campaign

There is truly no safe place for women when patriarchy is normalized as a culture and violence is silenced as a family matter in their own country. A United Nations (UN) report shows that every 10 minutes, a woman is murdered by her own partner or family member. These facts and figures reflect a structural crisis that is still being ignored by many countries. This issue is no longer just about criminality; rather, it indicates a failure in security governance, a failure of protection policies for women, and ultimately, a state failure to break the cycle of gender-based violence. Viewing this phenomenon, it can be assessed that femicide must be understood as a national and international strategic issue that requires a systemic state response, not just symbolic campaigns like the use of the Purple Profile Picture (PFP) that recently became popular in South Africa. Therefore, the author will highlight an analysis of three arguments, namely the failure of the legal structure, the need for a structured prevention strategy, and the cultural normalization that allows violence against women to persist.

Failure of the Legal Structure Due to Half-Hearted Enforcement

Femicide does not, in fact, occur suddenly without warning signs. Global research has shown a consistent pattern: threats, injuries, social isolation, and even domestic violence reports that are not followed up on. This is further reinforced by the fact that in many cases, the victim had already shown these patterns, but there was no system for cross-sector reporting, and the state only responds after a life has been lost. This is the major loophole that keeps femicide repeating in the same pattern. This crisis reflects the weakness and failure of a country’s law that cannot serve as a shield of protection for its citizens, especially women. In Mexico, for instance, femicide is recognized as a separate category of crime, but weak legal implementation keeps the number of women murdered there persistently high. Slow court proceedings, police lacking gender sensitivity, and a culture of impunity reduce legal protection to mere text without meaningful power.

A similar situation is also felt in South Africa, which is a country notorious for gender-based violence, even holding the highest rate on the continent. Although the country launched the Purple Profile Picture (PFP) Campaign as a symbolic form of solidarity in response to femicide, the use of this symbol cannot replace the urgency of improving the legal system and structure that often fails to save women before it is too late. Without structural reform that prioritizes women’s safety, the law will continue to lag behind the escalating violence. UN data proves that 60% of femicides are committed by someone close to the victim; therefore, law enforcement must be directed not just at punishing perpetrators but at saving women before the risk turns into death.

The Need for Systemic, Not Just Symbolic, Prevention Strategies

The viral campaign in several countries, particularly South Africa, the Purple Profile Picture (PFP), certainly plays a role in building public awareness, and that is important. However, a symbol alone cannot replace the state’s strategies or policies. Therefore, what we need is systemic prevention that works before the victim is murdered, not just solidarity after the tragedy has occurred. This systemic prevention can begin with the provision of integrated public services. The state needs to provide responsive emergency hotlines, safe and adequate shelters, and even 24-hour specialized gender police units operating with high standards of care regarding this issue.

Many femicide cases originate from threats that are ignored by the public and authorities. If initial violence reports were handled decisively and with a risk-based mechanism, the potential for murder could be curtailed. Good examples are seen in several countries, such as Oslo, which has begun using risk-based policing algorithms based on previous police reports. The result is that preventive intervention can be carried out before fatal violence occurs. Furthermore, the education and health systems should also be involved. Teachers, health workers, and social workers need to be trained to recognize the signs of femicide risk, which can then be disseminated for systemic prevention efforts.

The Still-Rooted Normalization of Patriarchal Culture

However, regardless of the forms of systemic prevention that can be implemented as mentioned above, no policy will be effective if the source of the problem remains entrenched. That root is the culture that still places women as the party who must accept, bear the blame, remain silent for the family’s sake, or forgive violence that is considered “normal.” This is the main structural root that makes femicide difficult to eradicate. Patriarchy works not only through institutions but also through social norms that regulate daily behavior, such as who is allowed to speak, who is trusted, and who is considered worthy of being saved.

In Indonesian society itself, pressure from family to “save face” often makes it difficult for women to leave dangerous relationships. In South Africa, the legacy of violence, economic inequality, and aggressive masculinity norms play a major role in the high rate of women’s murder. Meanwhile, Mexico faces a deeply rooted culture of “machismo,” complicating efforts to change social norms. When violence is considered a private matter, the state loses the social legitimacy to intervene.

Considering this crucial situation, cultural change cannot be achieved with short-term campaigns. It requires knowledge and awareness about gender from an early age, the involvement of men in anti-violence movements, and the state’s courage to push for curricula and public policies that challenge harmful patriarchal norms. The state must participate in grassroots communities, such as through women’s organizations, local advocacy institutions, and community groups, because cultural change can only happen if the community becomes the agent of change itself.

The three arguments above show that femicide is a structural failure rooted in a weak legal system, minimal systemic prevention, and the cultural normalization of patriarchy that allows violence against women to be considered commonplace. When a state chooses to respond to violence with symbolism without a tangible strategy, women’s lives will continue to be victims. If one woman is still being murdered every 10 minutes, the world is not yet safe for women, and the state has not fulfilled its obligation to ensure the security of its citizens, especially women. Femicide is not a calamity but a strategic failure that can and must be stopped. The state can only save women if it dares to move beyond visual campaigns towards firm policies, a strong prevention system, and sustainable cultural transformation. Women must no longer die in silence while the state merely watches from afar.

Reporting from Sacramento — It was an iconic image: Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, longtime partners and lesbian activists, embracing after being wed in San Francisco City Hall. The first same-sex couple in the country to receive a marriage license was joined by city officials and advocates choked with emotion — but not the man who set their nuptials in motion, Gavin Newsom.

Instead, the then-San Francisco mayor was purposefully absent, sitting in his office and anxiously awaiting word that the ceremony had been performed before a court could interfere.

Newsom’s decision to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples — just a month into his term — was at once slapdash and choreographed. Almost immediately it spun out of his control. What was meant to be a short-lived act of civil disobedience on Feb. 12, 2004, turned into a 29-day saga during which more than 4,000 couples wed, catapulting Newsom into the national fray.

The move drew rebukes from social conservatives and prominent Democrats, including gay rights icons and Newsom’s political mentors. The fallout rippled into the 2004 presidential election and the successful 2008 campaign for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriages in California.

Now, five years since the U.S. Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land, Newsom has made his decision a central selling point in his campaign for governor. In one television ad, he appears with Lyon — whose spouse died in 2008 — reminiscing with a photo album.

Would Newsom as governor take the same risks? “I hope so,” he said in an interview this month. “I’m an idealist … I embrace that.”

There was no hint that gay marriage would be anywhere on Newsom’s agenda when he ran for mayor in 2003. A county supervisor since 1997, he was seen as the conservative candidate — for San Francisco, at least.

Nationally, the issue was gaining prominence. A Massachusetts court case was laying the groundwork to force that state to legally recognize same-sex marriage. In his 2004 State of the Union, President George W. Bush lambasted “activist judges” for redefining marriage. He threatened to back a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Newsom, who listened to the address from the House of Representatives gallery as a guest of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), has said that was the moment he knew he had to do something.

Soon after he told his chief of staff, Steve Kawa, who is gay, that he intended to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In a municipal quirk — as mayor of San Francisco, both a city and a county — he had authority to do so.

Kawa said his reaction was stunned silence. He and others among Newsom’s senior staff initially had reservations.

As lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom has had few duties — and he skipped many of them »

“People felt like this could really do him harm,” said Joyce Newstat, then Newsom’s policy director. “This could really hold back his own ability to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish as mayor. It would destroy his political career.”

The hesitation was shared by prominent gay rights activists. Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said her first reaction was fear. In a call with Kawa, she said she appreciated Newsom’s support, but noted Bush’s speech. “We just barely won in Massachusetts. These wins are very fragile,” Kendell said she told the chief of staff. She ultimately came around.

In the course of days, the ceremony was carefully orchestrated. The officiant would be Mabel Teng, the assessor-recorder whose core job was to maintain marriage licenses. Newsom would not be present, to avoid accusations of injecting politics into the proceedings. And the first couple would be Martin and Lyon, who at the time had been together more than 50 years.

Newsom and his allies assumed the courts would shut them down immediately. California voters had passed Proposition 22 in 2000, which said only marriages between a man and a woman would be valid in the state.

But the courts declined to intervene for nearly a month. The image of Lyon and Martin soon gave way to the scene of a line of hopeful couples wrapped around San Francisco City Hall, undeterred by protesters.

Gay rights advocates said the pictures of relatable, ebullient couples instantly humanized the debate over marriage equality.

Newsom eventually officiated a handful of marriages, including Kawa’s and Newstat’s respective ceremonies with their partners.

Opponents of same-sex marriage said Newsom was flagrantly ignoring the will of Californians.

“Mayor Newsom lied when he swore to uphold the law,” Randy Thomasson, who runs Save California, a socially conservative group, said in an interview. “When he raised his right hand, it was almost like he was giving one finger, figuratively, to the people.”

High-stakes California governor’s race debate gets testy as personal and political attacks fly »

The California Supreme Court halted the weddings on March 11, and the court later nullified those marriages that had been performed. Newsom was chastised for not following the law as written; one justice said he had “created a mess.”

But by then Newsom had become an unlikely face for marriage equality; news stories from the time emphasized that he was straight and married. Kendell said it was precisely because Newsom did not have a reputation as an outspoken liberal that he was able to make his decision.

“This move by Newsom played against type,” she said. “People did not expect this Irish Catholic, straight … middle-of-the-road moderate to do something so audacious.”

The mayor’s growing national stature as a gay rights warrior irked some who long had worked for the cause.

