A second term for Gavin Newsom // Winter and fall overlap in Yosemite

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Nov. 9.

Gavin Newsom easily wins reelection as governor.
Voters reject four out of seven ballot propositions.
And winter overlaps with fall in Yosemite Valley.

Election 2022

1.

Californians handed Gov. Gavin Newsom a second term on Tuesday. With about 5 million votes counted late Tuesday, the 55-year-old Democrat had 58%, compared to 42% for his little-known Republican challenger, state Sen. Brian Dahle, an unsurprising outcome in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two to one. The question on many political observers’ minds: Would Newsom aim next for the White House? A.P. | S.F. Chronicle

2.

Sen. Alex Padilla spoke alongside his family on election night in Los Angeles. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Also returned to office: Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, who became the first Latino to be elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate. Padilla, 47, was appointed by Newsom to serve out the remainder of Kamala Harris’ term after she became vice president in 2021. The early vote count showed him with a 19 percentage-point lead over the Republican attorney Mark Meuser. L.A. Times

3.

The statewide ballot measure results:

Approved 👇
Proposition 1: Abortion rights
Proposition 28: Public school arts funding
Proposition 31: Flavored tobacco sales ban

Defeated 👇
Proposition 26: Sports wagering on tribal lands
Proposition 27: Online sports betting
Proposition 29: Dialysis clinic regulation
Proposition 30: Wealth tax to pay for electric cars

● ●

Answers on other races could take days or weeks as vote-by-mail ballots move through the system.

See live California election results: L.A. Times | KQED

Results from local regions 👇

The Senate and House: See the N.Y. Times’ “Needle” forecast.

4.

People waited to vote in Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Jason Armond/L.A. Times via Getty Images)

“I’m feeling kind of disillusioned, like I don’t really know what to do.”

“Things can’t continue to be as divisive as they are now.”

“Quite frankly, I’m terrified our world is coming to an end.”

As Californians went to the polls on Tuesday, the mood was deeply pessimistic over the nation’s seemingly intractable divides. Mercury News | L.A. Times

Statewide

5.

Contrary to expectations, California’s poverty rate dropped during the pandemic from 16.4% in 2019 to a projected 11.7% in fall 2021, recent data shows. Analysts credited state and national safety net programs such as child tax credits and public benefits like CalFresh. Angela Reyes Melo, above, who earns about $18,000 a year as a cook, said the expanded child federal tax credit allowed her to get an apartment in a rural suburb of San Diego for her and her son. “It saved my life,” she said. CalMatters

6.

A powerful storm caused havoc across the state on Tuesday. Snow fell at a rate of several inches an hour in the Tahoe basin; a tornado touched down in Sacramento County, blowing the roof off a barn; winds toppled trees in the San Fernando Valley; and floodwaters swept six people away in the city of Ontario, killing one and leaving two others missing. A.P. | KCRA | O.C. Register

Northern California

7.

Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest employer, fired hundreds of workers this week, making it the latest Bay Area tech company to downsize in the face of sluggish consumer spending and spiraling inflation. In recent days, layoffs have been reported at Twitter, Lyft, Opendoor, Stripe, Oracle and other companies. Meta planned to begin cutting thousands of jobs on Wednesday, reports said. Bloomberg | CNBC

8.

A report on the growing norm of mixed-race neighborhoods in the U.S. highlighted Redding, which has been the fastest-diversifying metro area in the U.S. over the past few decades. In 1990, every single resident of the city two hours north of Sacramento lived in a predominantly white neighborhood. Now just 15% do. Washington Post

9.

Every so often, fall and winter collide in Yosemite with dazzling results. Two photographers shared pictures captured in the last few days. 👇

Southern California

10.

At Harvey Weinstein’s sex assault trial in Los Angeles, accusers have faced a loaded line of questioning from his lawyer: Why did they stay in touch with him? One woman said she was afraid to refuse Weinstein. A psychiatrist told jurors: “This is probably the most difficult rape myth for people to grasp: that it is not uncommon for individuals to have subsequent contact with the perpetrator.” L.A. Times

In a stunning moment, defense attorney Alan Jackson took off his jacket and said “I’m not gonna go any further, don’t get scared” to an accuser who had just described how Weinstein stripped naked before assaulting her. @JamesQueallyLAT

11.

Joe Chahayed, left, held a $1 million check outside his gas station in Altadena on Tuesday. (Francine Orr/L.A. Times via Getty Images)

The winning ticket for a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot, by far the largest lottery prize ever, was sold from a gas station in Altadena, a community in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles. The winner hasn’t yet come forward. Joe Chahayed, the owner of Joe’s Service Center, will get a $1 million Powerball bonus, a prize he said he’d share with his 11 grandchildren and the rest of his family. Chahayed, 75, said he won’t retire: “I love my work.” Whittier Daily News | A.P.

12.

Over the years, surveys have used various criteria to rank colleges according to how much graduates earn. Consistently appearing at No. 1 or close to it: Harvey Mudd College. The private institution of fewer than 1,000 students in Claremont, a quaint town just east of Los Angeles, has a reputation for being less cutthroat than some bigger schools. Its gender balance also makes it an outlier. In a country where just one in five computer science undergraduates are women, at Claremont they often outnumber the men. CBS News | Payscale

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