SHIFTING GEARS — a note from Jeremy: Political time doesn’t behave like normal time. Just over five years ago, my byline appeared on California Playbook for the first time, after that of the inimitable Carla Marinucci. Kevin de León was running for Senate. Kamala Harris hadn’t run for president yet. LeBron James was joining the Lakers.

The half-decade since seems too brief to encompass all that’s happened in California politics. The Gavin Newsom and Chesa Boudin recalls, the battles with Trump, a society-upending pandemic, apocalyptic wildfires, PG&E bankruptcy, endless Los Angeles scandals, the gig economy wars, Democrats flipping and then losing House seats, billions of dollars in ballot initiatives, Assembly leadership drama, Newsom presidential chatter, Pelosi’s abdication, the DiFi dilemma.

California Playbook has been there for all of it. It has been fun and exhausting and an honor to help make this newsletter an indispensable source for all things California politics. This is my final Playbook as Dustin Gardiner comes on board to join the great Lara Korte.

But I can’t quit the California beat: I’ll be bolstering our expanded POLITICO team by going deep on the confluence of politics and policy – an intersection where I pitched my tent years ago – with particular attention to organized labor and ballot initiatives, two central facets of California politics. Send tips, coffee date proposals and cat pics to [email protected] And keep reading!

THE BUZZ: At this point, it might be easier to track which statewide officers aren’t running for governor.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond joined the officially-considering-it club this week, inserting himself into a category that already includes probable candidate Attorney General Rob Bonta. Their fellow constitutional officer Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis has already jumped in, as has former Controller Betty Yee. (Treasurer Fiona Ma exited the guv-stakes and is aiming for LG).

Never mind that Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t even halfway through his second term. Any elected official who sees a future in the governor in the mirror benefits from some advance planning. A statewide run entails a magnitude of fundraising and base-building that all but requires a multi-year process. Newsom’s 2027 gubernatorial expiration date has already set the clock ticking.

Like Newsom, Thurmond will need to find a new job in 2026 – ditto Kounalakis. That creates a simpler calculation for the superintendent and the LG than for Bonta, who would have to give up a second AG term to run for governor. It’s easier to run for office when you’re already holding office, which gives statewide officials an incentive to at least consider it. Word of Thurmond’s interest has been circulating in Sacramento for a while (as did allegations that he fostered a toxic workplace).

But what of Thurmond’s path? Every Democrat will compete for the same pool of votes and dollars. Labor allies like the California Teachers Association spent more than $15 million to elect and defend Thurmond; some of the same unions also funded Bonta’s 2022 election campaign. A crowded Democratic field will force some tough choices. Statewide positions are not created equal: an attorney general wields more power than a lieutenant governor or a public superintendent, which affects your ability to move policy, get headlines and win people over.

And we haven’t even talked about Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, who has well over $1 million in a 2026 LG account. Atkins got to test-drive the top job and sign bills yesterday in her capacity as acting governor, thanks to Newsom and Kounalakis being out of state. Might she transfer her cash to a campaign account without the “lieutenant” before “governor 2026?” Atkins kept her options open: “That’s a question,” she said, “for a different day.”

BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. Are YOU running for governor, or for another statewide office? Do you know someone who is? Get in touch!

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: [email protected] and [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.

WHERE’S GAVIN? On vacation out of state.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’m thrilled to step into the governor’s shoes, though I have better shoes.” Senate President Pro Tem and Acting Gov. Toni Atkins signs legislation.

— “Newsom calls on DOJ to investigate Florida over migrant transports,” by POLITICO’s Alexander Nieves: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday called on the Justice Department to investigate the Florida program responsible for transporting migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Sacramento.”

— “Tulare Lake’s ghostly rebirth brings wonder — and hardship. Inside a community’s resilience,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Robert Gauthier and Melissa Gomez: “In the lowlands of the San Joaquin Valley, last winter’s torrential storms revived an ancient body of water drained and dredged decades ago, its clay lakebed transformed into a powerhouse of industrial agriculture.”