“I really think he stood on the shoulders of a lot of people who had suffered and died,” said Tom Ammiano, a former supervisor and assemblyman who is gay. “It really wasn’t all about him, but he made it all about him.”

Republicans predictably made Newsom their foe, and Democrats cringed at how his move might energize social conservatives to vote against them in the 2004 presidential election.

Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is gay, said Newsom had imperiled the strategy in Massachusetts — to show that allowing same-sex marriage in one state would not be disruptive — before the right was pursued elsewhere.

“It troubled me as an example of the kind of politics that puts the interest of the political actor ahead of the cause,” Frank said.

Newsom now dismisses that criticism as “purely political arguments.”

“If they told me it was the wrong thing to do because it was the wrong thing to do, then I would’ve listened to that argument,” he said. “They never said that. They said it was too much, too soon, too fast. That’s not going to convince me.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a mentor of Newsom’s, said at the time he was partly to blame for John Kerry’s presidential loss. Newsom said the criticism was “heavy,” but he understood the thinking behind it. They repaired their relationship, he said, tongue slightly in cheek, “the old-fashioned way — by never discussing it.”

Now, Feinstein said, she believes “history has proven that Gavin Newsom made the right decision, a very bold decision, which paved the way for marriage equality.”

The California Supreme Court ultimately struck down the state’s gay marriage ban in 2008, prompting a triumphant Newsom to declare that marriage equality would happen “whether you like it or not.” The backers of Proposition 8, which sought to amend the state Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, capitalized on those comments in a campaign ad.

That ad and Proposition 8’s success once again put Newsom on the defensive for harming the cause he had so forcefully backed. The ban set in place by Proposition 8 remained in effect until 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it and, in a separate ruling, found that same-sex couples could marry nationwide.

Newsom said he has no regrets about his decision. But he said he sees the experience now “with a different set of eyes,” with more effort toward “thinking through the intended and the unintended.”

“On such an emotional issue — such a raw issue dividing families, not least my own, down the middle — it’s about what the system can absorb,” Newsom said. “I think about that now differently, absolutely.”

[email protected]

Follow @melmason on Twitter for the latest on California politics.

In a fiery rebuttal to allegations he’d criminally misrepresented facts in his mortgage documents, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte on Tuesday — accusing him of criminally misusing government databases to baselessly target President Trump’s political opponents.

“Pulte has abused his position by scouring databases at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — two government-sponsored enterprises — for the private mortgage records of several prominent Democrats,” attorneys for Swalwell wrote in a federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. “He then used those records to concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud, which he referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution.”

They said Pulte launched his attack on Swalwell at a particularly inopportune time, just as Swalwell was launching his campaign for California governor.

Pulte’s attack, Swalwell’s attorneys wrote, “was not only a gross mischaracterization of reality” but “a gross abuse of power that violated the law,” infringing on Swalwell’s free speech rights to criticize the president without fear of reprisal, and violating the Privacy Act of 1974, which they said bars federal officials from “leveraging their access to citizens’ private information as a tool for harming their political opponents.”

Pulte, the FHFA and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Pulte has previously defended his work probing mortgage documents of prominent Democrats, saying no one is above the law. His referrals have exclusively targeted Democrats, despite reporting on Republicans taking similar actions on their mortgages.

Swalwell’s lawsuit is the latest counterpunch to Pulte’s campaign, and part of mounting scrutiny over its unprecedented nature and unorthodox methods — not just from targets of his probes but from other investigators, too, according to one witness.

In addition to Swalwell, Pulte has referred mortgage fraud allegations to the Justice Department against Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, who have all denied wrongdoing and suggested the allegations amount to little more than political retribution.

James was criminally charged by an inexperienced, loyalist federal prosecutor specially appointed by Trump in Virginia, though a judge has since thrown out that case on the grounds that the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed. The judge also threw out a case against former FBI Director James Comey, another Trump opponent.

Cook’s attorneys slammed Pulte in a letter to the Justice Department, writing that his “decision to use the FHFA to selectively — and publicly — investigate and target the President’s designated political enemies gives rise to the unmistakable impression that he has been improperly coordinating with the White House to manufacture flimsy predicates to launch these probes.”

Schiff also has lambasted Trump and Pulte for their targeting of him and other Democrats, and cheered the tossing of the cases against James and Comey, calling it “a triumph of the rule of law.”

In recent days, federal prosecutors in Maryland — where Schiff’s case is being investigated — have also started asking questions about the actions of Pulte and other Trump officials, according to Christine Bish, a Sacramento-area real estate agent and Republican congressional candidate who was summoned to Maryland to answer questions in the matter last week.

Pulte has alleged that Schiff broke the law by claiming primary residence for mortgages in both Maryland and California. Schiff has said he never broke any law and was always forthcoming with his mortgage lenders.

Bish has been investigating Schiff’s mortgage records since 2020, and had repeatedly submitted documents about Schiff to the federal government — first to the Office of Congressional Ethics, then earlier this year to an FHFA tip line and to the FBI, she told The Times.

When Trump subsequently posted one of Schiff’s mortgage documents to his Truth Social platform, Bish said she believed it was one she had submitted to the FHFA and FBI, because it was highlighted exactly as she had highlighted it. Then, she saw she had missed a call from Pulte, and was later asked by Pulte’s staff to email Pulte “the full file” she had worked up on Schiff.

“They wanted to make sure that I had sent the whole file,” Bish said.

Bish said she was subsequently interviewed via Google Meet on Oct. 22 by someone from the FHFA inspector general’s office and an FBI agent. She then got a subpoena in the mail that she interpreted as requiring her to be in Maryland last week. There, she was interviewed again, for about an hour, by the same official from the inspector general’s office and another FBI agent, she said — and was surprised their questions seemed more focused on her communications with people in the federal government than on Schiff.

“They wanted to know if I had been talking to anybody else,” she said. “You know, what did I communicate? Who did I communicate with?”

Schiff’s office declined to comment. However, Schiff’s attorney has previously told Justice Department officials that there was “ample basis” for them to launch an investigation into Pulte and his campaign targeting Trump’s opponents, calling it a “highly irregular” and “sordid” effort.

The acting FHFA inspector general at the time Bish was first contacted, Joe Allen, has since been fired, which has also raised questions.

On Nov. 19, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) — the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee — wrote a letter to Pulte denouncing his probes as politically motivated, questioning Allen’s dismissal and demanding documentation from Pulte, including any communications he has had with the White House.

Swalwell’s attorneys wrote in Tuesday’s lawsuit that he never claimed primary residence in both California and Washington, D.C., as alleged, and had not broken any laws.

They accused Pulte of orchestrating a coordinated effort to spread the allegations against Swalwell via a vast network of conservative influencers, which they said had “harmed [Swalwell’s] reputation at a critical juncture in his career: the very moment when he had planned to announce his campaign for Governor of California.”

They said the “widespread publication of information about the home where his wife and young children reside” had also “exposed him to heightened security risks and caused him significant anguish and distress.”

Swalwell said in a statement that Pulte has “combed through private records of political opponents” to “silence them,” which shouldn’t be allowed.

“There’s a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others,” he said.

The pressure on Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro continues to ratchet up. The cartel he allegedly leads was officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) on Monday, a move Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week increases U.S. military options in the region. In addition, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is now in Puerto Rico amid the largest U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

Venezuela on Monday denounced the FTO designation against Cartel de los Soles, also known as Cartel of the Suns. The move was first proposed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Nov. 17.

Venezuela “categorically, firmly, and absolutely rejects the new and ridiculous fabrication by the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who designates the nonexistent Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said Monday on Telegram. The move rehashes “an infamous and vile lie to justify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela, under the classic U.S. regime change format. This new maneuver will meet the same fate as previous and recurrent aggressions against our country: failure.”

You can catch up with our most recent coverage about what has been dubbed Operation Southern Spear in our story here.

In an interview last week, Hegseth was pointedly vague about what the designation of Cartel De Los Soles means to potential U.S. military operations against Maduro. No decisions related to countering Maduro’s cartel are “off the table,” Hegseth explained, but “nothing is automatically on the table,” either.

On Sunday, however, Reuters reported that the United States “is poised to launch a new phase of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days.”

It remains unknown what actions U.S. President Donald Trump will authorize; however, “covert operations would likely be the first part of the new action against Maduro,” according to Reuters. “Two U.S. officials told Reuters the options under consideration included attempting to overthrow Maduro.”

We’ve reached out to the White House and Pentagon for more details. The Pentagon referred us to the White House.

As we noted before: “If expanded strikes on land targets occur after the November 24th horizon, they could be limited to strictly cartel and drug production target sets that do not include state facilities. These could include labs, logistical nodes, such as port facilities, and cartel personnel. Striking military installations and other state infrastructure that the U.S. believes actively facilitate the drug trade would be a further escalation. Going directly after the Maduro regime and its military capabilities as a whole would be the farthest rung up the escalation ladder.”

There was also reporting that Trump administration officials discussed the possibility of dropping leaflets on Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas as a kind of psychological warfare to pressure Maduro. However, it was suggested that the operation could take place on Maduro’s 63rd birthday, which was Sunday. That did not happen.

Caine and his senior enlisted advisor, David L. Isom, are visiting Puerto Rico “to engage with service members and thank them for their outstanding support to regional missions,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. “They will also visit and thank Sailors operating at sea for their dedicated, unwavering service in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”

His visit comes as the U.S. has assembled a considerable military presence.

