It’s Election Day: After more than a year of debate, protests and lawsuits over covid lockdowns, homelessness, the climate and other major concerns, the election to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is here. It’s possible Californians will not know the outcome of the race before the day is through. Every active, registered voter in California, about 22 million, received a mail ballot for the recall election. As of Monday evening, more than 7.5 million ballots had been returned. Early votes heavily favored Newsom. Voters must postmark their ballots by today, but county elections officials can receive and count votes up to seven days after the election. Read more from The Sacramento Bee.
Election Likely To Embolden Vaccinated Californians Who Want Tougher Covid Rules: Recall proponents had hoped to demonstrate the political potency of the backlash against tough covid regulations and discourage other states from implementing them; instead, the race now seems more likely to embolden Democrats in California and beyond by documenting the existence of a new "silent majority" of vaccinated Americans ready for tougher measures against the minority of adults who have resisted the shot. Read more from CNN.
Keep reading for comprehensive coverage of the recall election and a roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
NBC News:
California Recall Election Day: Will Voters Kick Gov. Gavin Newsom Out Of Office?
Californians are heading to the polls Tuesday to decide whether or not to remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office, or at least those voters who haven’t already cast a ballot by mail. California's unusual recall election, triggered when anti-Newsom organizers collected the roughly 1.5 million signatures needed to put him on the ballot again, will ask voters to decide if Newsom should be fired and, if so, to pick a replacement governor from a list of 46 hopefuls alternatives, with firebrand conservative radio host Larry Elder leading in polls. (Seitz-Wald, 9/14)
The New York Times:
A Full Guide To The California Recall Election: Elder Vs Newsom, Polls Closing And Mail-In Ballots
Voters are being asked two questions: Should Mr. Newsom be recalled? And if that happens, who should replace him? Forty-six candidates, about half of them Republican, are on the ballot, along with seven certified write-in candidates. The winner will serve out the remainder of Mr. Newsom’s term, which ends in January 2023. Regardless of the outcome, there will be another election in a little over a year. (Hubler and Lerer, 9/14)
Bay Area News Group:
Newsom With Biden, Elder Makes Final SoCal Push
In a final bid to win over voters ahead of Tuesday’s recall election, California Democrats called on their biggest act yet, President Joe Biden, for a powerful coda to convince voters to keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office. The two high-powered Democrats surveyed wildfire damage from the Caldor Fire in Northern California before jetting to Long Beach for a campaign rally in a day designed to showcase Newsom’s strong ties to the White House. (DeRuy, 9/13)
BBC News:
Fact-Checking Governor Newsom And His Challengers
BBC News looks at some of the claims made by Governor Newsom and his challengers on the campaign trail. (Horton, 9/14)
AP:
Biden: Results Of California Recall Will Be Felt Nationally
President Joe Biden put Democrats’ approach to the coronavirus pandemic on the line Monday, casting the California recall that could remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office as an opportunity for voters to show the nation that “leadership matters, science matters.” “The eyes of the nation are on California because the decision you’re going to make isn’t just going to have a huge impact on California, it’s going to reverberate around the nation, and quite frankly, not a joke, around the world,” the Democratic president said at a rally in the Southern California city of Long Beach. (Ronayne and Blood, 9/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How Close Are The Polls For The California Recall Going Into Election Day?
Recent poll data suggest Governor Gavin Newsom is headed to a victory in tomorrow’s recall election. According to politics and data website FiveThirtyEight, polling averages show that 58% of likely voters are for keeping Newsom, compared to 41% for removing him. In August, polls suggested a tight race. FiveThirtyEight polling averages at one point showed a one-percentage-point margin and stayed roughly the same throughout the month. But the averages now suggest a very different contest. Since late August, pollsters have published results showing Newsom winning by increasingly large margins, widening the one-point lead to 17 points. (Sumida, 9/13)
CalMatters:
California Recall 2021: Three Ways The Election Could Go
For nearly 25 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom rose the ranks of California politics without ever losing an election, buoyed by connections to powerful San Francisco Democrats and a willingness to take risks — like sanctioning same-sex marriage — that put him at the vanguard of his party. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. (Rosenhall, 9/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Recall: Here's A Timeline Of What To Expect On Election Day And Beyond
The Sept. 14 recall election for Gov. Gavin Newsom is unusual in many ways. Not only is this just the second time in California history that voters will decide whether to remove a governor from office before the end his term, but it’s also just the second statewide election ever where officials have mailed a ballot to every voter — a safety precaution adopted during the coronavirus pandemic. (Koseff, 9/13)
NPR:
What's At Stake Nationwide In The California Recall
