of living, Times reporter Mackenzie Mace reports.
Starting in March 2020, low-income Californians have increased benefits from CalFresh, the state version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. But that emergency relief will end this month as Congress votes to end additional benefits under the federal spending plan .
Now Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers are under pressure to fill the gap as experts warn of worsening food insecurity and food banks struggle to prepare for an influx of customers. Although New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy , a Democrat, signed a bill last month to raise the state's minimum SNAP payment in light of federal cuts, Newsom has recommended against spending more until the state expects $22.50. budget deficit of billions.
Read the full story here .
There could be a vote in the battle for prison jobs
Here's another example of how California's deep blue lags behind other states in ways you might not expect:
Last year, voters in Vermont, Oregon, Tennessee and Alabama approved historic ballot measures that removed slavery and mandatory felony imprisonment from their state constitutions, which could lead to restrictions on inmate employment. They join a growing list of states that have adopted similar initiatives in recent years, including Nebraska, Utah and Colorado.
But in California, writes Times reporter Hannah Wiley , voters did not have that opportunity.
In the months leading up to the Nov. 8 election, lawmakers rejected a proposal that would have asked voters to eliminate an exception to the state constitution that allowed forcible imprisonment as a criminal penalty.
The emotional debate clashed with arguments comparing prison work to slavery, with fears that eliminating work requirements would undermine rehabilitation and threaten the rehabilitation of crime victims. Divisions between moderate and progressive Democrats, as well as the cost of the plan, ultimately led to the legislation's failure.
But now Democrats are trying again, hoping last year's moves in other states can help win support in California.
Learn more about the measure known as the California Slavery Abolition Act in this interesting article .
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DeSantis made the pilgrimage to California, a heavily Republican court
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , currently seen as the biggest Republican threat to former President Trump's 2024 White House campaign, is heading to Southern California this weekend to promote his new book and Republican campaign in the conservative stronghold.
Newsom lifts California's COVID-19 state of emergency, marking end of pandemic era
California's COVID-19 state of emergency officially ended on Tuesday, symbolically ending one of the most difficult chapters in the state's history and in Gov. Gavin Newsom's political career.
Newsom scores well in new poll but faces budget crisis
Governor. Gavin Newsom is California's most popular high-profile politician, but that could be tested by voters' concerns about the state's ability to manage a $22.5 billion deficit , according to a new poll. The data served as a "warning signal" to Newsom about the uncertainty of his political standing among California voters.
Feinstein was hospitalized with a concussion
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was hospitalized in San Francisco, said she hopes to return to work in the Senate later this month. He led Vice President Kamala Harris to a three-vote margin this week, one of two Democrats in the currently ailing Senate.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass endorsed Senate candidate Barbara Lee
Bass, a Democrat who served in Congress for more than a decade under Lee, endorsed his former colleague and friend to run for the seat of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein , who announced in February that she was leaving office. during his current tenure. The deadline expires. January 2025
Baraback. A trademark of Trump's tormenting, whiteboard aide in California's Senate race
Times columnist Mark Z. Barabak previously wrote that Adam B. House members like Schiff and Katie Porter spent their days in relative obscurity. But when they came more than 350 miles from home to address a large Northern California Democratic caucus, both were political brands and household names reflected in viral videos, national television appearances and countless social media clicks. .
Two men sentenced to prison for plotting to bomb Democratic Party headquarters in California
Two Northern California militia members accused of blowing up the Democratic Party state office in Sacramento and "going to war" to defeat former President Trump in the 2020 presidential election have been sentenced to prison. The couple admitted that after the election they began discussing plans to destroy the Democratic Party headquarters by using gasoline cans to set fire to the building.
Chabria. San Francisco Synagogue Threatened After Gunman Attacks
Such incidents have become so commonplace that they rarely make headlines outside of San Francisco. Another suspected hate crime in a growing wave of senseless deaths, writes Times columnist Anita Chabria . In our polarized country, where extremism has taken root, we are impervious to all but the most egregious acts of hate.
New poll shows majority of California voters fear gun violence, but Democrats and Republicans split
In the wake of two high-profile mass shootings in California, a majority of voters in a new statewide poll said they fear gun violence will affect them or someone close to them. The poll also revealed a deep political divide among Californians over fears of gun violence and disproportionate concern among women, urban residents and people of color in the state.
Skelton: Hydrogen vehicles should play a major role in California's fight against carbon emissions
Some lawmakers want the state to spend more money promoting the use of hydrogen vehicles , just as California is spending money on plug-in electric vehicles. Nobody disputes that hydrogen cars are preferable to electric cars, writes columnist George Skelton . The fact is, motorists should have a second choice.
Lawmakers are proposing changes to California's custody laws
With the support of a coalition of California mayors, mental health advocates and lawmakers, state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (R-Stockton) introduced two bills Wednesday that would overhaul California's behavioral health system. They are designed to reduce homelessness and prevent those facing treatment for serious mental illness from crowding emergency rooms and depleting providers, putting them at risk of incarceration, overdose, or death.
Skelton: Newsom cares more about growing nuts than catching salmon in California
Gov. Gavin Newsom calls himself a champion of wildlife, so you wouldn't think he'd be drinking salmon water and eating almonds, pistachios or alfalfa, especially when California was inundated with more than three weeks of wet weather for the series. A record storm, writes Times columnist George Skelton . But Newsom and water department officials still say we're in a drought.
Julie Hsu, who led California's unemployment agency in a fraud scandal, is a candidate for US labor secretary.
President Biden has named Julie Sue as his next labor secretary, making the former California labor leader the first Asian-American to lead a cabinet during his presidency. Suh could face a tough confirmation battle after Republicans raised concerns about his role in overseeing California's unemployment insurance system during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the state claimed billions in fraud.
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