There are currently 11 U.S. Navy surface combatants and four support vessels in the region, a U.S. Navy official told The War Zone on Monday. The official added that there are about 100 total U.S. Navy vessels deployed around the globe. That means about 15% of the Navy’s deployed surface fleet is now in the Caribbean.

The collection of military might also includes a special operations mothership and an array of aerial assets like F-35B stealth fighters, MQ-9 Reaper drones, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, and AC-130 Ghostrider gunships. There are also about 15,000 U.S. personnel deployed to the region. The massing of U.S. forces is a major presence for the region, but nothing like what we have seen for actual invasion or full-spectrum war operations.

While the timing of any potential military operation against Maduro remains publicly unknown, the increasingly tense situation is having a visible effect on civilian aviation. Several airlines have cancelled flights to and from Venezuela and as of Monday morning, the airspace around the South American nation was largely free of commercial aviation, according to the latest tracking by FlightRadar24. U.S. air carriers have been prohibited from traveling to or from Venezuela since 2019.

The cleared airspace follows the FAA issuing a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on Friday, warning pilots about flying over or near Venezuela.

“Operators are advised to exercise caution when operating in the Maiquetia Flight Information Region (SVZM FIR) at all altitudes due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela,” the NOTAM read. In effect until Feb 19, it also requires that U.S. civil aviation operators file at least a 72-hour notice before flying in the area.

The NOTAM was issued due to “an increase in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference” near Venezuela since September, the FAA stated on Friday. 

Another factor was “increasing Venezuelan military readiness,” the FAA added.

“Some civil aircraft recently reported GNSS interference while transiting the SVZM FIR, which, in some cases, caused lingering effects throughout the flight,” according to the FAA notice. “GNSS jammers and spoofers can affect aircraft out to 250 nautical miles and can impact a wide variety of critical communication, navigation, surveillance, and safety equipment on aircraft.”

Moreover, since early September, Venezuela “has conducted multiple military exercises and directed the mass mobilization of thousands of military and reserve forces,” the FAA explained. “While Venezuela has at no point expressed an intent to target civil aviation, the Venezuelan military possesses advanced fighter aircraft and multiple weapons systems capable of reaching or exceeding civil aircraft operating altitudes, as well as potential low-altitude risk from man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and anti-aircraft artillery.” You can read more about Venezuela’s air defenses in our deep dive here.

The FAA added that it will “continue to monitor the risk environment for U.S. civil aviation operating in the region and make adjustments, as appropriate, to safeguard U.S. civil aviation.”

In addition to the NOTAM near Venezuela, the FAA on Friday also posted one extending from Curacao deep out into the Caribbean. It runs through Dec. 31. This where the U.S. has been operating at sea and in the air heavily, as well as where interactions with Venezuelan fighter aircraft and U.S. ships have occurred.

“Aircraft operators are advised to exercise extreme caution when operating” in the Curacao area,” according to that NOTAM. “Frequent pilot reports and primary radar within [the area] indicates the presence of non-identified aircraft operations…Pilots are requested to report any unusual airborne activity immediately” to air traffic control.

U.S. military aircraft are also frequently conducting training and probing exercises near Venezuela. A glaring example took place Nov. 20 during what U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) calls a “bomber attack demo.” It included B-52H Stratofortress crews from Minot Air Force Base, KC-135 aerial refueling tankers from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and fighter aircraft already deployed to the region.

“Operation Southern Spear support showcases our vow to deter illicit drug networks & defend the homeland,” SOUTHCOM said on X.

As we explained in an earlier story, the B-52s “are capable of unleashing waves of standoff cruise missiles and can carry a host of other conventional munitions that can be employed against targets on land and at sea. Though the Venezuelan armed forces have limited air defense capabilities, they could still pose a threat. Standoff strikes from aircraft like the B-52 and other assets would be a likely component of any future U.S. direct action against targets inside the country to help reduce risks to friendly forces. They could even target air defense systems to help clear the way for follow-on operations.”

SOUTHCOM’s statement followed our reporting that U.S. aviation assets, including a U.S. Air Force RC-135V Rivet Joint electronic surveillance plane, were “testing Venezuelan sensors and responses,” a U.S. official told us last week. “It was part of the pressure campaign to show U.S. capabilities in the Caribbean.”

SOUTHCOM on Monday pushed back against a claim that it was restricting Thanksgiving and Christmas leave “in preparation for possible land strikes in the next 10 days to two weeks.

“Our service members and civilian employees are always afforded the opportunity to take leave throughout the year, and that includes holiday periods,” a SOUTHCOM spokesperson told us Monday. “The American people can be assured that SOUTHCOM remains steadfast in its mission year-round to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American Homeland.”

🚨 SOUTHCOM is restricting / limiting leave over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, in preparation for possible land strikes in the next 10 days to two weeks, I am told by a source.

— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) November 24, 2025

As the world waits and wonders about Trump’s next move, another aerial mission toward Venezuela could soon be in the offing. Flight trackers noticed a gathering of KC-46 Pegasus aerial refuelers at MacDill, which has become a domestic support hub for Southern Spear. Refuelers from MacDill, which normally only beds the KC-135s, have frequently provided gas to strategic bombers flying over the Caribbean.

RCH 020/027/024 (KC-46) repositioning to MacDill AFB this morning. Looks like these will be for refueling bombers on another Caribbean mission. pic.twitter.com/dFGnYCCh2N

— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) November 23, 2025

The destination of these bombers is unknown at the moment. We will continue to monitor this increasingly tense situation in the Caribbean and provide updates when warranted.

Contact the author: [email protected]

The UN has documented nearly 3,000 settler attacks across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, driving communities from their land in what Palestinians say is a deliberate, violent campaign to displace them.

MIAMI — Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton appealed to his fellow Southerners’ sense of pride Tuesday, telling an assembly of the region’s state legislators that GOP entreaties to “traditional values” placed President Bush in the White House but produced little benefit to their states.

“We never got anywhere, anywhere, anywhere in our part of the country by being sucker-punched (with) appeals to our traditional values,” Clinton said in a speech to the Southern Legislative Conference meeting in Miami.

“Let us vote on our traditional values,” he said. “Let us live our traditional values. Let us lift up our whole country by starting in the South and saying, ‘Give us a new direction for our country.’ ”

Clinton’s remarks were intended to pry the region’s voters away from the GOP and to recapture the ballots of conservative Southerners. That strategy has been the linchpin of Clinton’s campaign because Democrats have won neither the region nor the White House since 1976–when Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter did so. Like Carter, who beat President Gerald R. Ford, Clinton is the governor of a Southern state: Arkansas.

Although Clinton seemed to play up his audience’s Southern pride, his comments also hinted at the sense of inferiority frequently directed at the region.

He acknowledged that education gaps, racial discord and economic production have held back advancement in states located below the Mason-Dixon line, but suggested the region has dealt with those problems with more candor and openness than other parts of the country.

“Don’t you think the South has come a long way in the last few years?” Clinton said, citing foreign investments, lessened racial tensions and improved student academic achievement. “It’s something I think most of us are pretty proud of. I know our region still has a higher percentage of poor folks than other regions of the country, but we’ve made a lot of progress.”

Appearing before the bipartisan organization of lawmakers and their staffs, Clinton rarely mentioned Bush by name. But he criticized the record of his Administration and his party–which has controlled the White House for the last 12 years–saying the GOP had failed to improve health care in the South and across the nation.

“You ask the people you represent not to throw their vote away on the kind of rhetoric the people have gotten those of us in the South to be a sucker for for decades,” he told the legislators. “Let’s show them there is a New South and we’re a lot smarter than they think we are, and that whoever gets our votes this time will have to respond to our hopes for our children.”

Clinton also discussed his health care proposals, including a so-called “play-or-pay” plan that aims to insure every American. Firms would either have to “play” by providing health insurance to their employees, or pay into a federal fund that would cover those without insurance.

His plan would also require insurance-company reforms and cuts in unnecessary paperwork that boost medical costs without improving benefits.

“Otherwise, you’re going to have more and more and these (insurance firms) dividing up the health insurance markets to where the very ideal thing (they) can do is to insure a group of 15- to 25-year-old women, who spend two hours a day in the gym, don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t eat hamburgers, (and are) going to live forever. It’s their only way to save money.”

Clinton also attacked Bush’s proposal to give vouchers to the poor and tax breaks to the middle class to help buy health insurance. “The (President’s) benefits are completely consumed by cost increases in a year,” Clinton contended.

Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan also spoke to the group, defending Bush’s health care proposal. Sullivan, who preceded Clinton to the podium, gave the Democrat an opportunity to criticize White House policy without heaping abuse on the Cabinet’s only black.

“He’s a good fellow,” Clinton said of Sullivan. “He’s just got a heavy load to carry.”

Clinton elicited his only standing ovation when he described how Bush would try to link him to the Democrats’ past during the Republican Convention next week.

“You know as well as I do what’s about to happen,” he said, grinning broadly. “The other side is going to go down there to Houston and tell you (vice presidential nominee) Al Gore and I may have been born in Arkansas and Tennessee, but we’re just a bunch of crazy, wild-eyed liberals. They’re going to tell you that (Democrats) took us to New York City in a safe . . . and incubated us there for 20 years. We got their crazy ideas, came home and hid them for 20 years waiting for the opportunity to spring them on the rest of the country.”

As the audience roared with laughter and applause, Clinton continued mocking his opponents’ strategy:

“They’re going to say every speech I gave on the Fourth of July in northeast Arkansas was a deliberate attempt to conceal my radical impulses. And we just can’t wait to get into power in Washington, where we can take your guns away and trample family values and raise taxes on every poor, working person in America.