It's only the second recall election in the state to qualify for the ballot, but the second in the past 20 years. That previous recall, in 2003, resulted in actor Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming governor. A lot has changed since then on many fronts, but that it's even happening in the first place — and who the leading Republican contender is — is an example of how politics has shifted in the state and reflects a national shift toward sharper partisanship. (Montanaro, 9/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Amid Multiple Crises, Recall Election Tests The California Dream
When 1.6 million voters signed a petition to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, they signaled their indebtedness not just to century-old political reforms but also to a spirit of restless reinvention that took root 170 years ago. “Californians,” said historian H.W. Brands with the University of Texas at Austin, “have learned to be impatient with patience. The idea of sticking to an unsatisfactory status quo doesn’t stick.” (Curwen, 9/14)
CapRadio:
Hospitals Overwhelmed, Understaffed In Northern California As Younger Unvaccinated Residents Drive Delta Transmission
More and more people are getting sick with COVID-19 in large swaths of California where vaccination rates remain far below the state average. In Northern California and the Central Valley, hospitals are once again overwhelmed and understaffed. Some schools have temporarily closed because of staffing shortages. “What we're seeing is increased rates of transmission because of the Delta variant being so incredibly, highly transmissible, and much more infectious than the previous strains,” said Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the UC Davis Children’s Hospital. (Sparling, 9/13)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Hospital Emergency Rooms Are Not COVID-19 Testing Sites, Say Local Hospital Officials
Some local hospital emergency rooms are getting slammed as record numbers of people come in requesting rapid COVID-19 testing in non-emergency situations. As Kern County continues to experience a dangerous surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, the emergency departments at Mercy and Memorial Hospitals are experiencing an influx of people trying to use emergency rooms as COVID-19 testing sites. (Mayer, 9/13)
City News Service:
LA County COVID Hospitalizations Tick Up Slightly, But Are Still Dramatically Lower Over 2 Weeks
After 13 straight days of drops, Los Angeles County saw a slight increase in the number of COVID-19-positive patients in hospitals on Monday, Sept. 13, but the number is still dramatically lower than it was just two weeks ago. According to state figures, there were 1,224 patients with COVID in county hospitals as of Monday, up from 1,218 on Sunday. The number of people in intensive care was 368, up from 360. (9/13)
Los Angeles Times:
California Vs. Britain: How Do COVID Cases, Vaccines Compare?
California’s overall pandemic trends appear to be improving, led especially by declining hospitalizations in Southern California and the Bay Area, although hospitals in the Central Valley and the rural north remain under terrible strain. But as some health officials have been warning, the improvements are not guaranteed to last. In late July, Britain celebrated what seemed to be a recovery from its own Delta surge, an improvement that came about six weeks before California began having its drop in cases. But cases rose again in the U.K. (Lin II and Money, 9/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Unpaid Utility Bills Soar In Sacramento During Pandemic
Unpaid utility bills in Sacramento have skyrocketed during the pandemic, reflecting another facet of the widespread financial impact of COVID-19 on the ability of residents to pay for basic necessities. About 100,000 Sacramento Municipal Utility District residential customers are behind on paying either part or all of their electric bills, according to CFO Jennifer Davidson. That’s out of roughly 564,000 residential customers SMUD serves, or nearly 18%. (Yoon-Hendricks, 9/13)
Marin Independent Journal:
Marin School Families To Get Free At-Home COVID Test Kits
Families in nine Marin schools are being given free at-home rapid COVID-19 test kits in a pilot project starting this week. The project is intended to see if the at-home kits will increase the ability to control the spread of the virus for students in Marin and ultimately statewide — particularly in the 5- to 11-year-old age group not yet eligible for the vaccine. (Brenner, 9/14)
EdSource:
Legislature Reaffirms Quarantined Students Must Be In Independent Study To Be Funded
Before heading home for the year Friday, state lawmakers adopted a measure intended to make it easier for districts to educate students during a Covid quarantine, along with a way for districts to get funding if they can prove they tried but failed to find the staff needed to meet their obligation. However, the infection rate of the delta virus in coming weeks and negotiations with teachers, more than statutory changes, will ultimately determine whether school districts will be able to teach both students in the classroom and those forced to learn at home. (Fensterwald, 9/14)
CapRadio:
Sacramento City Unified Parents Frustrated With District’s Independent Study Program
Families of roughly 1,600 other students in the district made similar decisions to keep their kids enrolled in the district, but learn at home through the pandemic. That’s about 4% of the overall student population of roughly 40,000 kids in Sacramento City schools. But more than one week into the school year, approximately 1,200 students still have not been assigned a teacher, according to the district, and remain in limbo about what their children’s schooling will look like. (Bartolone, 9/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Thousands Of LAPD Employees To Seek Vaccination Exemptions