— “Marianne Williamson keeps bleeding staff. Six more depart in internal feud.” by POLITICO’s Brittany Gibson: “Hours after Marianne Williamson announced the hiring of her third campaign manager in five months, six staffers left her team through a round of firings and resignations.”

— “Kamala Harris touts the small-business side of ‘Bidenomics’ at Santa Monica restaurant,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Emerson Drewes: “As President Biden leans into pitching voters on economic progress made under his watch ahead of the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris is on a mission to highlight how small businesses have fared under ‘Bidenomics.’”

BOND AMBITION — Gov. Gavin Newsom knows he’s got tough choices ahead with a shrinking budget. Lawmakers are jockeying to fill budget holes on mental health, climate, housing and education via voter-approved bonds next year. “The November bond is starting to stack up,” Newsom told Christopher Cadelago, and “we have to figure out exactly where we need to land.”

The governor has backed a bond to build behavioral health housing and called it his “No. 1, 2 and 3” priority, followed by climate change. But he said he’s open to raising revenue for other areas: “We have to have a housing bond. And a school bond.”

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin’s $4.68 billion mental health bond is first out of the gate in aiming for the March ballot; the other three issues are threatening to crowd each other on the November one. Lawmakers want voters to approve roughly $15 billion alone for climate change, under competing measures by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and Sen. Ben Allen. There’s also a bit of a brain drain in the speaker’s office with the departure of former Speaker Anthony Rendon’s longtime environmental aides, Alf Brandt and Marie Liu (whose last day is July 14).

— “Truck manufacturers will follow California’s gas phaseout despite legal challenge,” by POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White: “Major truck manufacturers have committed to California’s shift to zero-emission vehicles even if those rules face legal blowback, bolstering a critical climate program.”

— “Has San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins’ Drug-Dealing Crackdown Made a Dent?” by the San Francisco Standard’s Jonah Owen Lamb: “Newly appointed District Attorney Brooke Jenkins stood in a dark blue blazer above the rotunda at San Francisco City Hall, a pair of flags behind her. For months, she’d campaigned to recall her former boss, Chesa Boudin, saying that the city needed a warrior to clean up its streets.”

— “My house or my beach? Why California’s housing crisis threatens its powerful coastal commission,” by Cal Matters’ Ben Christopher: “The California Coastal Commission has broad authority to protect the state’s shoreline. Now, some want to curtail its power over affordable housing proposals.”

— “After years of ups and downs, Los Angeles moves forward on creation of a public bank,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Charlotte Kramon: “Los Angeles is taking another step toward opening a city-owned public bank that would support projects driven by public interest.”

— “9th Circuit conservatives blast homelessness ruling, say issue is ‘paralyzing’ U.S. West,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Rector: “Some of the most powerful conservative judges in the United States took collective aim Wednesday at the idea that homeless people with nowhere else to go have a right to sleep in public, excoriating their liberal colleagues for ruling as much.”

— “New York State Built Elon Musk a $1 Billion Factory. ‘It Was a Bad Deal.’” by the Wall Street Journal’s Julie Bykowicz and Ted Mann: “New York spent nearly $1 billion over the past decade on Elon Musk’s ambitious plan for what was supposed to be the largest solar-panel factory in the Western Hemisphere, one of the largest-ever public cash outlays of its kind.”

— “Two major tech companies cancel S.F. conferences, in blow to tourism industry,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Gabe Castro-Root: “Two technology conferences that were slated to bring thousands of people to San Francisco’s Moscone Center in 2024 have been canceled. Red Hat, the IBM subsidiary that makes open-source software, moved its conference to Denver. And Meta, the parent company of Facebook, canceled its Business Group Summit.”

— “Three private California colleges admitted legacy students who didn’t meet basic requirements,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sara Libby

— “Legacy admissions: Here are the numbers for Stanford and other private California colleges,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bob Egelko

— “Man found dead in his car in Death Valley National Park, an apparent heat victim,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Summer Lin

— “The first six months: San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres,” by the San José Spotlight’s Jana Kadah

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