“I can hear them now.”

The Democratic campaign also swept through New England on Tuesday as Gore toured a leading computer firm in Cambridge, Mass., saying that high technology will create jobs and keep America competitive into the 21st Century.

“It translates into real jobs for real people,” Gore said, surrounded by colorful supercomputers capable of making computations at unprecedented speeds. “It sounds a little high-tech. And it is high-tech. . . . But in the competition we now face in the world marketplace, we’ve got to be willing to move ahead and create the jobs of the future.”

Gore delivered his remarks during a visit to Thinking Machines Corp., a nine-year-old firm that makes the most powerful computers in use today.

Times staff writer Edwin Chen contributed to this story.

The immigrant experience holds special meaning to Rams defensive end Kobie Turner — his grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica and his wife’s parents immigrated from Peru. When choosing an organization to highlight in the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” campaign, he wanted to show support not only for his family but all immigrants as well.

“There’s been a lot of hard times as of late, a lot of families that are not sure what comes next and I just want to uplift them,” Turner said. “Immigrants are so important to America; they are the backbone to this country.”

The NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” initiative started after Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall was fined for violating the league’s uniform policy when he wore cleats promoting Mental Health Awareness Week in October 2013.

After criticizing the NFL for failing to support players and their charitable causes, he met with league officials and two sides created a campaign that allowed players to wear custom-designed cleats that highlighted an organization they support. Since 2016 the “My Cause My Cleats” campaign has been a mainstay on the NFL calendar.

With the immigrant community in Los Angeles and across the country dealing with raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Turner wanted to meet the moment by partnering with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, an organization that advocates for the civil rights of immigrants and refugees.

Rams defensive end Kobie Turner’s cleats for the NFL’s 2025 “My Cause My Cleats” campaign. The cleats support CHIRLA, an organization dedicated to the advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees.

(Los Angeles Rams)

He is the only player in the NFL supporting an immigrant rights charity via the “My Cause My Cleats” campaign.

“I really wanted to do something to lend a voice to the immigrant community,” Turner said, “and I know that CHIRLA does a really good job of providing opportunities and pathways for citizenship.”

Luis Tadeo, director of marketing and public relations of CHIRLA, understands the critical role sports and culture play in shaping the way that the community engages and heals in unprecedented times. He knows having the support of a star player on one of L.A.’s biggest sports teams is a powerful statement.

“We hope that other players and other teams in Los Angeles, who have been silent during these moments, see Turner and the Rams as an example of what they could do for immigrant families,” Tadeo said.

Turner, 26, will wear the bright pink cleats when the Rams go for their sixth consecutive win Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at SoFi Stadium. One of the stars of a Rams pass-rushing contingent that includes Byron Young, Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, Turner has 22 tackles and 1½ sacks for an 8-2 Rams team that is among the favorites to win the Super Bowl.

Bursting onto the NFL scene two years ago with an impressive nine-sack rookie campaign, Turner gained fame for an appearance on “The Masked Singer” last year, belting out notes befitting of “The Conductor” nickname he earned while singing in college. Music and football played big roles in Turner’s life while growing up in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Clifton, Va.

Rams defensive end Kobie Turner tries to break through the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line during a game on Oct. 12.

(Terrance Williams / Associated Press)

Now he wants to give a voice to something that goes beyond football and singing — he wants to remind everyone that immigrants are an integral part of American culture.

“You look around and you see ‘Vamos Rams,’ the communities that we serve are immigrant communities,” Turner said. “It’s important to be able to lend a voice to those people and let them know that they are being heard.”

For Turner, his charitable efforts go beyond this weekend. On Tuesday, Turner, Rams staff members and cheerleaders, in conjunction with South L.A. nonprofit A Place Called Home, will serve meals and distribute 400 turkeys and Thanksgiving supplies to families in need. Turner also will perform with 29Live, the youth band of A Place Called Home, during the event.

CHIRLA members will attend Sunday’s game with a group of immigrant youth. In a time when federal agents are detaining and arresting immigrants across the U.S., Tadeo hopes Turner and his cleats will help promote change.

“Our mission is to achieve a just society fully inclusive of immigrants, and whether that’s on the football pitch, if it’s in the halls of Congress, if it’s at the White House making decisions on laws that will impact the lives of immigrants, we need all of the support,” Tadeo said.

MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

The Democrat is accused of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments that her family healthcare company had received through a federally funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, federal prosecutors said. A portion of the money was then funneled to support her campaign through candidate contributions, prosecutors allege.

“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”

A phone message left at Cherfilus-McCormick’s Washington office was not immediately returned.

Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected to Congress in 2022 in the 20th District, representing parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, in a special election after Rep. Alcee Hastings died in 2021.

In December 2024, a Florida state agency sued a company owned by Cherfilus-McCormick’s family, saying it overcharged the state by nearly $5.8 million for work done during the pandemic and wouldn’t give the money back.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management said it made a series of overpayments to Trinity Healthcare Services after hiring it in 2021 to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations. The agency says it discovered the problem after a single $5-million overpayment drew attention.

Cherfilus-McCormick was the chief executive of Trinity at the time.

The Office of Congressional Ethics said in a January report that Cherfilus-McCormick’s income in 2021 was more than $6 million higher than in 2020, driven by nearly $5.75 million in consulting and profit-sharing fees received from Trinity Healthcare Services.

In July, the House Ethics Committee unanimously voted to reauthorize an investigative subcommittee to examine allegations involving Cherfilus-McCormick.

LA28 hopes to sell more tickets for the 2028 Games than any other Olympic organizing committee in history, and the private group launched a fundraising campaign Thursday to help keep those tickets accessible to local fans.

The fundraising effort invites local sports teams, philanthropists and partners to fund ticket donations that will go to local organizations that will distribute tickets within their communities. The Rams are the inaugural partners, donating $5 million to the campaign.

“The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games are for everyone,” LA28 president Casey Wasserman said in a statement. “This program is about making sure that the people who live, work and contribute to the spirit of Los Angeles can access the Games taking place in their hometown. We’re incredibly thankful to Stan Kroenke and the Rams for being the first to step up for the people of their city. This is true partnership in action, and we look forward to welcoming others for this meaningful initiative.”

Registration for tickets will open in January and single tickets will start at $28. Amid concerns about skyrocketing prices for sporting events, LA28 said it will not use dynamic pricing that is common for large sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup.

Tickets for the FIFA World Cup coming to Canada, Mexico and the United States next year will start at $60 for some group-stage matches and climb to $6,730, the international soccer governing body said this year. Excluding the opening or closing ceremonies, tickets for the Paris Games ranged between 24 euros (about $27) and 950 euros ($1,097).

Leading up to the Games, the Paris organizing committee set aside more than 1 million tickets at 24 euros each and ensured half of the tickets on sale to the general public would be 50 euros or less. Hoping to keep the Games relatively affordable to fans, Paris 2024 used an “adapted pricing policy” that aimed to use the 15% of the tickets offered at the highest rates to allow the millions of lower-priced tickets.

The Paris Games sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, which helped the organizing committee blow past its initial ticketing and hospitality revenue estimate by $365 million.

LA28 organizers expect to make 14 million tickets available for the largest Olympics in history and the first Paralympics in L.A.

After fans register for the ticket lottery beginning in January, purchasing windows will open that spring. Fans living near Olympic venue cities will have access to presale opportunities.

The Olympics are spread across more than 40 venues, with most clustered in L.A., Long Beach, Inglewood and Carson. Southern California residents and those living in Oklahoma City where softball and canoe slalom events will take place who are selected for the presale window will have access to all tickets for all venues.

Tickets for the Paralympics will go on sale in 2027.

SEOUL, Nov. 20 (UPI) — Kenneth Bae, the Korean-American missionary who endured 735 days as a political prisoner in North Korea, is now leading a renewed international effort to realize a unified Korean Peninsula.

Bae, 57, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was the longest-held American citizen in North Korea since the Korean War — an experience he now views as a mission to become a “voice for the voiceless” North Korean people.

Bae’s ordeal began in 2012 when he was arrested while leading his 18th “Love DPRK Tour” group. He was charged with “conspiracy to overthrow the state” and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He became the first U.S. citizen to be confined to a North Korean kyohwaso, or re-education camp.

“The ultimate charge was that I had tried to overthrow the North Korean regime through prayer and worship,” Bae said in an interview. His unintentional mistake was bringing an external hard drive containing a documentary that showed the suffering of ordinary North Koreans, which became evidence for the regime’s accusations.

Before his arrest, the “Love DPRK Tour” was focused less on proselytizing and more on cultural exchange and prayer for the land. Bae took some 300 people from 17 countries over two years to engage in activities like making kimchi, learning traditional dance and simply “walking the land” while praying for the North Korean people.

He was released in 2014 after a high-level diplomatic intervention led by then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, an event that highlighted his strong, enduring ties to Washington policymakers.

New focus: from defector aid to unification

After his release, Bae initially established the Nehemiah Global Initiative in South Korea, primarily focusing on aiding North Korean defectors with settlement, education and even the financial support needed to rescue family members from third countries. Over eight years, NGI provided English education to about 800 young defectors.

In 2022, he rebranded the organization as the New Korea Foundation International, signaling a critical shift in focus. While support for defectors continues, the core mission is now actively preparing for reunification and the reconstruction of North Korea.

“Reunification is not an option; it is a necessity and a mission for our people,” Bae said, emphasizing the stark difference between his two years of captivity and the seven decades the North Korean populace has lived without freedom.