Thousands of Los Angeles Police Department employees plan to seek exemptions to rules requiring city employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to preliminary figures obtained Monday by The Times. More than 2,600 LAPD employees have indicated that they plan to pursue religious exemptions, while more than 350 plan to seek medical ones, according to a source in city government who was not authorized to share the preliminary data. (Alpert Reyes and Rector, 9/13)
Voice of OC:
Santa Ana Police Union Pushes Back On Possible Vaccine Requirement For City Employees
Santa Ana officials are still fleshing out the nuts and bolts of just how exactly they’ll mandate COVID-19 vaccines for public employees in Orange County’s hardest hit city, where the total death toll is approaching 1,000. Namely, the mechanics of a vaccine mandate for all city employees are still being worked out between City Hall and the various city employee unions it bargains with — three weeks after City Hall’s top executive, City Manager Kristine Ridge, announced on Aug. 18 she would order one. (Pho, 9/13)
Voice of OC:
OC Officials Wrestle With Federal Vaccine Mandate, Stanton Might Create Its Own Requirement
Orange County officials still aren’t sure when or exactly how the incoming federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates will be implemented on the county workforce. Meanwhile, Stanton City Council members may be among the county’s first in considering a vaccine requirement of their own. Santa Ana council members are also considering such a move. (Custodio, 9/13)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Scripps Opens Second Cancer Center, This One In Hillcrest
Two years after breaking ground, Scripps Health began seeing patients Monday at its newest cancer center in Hillcrest. Made possible with the help of a $25 million gift from the late Conrad Prebys, the center offers a similar slate of comprehensive oncology services as Scripps’ existing stand-alone cancer center in Torrey Pines. (Smith, 9/13)
AP:
Holocaust Survivor, Scholar Awarded $815,000 Balzan Prize
An Israeli-French-American Holocaust survivor and historian and a U.S. scientist specializing in gut bacteria were among the recipients this year’s Balzan Prizes, recognizing scholarly and scientific achievements, announced on Monday. Saul Friedlander, who has taught at both the University of California, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv University, was awarded the prize for Holocaust and Genocide Studies for his work broadening the perspective on the history of the Holocaust. (Barry, 9/13)
Los Angeles Times:
California's Wildfires Burning At Greater Elevations
Just hours before the Caldor fire threatened to level the resort town of South Lake Tahoe, the massive blaze performed a staggering feat: burning from one side of the Sierra to the other. It seared through crests and valleys, over foothills and ridges — and also at elevations of 8,000 feet or higher. Experts said the fire’s extreme behavior is part of a worrisome trend driven by the state’s warming climate, in which rapid snowmelt and critical dryness are propelling wildfires to ever-higher elevations, scorching terrain that previously was too wet to burn and threatening countless residents. (Smith, 9/14)
Modesto Bee:
Evacuation Warning Issued In Sequoia National Park Wildfires
An evacuation warning has been called for parts of the town of Three Rivers as a pair of wildfires continue to burn in Sequoia National Park. The fires, known as the KNP Complex, started last week and have burned a combined 1,037 acres and were zero percent contained as of Monday morning. The Colony Fire is burning in the Yucca Drainage near Crystal Cave Road. The Paradise Fire is located south in an inaccessible patch of land near the middle fork of the Kaweah River. (Tehee, 9/13)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego Tracks 'Heat Islands' In Low-Income Neighborhoods
Students and other volunteers strapped heat sensors on cars and bicycles Monday before setting out to gather temperature data in low-income neighborhoods across the city of San Diego. The event, organized by the city in collaboration with The San Diego Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is part of a campaign to protect vulnerable residents from dangerously hot temperatures as the planet continues to warm. (Smith, 9/13)
Voice of San Diego:
Longtime CEO Quietly Departs Food Bank Amid Unprecedented Need
The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank stepped up to respond to an avalanche of need during the pandemic and now it’s bracing for increased demand for food aid in the years to come without its longtime leader. Jim Floros, who served as the Food Bank’s CEO for nearly nine years, abruptly left the nonprofit in mid-July without a public announcement or explanation. (Halverstadt, 9/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
What Will Flu Be Like In The Bay Area This Fall? Here's What Experts Say
The severe flu season that experts feared last year during the height of the pandemic fizzled in the face of worldwide lockdowns and masking. But influenza — harsh and sometimes deadly — could loom again this fall now that California schools, restaurants, bars and even conventions are in business again. “Most people are predicting it will be back with a vengeance this year,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF in San Francisco. (Asimov, 9/13)
Orange County Register:
Jury Finds La Habra Woman Was Sane When She Dropped Her Baby To His Death From OC Hospital Structure
A La Habra woman was legally sane when she dropped her infant son to his death from a Children’s Hospital of Orange County parking structure, an Orange County Superior Court jury decided on Monday, Sept. 13. The same jurors who last month convicted Sonia Hermosillo, 41, of murder for the killing of seven-month-old Noe Medina Jr. rejected arguments by her defense attorney that Hermosillo was not guilty by reason of insanity. (Emery, 9/13)