He insists on a South Korea-led unification that is welcomed by North Korean citizens and supported by the international community. He stresses that the true “target of unification” is the North Korean populace, not the Pyongyang regime.

Mobilizing global support: the “One Korea” campaign

The foundation launched the New Korea Unification Campaign under the slogan, “One State, One Nation, One Future, One Korea.” The campaign is a comprehensive, multi-faceted effort to build global consensus for a free and democratic unified Korea.

The campaign offers three primary ways to participate: sign, give and serve.

• It urges global citizens to join the Signature Campaign (Petition movement) to showcase worldwide support and to join the Nehemiah Prayer Pledge.

This prayer movement, originally launched by Bae’s founding organization, the Nehemiah Global Initiative, already has garnered 6,500 signatures from 75 countries to pray for the people of North Korea and for unification.

• The New Korea Gospel Broadcast is a cornerstone project, a planned U.S.-based AM Christian broadcast intended to reach North Koreans with information about the outside world and the Christian Gospel.

Recognizing the challenges and interruptions faced by official broadcasts like the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, this private-sector effort aims to maintain a vital source of outside information.

The broadcast will share “letters of hope,” directly inspired by the hundreds of letters Bae received while imprisoned. To fund this critical initiative, the foundation is seeking 1,000 people to contribute $20 per month.

• Other core campaign projects include Raising the Reunification Reconstruction Fund to support relief for refugees, the Human Rights Advocacy Movement and the Nehemiah Scholarship for defectors.

Urgency of the three-year window

Bae views the current geopolitical climate as critical, warning against the danger of the peninsula’s division becoming permanent through the “Two States” theory. He believes that if the two-state narrative is allowed to solidify, it would be a moral “betrayal” of the North Korean people.

He strongly urges the younger generation in South Korea to reject the notion that unification is a financial burden, arguing instead that North Korea is a “land of opportunity.”

“With its natural resources and a combined population exceeding 80 million, a unified Korea would become a powerful and prosperous nation,” he asserted.

He sees the next three years as a crucial window to prevent the permanent entrenchment of the division. Bae is actively appealing to U.S. leaders and policymakers for their support of the Unification Campaign, emphasizing his strong personal connections to American officials and his belief that global consensus is paramount.

Bae believes that by focusing on creating interest, knowing the situation and action, the Korean people and the international community can ensure the path to a single, free Korea remains open.

For more information on the New Korea Unification Campaign, visit the New Korea Foundation International website: newkoreafi.org.

Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia loves to show off his two corgis, displaying them on his social media accounts, his financial reports and his reelection campaign materials.

Cardboard cutouts of corgis even adorn the entrance to Mejia’s office at City Hall East, making it resemble the dorm room of an especially proud dog parent.

Now, Mejia’s corgis are the subject of a complaint submitted to the city’s Ethics Commission, alleging that the controller has impermissibly blurred the lines between his government communications and his campaign operation.

Former State Sen. Isadore Hall, looking to unseat Mejia in June, conceded in his complaint that the corgi images — especially the one meant to look like Sherlock Holmes, with a pipe and magnifying glass — are “adorable.”

Nevertheless, Hall suggested that the graphics run afoul of a city law barring candidates from using city resources, since the cap-wearing corgi appears both on Mejia’s official city website and on his campaign yard signs.

Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia uses images of corgis, sometimes sporting a pipe and a magnifying glass, on his website, his campaign materials and even the entrance to his office at City Hall East.

(David Zahniser / Los Angeles Times)

“These practices, if substantiated, undermine public confidence in the neutrality of the City Controller’s office and violate clear prohibitions on using public assets for campaign advantage,” Hall said in his complaint.

The complaint, and the focus on the controller’s signature mascots, has sent the race for the city’s top auditor position in an unusual direction. Jane Nguyen, a Mejia campaign spokesperson, pushed back on the idea that the controller failed to comply with city law, while also suggesting that Hall is “jealous of our cute corgi graphics.”

In an email, Nguyen said it’s common for politicians to use similar designs and color schemes in their campaigns and their official government duties. At the same time, she said the “Sherlock corgi” used in city publications is different from the one in Mejia’s reelection campaign.

“He is wearing glasses in one version and is not wearing glasses in the other version,” she said.

David Tristan, executive director of the city’s Ethics Commission, which levies fines when enforcing local campaign finance laws, declined to comment, saying his office “cannot confirm or deny the existence of a complaint or investigation.”

Attorney Jessica Levinson, a former Ethics Commission president, said the agency responds seriously to allegations that city resources have been misused for campaign purposes. Still, she voiced doubts that Hall’s complaint would lead to a meaningful ethics case.

“This is not the type of thing that’s going to topple democracy,” she said. “Even if the allegations are true, I don’t think this weighs particularly heavily on the minds of voters.”

Hall, 53, is basing his complaint on a city law that bars city employees from using city cars, email lists, supplies or other municipal resources for campaign purposes. For example, city employees cannot take part in campaign activities while wearing uniforms with “official city insignia.”

The complaint goes beyond Mejia’s corgis, which are a diminutive herding breed beloved by the late Queen Elizabeth II. Hall also contends that the controller’s campaign logo, font colors and other design elements match the branding on his official city website, making it appear that the city is effectively endorsing his reelection bid.

Nguyen said Mejia’s corgi images and other designs were created as part of his 2022 campaign, without using city resources. She also said that the campaign logo is “far different” from the controller’s city logo, since it contains the word “for.”

Mejia, 35, has proven to be a savvy purveyor of marketing, distributing corgi stickers at community events and sending his staff to City Council meetings in green city controller jackets. He and his team are equally strategic about publicizing data on homelessness spending, legal payouts and other city expenses.

On his campaign website, Mejia described himself as “the father of two corgis, Killa and Kirby. He is known for bringing his dogs to work, walking them down the marble corridors of City Hall. They also showed up this year on an Instagram video where Mejia and his staff performed choreographed moves to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” outside City Hall.

Former state Sen. Isadore Hall has filed an ethics complaint against City Controller Kenneth Mejia, his opponent in the June election.

(Isadore Hall for Controller)

Hall has faced scrutiny over his own election activities.

In 2014, The Times reported that Hall’s Senate committees spent $7,812 on cigars and membership at cigar lounges, $42,000 on airfare and hotels and $11,000 to stay at the Fairmont Hotel in Kihei, Hawaii, during a conference.

Hall defended the expenditures, saying they were for campaign fundraisers, dinners with potential donors and other political activities. He won his Senate race and made an unsuccessful run for Congress two years later.

Nguyen, in her email, pointed out that Hall was also accused of illegally using general election donations to pay for his primary campaign for Congress in 2016. In response to those and other violations, the Federal Election Commission issued a $24,000 penalty to Hall’s campaign.

Hall said earlier this year that he learned from the experience and had held his accountant accountable for the error.

Hall is not the only candidate running against Mejia. On Tuesday, entertainment industry executive Zachary Sokoloff formally launched his own bid for controller, promising to bring a “problem-solving approach to City Hall.” Sokoloff, 36, said he would “lead by listening” and “bring people together to fix what’s broken.”

Rick Taylor, Sokoloff’s campaign strategist, said he views Hall’s ethics complaint as “not relevant” to the upcoming campaign.

“Let’s focus on what the public wants to know,” he said. “They want to know who’s capable and competent and can do the job.”

Nov. 19 (UPI) — Billionaire activist Tom Steyer announced his run for California governor after the former presidential candidate claimed no plans existed for him to again run for political office.

Steyer, 68, pointed to his business experience in a candidate video vying to replace term-limited Gov, Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and rumored 2028 presidential contender, saying he’s running because “Californians deserve a life they can afford.”

“Sacramento politicians are afraid to change this system. I’m not,” he added in a campaign launch video.

He joined the field with other gubernatorial candidates such as former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., ex-U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

A 2020 presidential candidate, Steyer said that his long business background separates him from other candidates.

“I wanted to build a business here. Now it’s worth billions of dollars. And I walked away from it because I wanted to give back to California,” Steyer said.

In 2010, Steyer signed the Giving Pledge vowing to donate half his massive fortune to charity during his lifetime.

On Wednesday, he said California needs to “get back to basics,” which he says meant “making corporations pay their fair share again.”

“Californians deserve a top 10 education state,” he added. “They deserve to be able to afford to live in a decent house. I will launch the largest drive to build homes that you can afford in the history of California.”

He revealed plans targeting the state’s high utility bills with California’s massive energy infrastructure, noting the west coast state has the second highest electricity rates in the United States.

Steyer, a former hedge fund manager and frequent Democratic donor in San Francisco, frequently crusades against big corporate money in politics. He later suspended his 2020 campaign in March after finishing third place in the South Carolina primary election won by Joe Biden.

“If we break up the monopolistic power of utilities, we’re going to unleash a complete wave of innovation and drop our sky-high energy prices,” Steyer continued in the video.

“This is about disrupting the way people think so we can get a completely different and much better outcome,” he said, adding it was “for the people of California.”

Billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer announced Wednesday that he is running for governor of California, arguing that he is not beholden to special interests and can take on corporations that are making life unaffordable in the state.

“The richest people in America think that they earned everything themselves. Bulls—, man. That’s so ridiculous,” Steyer said in an online video announcing his campaign. “We have a broken government. It’s been bought by corporations and my question is: Who do you think is going to change that? Sacramento politicians are afraid to change up this system. I’m not. They’re going to hate this. Bring it on.”

Protesters hold placards and banners during a rally against Whitehaven Coal in Sydney in 2014. Dozens of protesters and activists gathered downtown to protest against the controversial massive Maules Creek coal mine project in northern New South Wales.

(Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images)

Steyer, 68, founded Farallon Capital Management, one of the nation’s largest hedge funds, and left it in 2012 after 26 years. Since his departure, he has become a global environmental activist and a major donor to Democratic candidates and causes.

But the hedge firm’s investments — notably a giant coal mine in Australia that cleared 3,700 acres of koala habitat and a company that runs migrant detention centers on the U.S.-Mexico border for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — will make him susceptible to political attack by his gubernatorial rivals.

Steyer has expressed regret for his involvement in such projects, saying it was why he left Farallon and started focusing his energy on fighting climate change.

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer addresses a crowd during a presidential primary election-night party in Columbia, S.C.

(Sean Rayford / Getty Images)

Steyer previously flirted with running for governor and the U.S. Senate but decided against it, instead opting to run for president in 2020. He dropped out after spending nearly $342 million on his campaign, which gained little traction before he ended his run after the South Carolina primary.

Next year’s gubernatorial race is in flux, after former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla decided not to run and Proposition 50, the successful Democratic effort to redraw congressional districts, consumed all of the political oxygen during an off-year election.

Most voters are undecided about who they would like to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run for reelection because of term limits, according to a poll released this month by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times. Steyer had the support of 1% of voters in the survey.

In recent years, Steyer has been a longtime benefactor of progressive causes, most recently spending $12 million to support the redistricting ballot measure. But when he was the focus of one of the ads, rumors spiraled that he was considering a run for governor.

In prior California ballot initiatives, Steyer successfully supported efforts to close a corporate tax loophole and to raise tobacco taxes, and fought oil-industry-backed efforts to roll back environmental law.

His campaign platform is to build 1 million homes in four years, lower energy costs by ending monopolies, make preschool and community college free and ban corporate contributions to political action committees in California elections.

Steyer’s brother Jim, the leader of Common Sense Media, and former Biden administration U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy are aiming to put an initiative on next year’s ballot to protect children from social media, specifically the chatbots that have been accused of prompting young people to kill themselves. Newsom recently vetoed a bill aimed at addressing this artificial intelligence issue.

WASHINGTON — On the campaign trail, Donald Trump was unapologetic about putting America first. He promised to secure the nation’s borders, strengthen the domestic workforce and be tough on countries he thought were taking advantage of the United States.

Now, 10 months into his second term, the president is facing backlash from some conservatives who say he is too focused on matters abroad, whether it’s seeking regime change in Venezuela, brokering peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza or extending a $20-billion currency swap for Argentina. The criticism has grown in recent days after Trump expressed support for granting more visas to foreign students and skilled immigrant workers.

The cracks in the MAGA movement, which have been more pronounced in recent weeks, underscore how Trump’s once impenetrable political base is wavering as the president appears to embrace a more global approach to governing.

“I have to view the presidency as a worldwide situation, not locally,” Trump said this week when asked to address the criticism at an Oval Office event. “We could have a world that’s on fire where wars come to our shores very easily if you had a bad president.”

For backers of Trump’s MAGA movement, the conflict is forcing some to weigh loyalty to an “America first” ideology over a president they have long supported and who, in some cases, inspired them to get involved in the political process.

“I am against foreign aid, foreign wars, and sending a single dollar to foreign countries,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who in recent weeks has become more critical of Trump’s policies, said in a social media post Wednesday. “I am America First and America Only. This is my way and there is no other way to be.”

Beyond America-first concerns, some Trump supporters are frustrated with him for resisting the disclosures about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his network of powerful friends — including Trump. A group of Republicans in the House, for instance, helped lead an effort to force a vote to demand further disclosures on the Epstein files from the Justice Department.

“When they are protecting pedophiles, when they are blowing our budget, when they are starting wars overseas, I’m sorry, I can’t go along with that,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said in a CNN interview. “And back home, people agree with me. They understand, even the most ardent Trump supporters understand.”

When asked to respond to the criticism Trump has faced in recent weeks, the White House said the president was focused on implementing “economic policies that are cutting costs, raising real wages, and securing trillions in investments to make and hire in America.”

Mike Madrid, a “never Trump” Republican consultant, believes the Epstein scandal has sped up a Republican backlash that has been brewing as a result of Trump deviating from his campaign promises.

“They are turning on him, and it’s a sign of the inviolable trust being gone,” Madrid said.

The MAGA movement was not led by a policy ideology, but rather “fealty to the leader,” Madrid said. Once the trust in Trump fades, “everything is gone.”

Criticism of Trump goes mainstream

The intraparty tension also has played out on conservative and mainstream news outlets, where the president has been challenged on his policies.

In a recent Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, Trump was pressed on a plan to give student visas to hundreds of thousands of Chinese students, a move that would mark a departure from actions taken by his administration this year to crack down on foreign students.

“I think it is good to have outside countries,” Trump said. “Look, I want to be able to get along with the world.”

In that same interview, Trump said he supports giving H-1B visas to skilled foreign workers because the U.S. doesn’t have workers with “certain talents.”

“You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles,’” Trump argued.

Trump in September imposed a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas for skilled workers, a move that led to confusion among businesses, immigration lawyers and H-1B visa holders. Before Trump’s order, the visa program had exposed a rift between the president’s supporters in the technology industry, which relies on the program, and immigration hard-liners who want to see the U.S. invest in an American workforce.

A day after Trump expressed support for the visa program, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem added fuel to the immigration debate by saying the administration is fast-tracking immigrants’ pathway to citizenship.

“More people are becoming naturalized under this administration than ever before,” Noem told Fox News this week.

Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and close ally of Trump, said the administration’s position was “disappointing.”

“How is that a good thing? We are supposed to be kicking foreigners out, not letting them stay,” Loomer said.

Polling adds on the heat

As polling shows Americans are growing frustrated with the economy, some conservatives increasingly blame Trump for not doing enough to create more jobs and lower the cost of living.

Greene, the Georgia Republican, said on “The Sean Spicer Show” Thursday that Trump and his administration are “gaslighting” people when they say prices are going down.

“It’s actually infuriating people because people know what they’re paying at the grocery store,” she said, while urging Republicans to “show we are in the trenches with them” rather than denying their experience.

While Trump has maintained that the economy is strong, administration officials have begun talking about pushing new economic policies. White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said this week that the administration would be working to provide consumers with more purchasing power, saying that “we’re going to fix it right away.”

“We understand that people understand, as people look at their pocketbooks to go to the grocery store, that there’s still work to do,” Hassett said.

The acknowledgment comes after this month’s elections in key states — in which Republicans were soundly defeated — made clear that rising prices were top of mind for many Americans. The results also showed Latino voters were turning away from the GOP amid growing concerns about the economy.

As Republicans try to refocus on addressing affordability, Trump has continued to blame the economic problems on former President Biden.

“Cost, and INFLATION, were higher under the Sleepy Joe Biden administration, than they are now,” Trump said in a social media post Friday. He insisted that under his administration costs are “tumbling down.”

As Gov. Gavin Newsom flew around the country last year campaigning for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his chief of staff Dana Williamson — known as one of California’s toughest political insiders — was not only helping to helm the ship in Sacramento, but under criminal investigation by federal law enforcement.

The resulting criminal case, which splashed into public view with Williamson’s arrest Wednesday, does not implicate Newsom in any wrongdoing. Williamson’s alleged misdeeds occurred in private work prior to her joining his staff, and his office said it placed her on leave in November 2024 after she informed him she was under investigation.

Nonetheless, the bombshell allegations struck at the center of the political power circle surrounding Newsom, rattling one of the nation’s most prominent and important hubs of Democratic state power at a time when President Trump and his Republican administration wield power in Washington.

Williamson was charged with bank and tax fraud for allegedly siphoning campaign and COVID-19 recovery funds into her and an associate’s pockets and claiming personal luxuries as business expenses on tax forms. According to the indictment, the campaign funds were drawn from a dormant state account of another top California Democrat: gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra.

Two other well-connected aides in state politics were also charged — and struck plea deals confirming the scheme — while a third, with deep ties to one of the most well-connected circles of political and business consultants in the country, appeared in charging documents as an uncharged co-conspirator.

Williamson’s attorney McGregor Scott, a former U.S. attorney in Sacramento, told The Times on Wednesday that federal authorities had approached Williamson more than a year ago, seeking help with some kind of probe of the governor himself.

“She told them she had no information to provide them, and then we wind up today with these charges,” Scott said. The nature of that alleged probe is unclear.

Newsom’s office on Thursday said it was “not aware of any federal investigation involving the governor.”

Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento, said she could not confirm or deny the existence of any investigation involving Newsom, in accordance with Justice Department policy. None of the charging documents released in the cases against the three aides mention Newsom.

A loquacious liberal foil to Trump and likely 2028 presidential contender, Newsom has been in Brazil since Sunday and on Wednesday left for a planned trip into the Amazon with a small delegation after attending the United Nations climate summit known as COP30. He left the conference before news of Williamson’s arrest, and could not be reached directly by The Times for comment.

In his absence, Newsom’s representatives have tried to draw a connection between the federal case and the contentious relationship between California and the Trump administration, though offered no evidence that the investigation was influenced by the White House.

“At a time when the president is openly calling for his attorney general to investigate his political enemies, it is especially important to honor the American principle of being innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of one’s peers,” a Newsom spokesperson said Wednesday.

“Under the Trump administration, the DOJ routinely targets the state, which has resulted in us suing the federal administration 46 times,” a Newsom spokesperson said Thursday.

Trump and his administration have been accused of using their power — and control over the Justice Department — to go after his political enemies. Charges reportedly deemed weak and unfounded by career prosecutors have been brought forward anyway against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, while Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is being investigated for years-old occupancy claims in mortgage documents. All have denied wrongdoing.

The case against Williamson and the other California aides, however, is something different — originating years ago under the Biden administration.

“Today’s charges are the result of three years of relentless investigative work, in partnership with IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel said Wednesday.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, rejected the notion that the case was in any way driven by the Trump administration or politically motivated.

“What an absurd claim to make when public reporting has already noted that this investigation began under the Biden DOJ,” Jackson said. “The Trump administration is restoring integrity and accountability to the Justice Department.”

Prosecutors also have plea deals with two of the primary suspects in the case, in which they corroborate some of the allegations.

According to the 23-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday morning, Williamson conspired with Sean McCluskie — a former top aid to Becerra — and lobbyist Greg Campbell to bill Becerra’s dormant state campaign account for bogus consulting services. The three allegedly used shell companies to funnel money out of the campaign fund starting in 2022.

Federal authorities alleged the bulk of the payments were made to McCluskie’s wife, who did not actually provide consulting services, and deposited into an account accessed by McCluskie. Becerra, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, said Wednesday’s charges alleging “impropriety by a long-serving trusted advisor are a gut punch,” and that he was cooperating with authorities.

In addition, Williamson was charged with falsifying documents for a COVID-era small business loan, and with claiming luxury goods and services — including a $15,353 Chanel purse, $21,000 in private jet travel and a $150,000 birthday trip to Mexico, complete with an $11,000 yacht trip — as business expenses on her tax returns, federal prosecutors said.

Williamson appeared in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday afternoon, and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Williamson’s attorney said he has been in “regular communication” with federal prosecutors about the case for some time, and had asked to meet with prosecutors to “present our side” before any charges were brought, but that request “was not honored.”

Instead, officials “chose grandstanding instead of the normal process” and arrested Williamson at home Wednesday, despite her being seriously ill and in need of a liver transplant, Scott said. Williamson could not be reached for comment directly.

Williamson previously worked as a Cabinet secretary to former Gov. Jerry Brown, who also could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The case against Williamson is bolstered by acknowledgments of guilt from at least two others.

McCluskie — a former chief deputy attorney general of California when Becerra was attorney general — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and is cooperating with authorities, court filings show. He could not be reached for comment.

Campbell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to defraud and commit offenses against the U.S. government. Campbell’s attorney Todd Pickles said his client “takes full accountability for his actions and is cooperating fully with the legal process.”

The case also involves another longtime California political insider: Alexis Podesta, a former secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency who Newsom appointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund board of directors in January 2020. A spokesperson for the board confirmed Podesta remained a member as of Thursday morning.

Bill Portanova, Podesta’s attorney, confirmed to The Times that Podesta is the person identified as “Co-Conspirator 2” in charging documents — including McCluskie’s plea agreement, which alleges she funneled the campaign funds to him.

Portanova said Podesta inherited responsibilities for handling the Becerra account from Williamson when Williamson left to become Newsom’s chief of staff. Podesta did not perceive anything “unusual about the accounts, how they were set up or who had set them up,” so continued making payments as previously arranged, Portanova said.

However, “when confronted with the information that it was improper payments,” Portanova said, she immediately stopped the payments, and “has been fully cooperative with the federal authorities at every stage of these proceedings.”

He said she is not charged, and “should not be charged” moving forward. He otherwise declined to comment, as “investigations are ongoing.”

Podesta had close ties to some of the most influential Democratic political consultants in California, adding to the intrigue surrounding the case.

In September 2020 — about eight months after Newsom had appointed Podesta to the insurance board for workers’ compensation — Politico reported on a new “influence superteam” of Democratic political consultants forming in California.

The project, it said, would be called the Collaborative. Among its “architects” were Williamson and Campbell, as well as Jim DeBoo, another former Newsom chief of staff. Its managing director, the outlet reported, would be Podesta.

Among its enlisted consultants, it said, would be Sean Clegg of Bearstar Strategies, another senior advisor to Newsom, and Shannon Murphy, of M Strategic Communications, who has ties to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

DeBoo, Clegg and Murphy have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

“Bearstar participated in a joint marketing press release with the Collaborative and worked on one campaign with the Collaborative’s members in 2022. Bearstar and its partners had no interest, stake or other involvement with this entity,” David Beltran, a representative of Bearstar, said in a statement Thursday.

Murphy also released a statement about the enterprise: “Five years ago, our firm participated in a joint-marketing effort. We had zero ownership or role in the business entity that was created and had no knowledge of its finances or operations until yesterday’s news stories.”

DeBoo did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Members of the Collaborative advise some of the largest companies in not just the country, but the world.

The Collaborative’s website was recently scaled down to a simple landing page, but it previously touted itself there as “the hub for the most talented public affairs, campaign, crisis management, communications and lobbying firms in California,” providing clients “the ability to choose one or several firms that work together — rather than compete — to provide their clients with the best possible outcomes.”

The website led with what it called a proverb: “If you call one wolf, you invite the pack.”

Supermarket Tesco has decided to show what for many is the real – though funny – side of many families’ Christmas in its festive adverts

Family feuds and falling out form part of Tesco’s Christmas ad campaign with a difference this year.

The supermarket giant has opted to ditch the often picture perfect image retailers serve up at this time of year, and show what the big day is really like for many people.

A series of 11 short ads include board game rows, slanging matches between siblings over who is their parents’ favourite child, and awkward chats with the neighbours you don’t really know.

Others have a youngster heading back home up to Merseyside only to be teased about their southern twang, and the silence when a relative says something awkward round the packed Christmas lunch table, just as the turkey arrives.

Tesco’s “That’s What Makes It Christmas” campaign is packaged in a series of standalone films, varying from 10 to 30 seconds long, and created by agency BBH London. The music to each mini film is “Holly Jolly Christmas” and the voice-over is comedian John Bishop.

The adverts – unlike most festive commercials from retailers – don’t focus on blatantly enticing shoppers into parting with their cash. However, Tesco will follow up with other adverts highlighting its product ranges.

They are also deliberately short to work well on social media channels and websites.

Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes, executive creative director at BBH, said the aim was to highlight the “slightly more imperfect elements of Christmas. It’s during the messy, weird and unscripted chaos where the Christmas spirit really kicks in, and that felt like a different take on the festive season.” He added: “It was much different than we have done before.”

NEW YORK — U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a close Republican ally of President Trump, announced Friday that she’s running for governor of New York, a place she depicted in a campaign launch video as being “in ashes” because of lawlessness and a high cost of living.

In her video, a narrator declares “The Empire State has fallen” as it paints a grim picture of urban, liberal leadership and life in New York City, though the message appeared to be aimed at audiences in other, more conservative parts of the state.

Her candidacy sets up a potential battle with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a centrist Democrat, though both candidates would have to first clear the field of any intraparty rivals before next November’s election.

Stefanik, 41, has teased a run for months, often castigating Hochul, 67, as the “worst governor in America.” She’s also assailed Hochul for endorsing the ascendent, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, now the mayor-elect of New York City.

In a written statement, Stefanik said she is running to make “New York affordable and safe for families all across our great state.”

“Our campaign will unify Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to Fire Kathy Hochul once and for all to Save New York,” she said.

Hochul’s campaign released its own attack ad Friday against the Republican, dubbing her “Sellout Stefanik,” and blamed her for enabling Trump’s tariffs and federal funding cuts to education and health care.

“Apparently, screwing over New Yorkers in Congress wasn’t enough — now she’s trying to bring Trump’s chaos and skyrocketing costs to our state,” said Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika.

Representing a conservative congressional district in northern New York, Stefanik had once been a pragmatic and moderate Republican who would avoid uttering Trump’s name, simply calling him “my party’s presidential nominee.”

But in recent years she has reshaped herself into a brash disciple and ardent defender of Trump’s MAGA movement, rising through the ranks of the Republican Party’s congressional hierarchy as it molded to Trump’s political style.

Last year, Stefanik was tapped to become the president’s ambassador to the United Nations, though her nomination was later pulled over concerns about her party’s tight margins in the House. She then began to angle toward a run for governor, and very quickly got a public nod of support from Trump.

Her announcement video, which was titled “From the Ashes,” casts New York as a dangerous place plagued by “migrant crime” and economic crisis, placing the blame on “Kathy Hochul’s failed policies,” as urgent, ominous music plays in the background.

New York City police officials have long touted drops in crime and this week said the city is in its eighth consecutive quarter of major crime decline.

The Republican primary field remains unclear ahead of the 2026 race.

On Long Island, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has said he’s weighing a run for governor. In a statement Friday, he said he has “tremendous respect” for Stefanik but that the GOP needs to nominate a candidate who has “broad based appeal with independents and common sense Democrats.”

“The party must nominate the candidate with the best chance to defeat Kathy Hochul and I have been urged by business, community and political leaders across the state to make the run and I am seriously considering it,” said Blakeman, who handily won reelection to another four-year term on Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler had been contemplating a run but instead decided to seek reelection in his battleground House district in the Hudson Valley.

Hochul faces a contested primary, with her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, running against her.

Democrats have a major voter registration edge in New York. The state’s last Republican governor was former Gov. George Pataki, who left office about two decades ago.

Still, Republican Lee Zeldin, a former Long Island congressman and current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, made a serious run for the office in 2022, coming within striking distance of upsetting Hochul.

Izaguirre writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Philip Marcelo contributed to this report.

Republican infighting crescendoed in the aftermath of California voters overwhelmingly approving Democratic-friendly redistricting plan this week that may undercut the GOP’s control of Congress and derail President Trump’s polarizing agenda.

The state GOP chairwoman was urged to resign and former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the creation of the state’s independent redistricting commission, was called “cowardly” by one top GOP leader for not being more involved in the campaign.

Leaders of the Republican-backed committees opposing the ballot measure, known as Proposition 50, were questioned about how they spent nearly $58 million in the special election after such a dismal outcome.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, the once prodigious Republican fundraiser, reportedly vowed earlier in the campaign that he could raise $100 million for the opposition but ended up delivering a small fraction of that amount.

Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), a conservative firebrand, called on state GOP chair Corrin Rankin to step down and faulted other Republican leaders and longtime party operatives for the ballot measure’s failure, calling them “derelict of duty and untrustworthy and incompetent.”

“Unless serious changes are made at the party, the midterms are going to be a complete disaster,” DeMaio said, also faulting the other groups opposing the effort. “We need accountability. There needs to be a reckoning because otherwise the lessons won’t be learned. The old guard needs to go. The old guard has failed us too many times. This is the latest failure.”

Rankin pushed back against the criticism, saying the state party was the most active GOP force in the final stretch of the election. Raising $11 million during the final three weeks of the campaign, the party spent it on mailers, digital ads and text messages, as well as organizing phone banks and precinct walking, she said.

Former Speaker of the House and California Republican Kevin McCarthy speaks to the press at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 19, 2023.

(Samuel Corum / AFP via Getty Images)

“We left it all on the field,” Rankin said Wednesday morning at a Sacramento press conference about a federal lawsuit California Republicans filed arguing that Proposition 50 is unconstitutional. “We were the last man standing … to reach out to Republicans and make sure they turned out.”

Responding to criticism that their effort was disorganized, including opposition campaign mailers being sent to voters who had already cast ballots, Rankin said the party would conduct a post-election review of its efforts. But she added that she was extremely proud of the work her team did in the “rushed special election.”

Barring successful legal challenges, the new California congressional districts enacted under Proposition 50 will go into effect before the 2026 election. The new district maps favor Democratic candidates and were crafted to unseat five Republican incumbents, which could erase Republicans’ narrow edge in the the U.S. House of Representatives.

If Democrats win control of the body, Trump policy agenda will likely be stymied and the president and members of his administration cold face multiple congressional investigations.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democrats proposed Proposition 50 in response to Trump urging elected officials in Texas and other GOP-led states to redraw their congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to the House next year.

The new California congressional boundaries voters approved Tuesday could give Democrats the opportunity to pick up five seats in the state’s 52-member congressional delegation.

Proposition 50 will change how California determines the boundaries of congressional districts. The measure asked voters to approve new congressional district lines designed to favor Democrats for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, overriding the map drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission.

Some Republicans lamented that Schwarzenegger was not more involved in the election. The movie star championed the creation of the independent commission in 2010, his final year in office. He campaigned for the creation of similar bodies to fight partisan drawing of district lines across the nation after leaving office.

Shawn Steel, one of California’s three representatives on the Republican National Committee, called Schwarzenegger “a cowardly politician.”

“Arnold decided to sit it out,” Steel said. “Arnold just kind of raised the flag and immediately went under the desk.”

Steel said that the former governor failed to follow through on the messages he repeatedly delivered about the importance of independent redistricting.

“He could have had his name on the ballot as a ballot opponent,” Steel said. “He turned it down. So I’d say, with Arnold, just disappointing, but not surprised. That’s his political legacy.”

Schwarzenegger’s team pushed back at this criticism as misinformed.

“We were clear from the beginning that he was not going to be a part of the campaign and was going to speak his mind,” said Daniel Ketchell, a spokesman for the former governor. “His message was very clear and non-partisan. When one campaign couldn’t even criticize gerrymandering in Texas, it was probably hard for voters to believe they actually cared about fairness.”

Schwarzenegger spoke out against Proposition 50 a handful of times during the election, including at an appearance at USC that was turned into a television ad by one of the anti-Proposition 50 committees that appeared to go dark before election day.

On election day, he emailed followers about gut health, electrolytes, protein bars, fitness and conversations to increase happiness. There was no apparent mention of the Tuesday election.

The Democratic-led California Legislature in August voted to place Proposition 50 on the November ballot, costing nearly $300 million, and setting off a sprint to Tuesday’s special election.

The opponents were vastly outspent by the ballot measure’s supporters, who contributed nearly $136 million to various efforts. That financial advantage, combined with Democrats’ overwhelming edge in voter registration in California, were main contributors to the ballot measure’s success. When introduced in August, Proposition 50 had tepid support and its prospects appeared uncertain.

Nearly 64% of the nearly 8.3 million voters who cast ballots supported Proposition 50, while 36% opposed it as of Wednesday night, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.

In addition to the state Republican Party, two main campaign committees opposed Proposition 50, including the one backed by McCarthy. A separate group was funded by more than $32 million from major GOP donor Charles Munger Jr., the son of a billionaire who was Warren Buffet’s right-hand man, and who bankrolled the creation of the independent congressional redistricting commission in 2010.

Representatives of the two committees, who defended their work Tuesday night after the election was called moments after the polls closed, saying they could not overcome the vast financial disadvantage and that the proposition’s supporters must be held to their promises to voters such as pushing for national redistricting reform, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Wednesday.

Newsom’s committee supporting Proposition 50 had prominent Democrats stumping for the effort, including former President Obama starring in ads supporting the measure.

That’s in stark contrast to the opposition efforts. Trump was largely absent, possibly because he is deeply unpopular among Californians and the president does not like to be associated with losing causes.

NEW YORK — Fresh off winning New York City’s mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that a team including former city and federal officials — all women — would steer his transition to City Hall, and that he would “work every day to honor the trust that I now hold.”

“I and my team will build a City Hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign,” the mayor-elect said at a news conference, vowing that his administration would be both compassionate and capable.

He named political strategist Elana Leopold as executive director of the transition team. She will work with United Way of New York City President Grace Bonilla; former Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, who was also a city budget official; former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan; and former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer.

With his win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, the 34-year-old democratic socialist will soon become the city’s first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage, the first born in Africa and the youngest mayor in more than a century.

He now faces the task of following through on his ambitious affordability agenda while navigating the bureaucratic challenges of City Hall and a hostile Trump administration.

“I’m confident in delivering these same policies that we ran on for the last year,” he said in an interview earlier Wednesday on cable news channel NY1.

More than 2 million New Yorkers cast ballots in the contest, the largest turnout in a mayoral race in more than 50 years, according to the city’s Board of Elections. With roughly 90% of the votes counted, Mamdani held an approximately 9 percentage point lead over Cuomo.

Mamdani, who was criticized throughout the campaign for his thin resume, will now have to begin staffing his incoming administration and planning how to accomplish the ambitious but polarizing agenda that drove him to victory.

Among the campaign’s promises are free child care, free city bus service, city-run grocery stores and a new Department of Community Safety that would expand on an existing city initiative that sends mental health care workers, rather than police, to handle certain emergency calls. It is unclear how Mamdani will pay for such initiatives, given Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s steadfast opposition to his calls to raise taxes on wealthy people.

On Wednesday, he touted his support from Hochul and other state leaders as “endorsements of an agenda of affordability.”

His decisions around the leadership of the New York Police Department will also be closely watched. Mamdani was a fierce critic of the department in 2020, calling for “this rogue agency” to be defunded and slamming it as “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.” He has since apologized for those comments and has said he will ask the current NYPD commissioner to stay on the job.

Mamdani has already faced scrutiny from national Republicans, including President Trump, who have eagerly cast him as a threat and the face of a more radical Democratic Party that is out of step with mainstream America. Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding to the city — and even take it over — if Mamdani won.

”…AND SO IT BEGINS!” the president posted late Tuesday to his Truth Social site.

Mamdani, for his part, said at his news conference that “New Yorkers are facing twin crises in this moment: an authoritarian administration and an affordability crisis,” and that he would tackle both.

While saying he was committed to “Trump-proofing” the city — to protect poor residents against “the man who has the most power in this country,” as he explained — the mayor-elect also reiterated that he was interested in talking to the president about ”ways that we can work together to serve New Yorkers.” That could mean discussing the cost of living or the effect of cuts to the SNAP food aid program amid the federal government shutdown, Mamdani suggested.

“I will not mince my words when it comes to President Trump … and I will also always do so while leaving a door open to have that conversation,” Mamdani added.

Mamdani also said during his news conference and interviews that he had not heard from Cuomo or the city’s outgoing mayor, Eric Adams. He did speak with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

A spokesperson for Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, said he would “let their respective speeches be the measuring stick for grace and leave it at that.”

In his victory speech to supporters, Mamdani wished Cuomo the best in private life, before adding: “Let tonight be the final time I utter his name, as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few.”

Asked about the comments Wednesday on NY1, Mamdani said he was “quite disappointed in the nature of the bigotry and the racism we saw in the final weeks.” He noted the millions of dollars in attack ads that were spent against him, some of which played into Islamophobic tropes.

Izaguirre and Colvin write for the Associated Press. AP writers Jake Offenhartz and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.