jumps

SACRAMENTO — Bill Simon Jr., a wealthy banker and political newcomer, formally launched his bid for governor Friday with repeated attacks on incumbent Gray Davis and a promise to infuse Sacramento with the sensibilities of the business world.

Simon conceded that he was attempting a “big jump” in his first try for office. “I don’t believe that career politicians have a monopoly on leadership,” he said.

“Nor,” he went on, “do I believe the government has a monopoly on the answers.”

Simon, the son and namesake of a former U.S. Treasury secretary, said that if elected governor, he would seek to bring “private solutions” to problems such as traffic congestion, failing schools and management of the state’s water and energy supplies.

“I’m going to offer a different path, a path of smaller government,” Simon said. “Of individual and private sector solutions, rather than big bureaucratic plans. And local government whenever possible.”

But he was vague when pressed for details, sticking to generalities and sweeping criticisms of Democrat Davis. He also took a rare shot at his two rivals for the Republican nomination, California Secretary of State Bill Jones and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.

Simon described Jones as “an insider, someone who’s been in politics his whole life.” He questioned whether Riordan had sufficient “fire in the belly” and suggested that Republicans were “looking for a candidate that can make them feel proud of their party, not someone who will try to muddle the differences between the parties.”

Riordan has antagonized some conservative Republicans with his support for abortion rights and gun control and his 20-year history of contributions to Democratic candidates and causes.

Simon, 50, announced his candidacy in the ballroom of a downtown Sacramento hotel, accompanied by his wife, Cindy, and surrounded on a packed dais by more than two dozen friends, supporters and family members.

In launching his candidacy, Simon became the latest in a long line of wealthy newcomers who have tried to make the leap into elective political office in California.

Most have failed: In just the past few campaigns, Al Checchi spent $40 million in a failed bid for governor, Darrell Issa spent more than $12 million in an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate (he now serves in the House) and Mike Huffington spent $30 million in a losing campaign for the Senate.

Simon has refused to say how much of his personal fortune he plans to invest in his candidacy, though he has insisted that he will not be “Mr. Megabucks” trying to buy the governor’s office.

Simon, born in New Jersey, moved to California in 1990 to open a Los Angeles office of the family firm, William E. Simon & Sons. The private investment company controls assets of more than $3 billion, including the family-oriented cable network Pax TV.

Citing his business background, Simon said, “I’ve learned to see opportunities and anticipate problems–qualities that I believe that our current governor clearly lacks.

”. . . In the early ‘90s, when many people were writing the obituary for California, we began to invest in California . . . [creating] literally thousands of jobs,” he said.

A resident of Pacific Palisades, Simon has also been active on the board of several local charities, including Covenant House, Catholic Charities and Childrens Hospital. He cited his charitable works as a model he would pursue as governor, “embodying the philosophy that it’s better to teach a person to fish than to give them a fish.”

Simon’s only government experience was a stint from 1985 to 1988 as a federal prosecutor in New York City. On Friday, he repeatedly invoked the name of his former boss: then-U.S. Atty. Rudolph Giuliani, who has given his high-profile endorsement to the campaign.

Ironically, Simon was urged into the governor’s race by Riordan, a friend and fellow parishioner at St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica. Later, Riordan decided to run himself.

Twice in recent weeks, the Riordan campaign sent emissaries in hopes of persuading Simon to run for some other office. The freshly declared candidate laughed off a reporter’s suggestion that he had been “double-crossed” by Riordan, in effect disavowing the sentiment.

But Simon pointedly refused, when asked, to rule out attack advertising against the former mayor and GOP front-runner.

“We haven’t gotten to that point,” Simon said. “We’re early in the campaign. Right now I want to wage a campaign based on ideas.”

Jones has formally announced his candidacy; Riordan plans to do so Tuesday in Los Angeles. Davis, for his part, quietly filed papers Friday in Sacramento announcing his intention to seek a second term.

The governor’s plans have been no secret: Even before taking office, he started collecting money for his reelection, setting a four-year fund-raising goal of $50 million. As of Sept. 30, Davis had nearly $31 million in the bank.

The poll also shows 44 percent of Democrats were ‘very enthusiastic’ about voting in the 2026 midterm elections.

The approval rating for United States President Donald Trump remains at its lowest level since he began his second term in January, according to a new poll.

But Thursday’s survey, conducted by the news agency Reuters and the research firm Ipsos, found a jump in the share of respondents who said they disapproved of his performance.

His disapproval rating increased from 52 percent in mid-May to 58 percent in November. His approval rating, meanwhile, stayed at approximately 40 percent, roughly the same as it was in May.

The online poll, conducted over six days this month, surveyed 1,200 US adults nationwide about their opinions on top political figures and who they planned to vote for in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

It found that Democrats appeared to be more enthusiastic about next year’s midterms than their Republican counterparts, a result perhaps influenced by key Democratic victories this month.

Approximately 44 percent of registered voters who called themselves Democrats said they were “very enthusiastic” about voting in the 2026 elections, compared with 26 percent of Republicans.

Some 79 percent of Democrats said they would regret it if they did not vote in the midterm races, compared with 68 percent of Republicans.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be up for grabs next year, as will 35 seats in the 100-member Senate. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress.

But Democrats have recently been buoyed by wins on November 4, during the off-year elections.

The party won resounding victories in governor’s races for Virginia and New Jersey, and in New York City, a closely watched race mayoral race saw Zohran Mamdani sweep to victory over his centrist and right-wing competitors.

Voters in California also passed a ballot measure that will redraw its congressional districts to favour the Democrats, in response to Trump-inspired gerrymandering in Republican states.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll closed on Wednesday, just before Congress voted to end the longest government shutdown in US history.

The new spending bill, which extends federal funding until January 30, passed in the House of Representatives by a margin of 222 to 209, with six Democrats joining the Republican majority to reopen the government.

Trump signed a federal government spending bill late on Wednesday, ending the 43-day shutdown, which caused tumult for federal workers, families in need and air travel.

The bill had previously passed the Senate on Monday, after seven Democrats and one independent agreed to support it.

While Democrats appeared more “enthusiastic” than Republicans in the Reuters-Ipsos poll, the survey noted that the two parties appeared to be evenly matched in voter intention moving forward.

When poll respondents were asked whom they would vote for if congressional elections were held today, 41 percent of registered voters said they’d pick the Democratic candidate, while 40 percent chose the Republican candidate.

The narrow difference in those results fell well within the poll’s 3-percentage-point margin of error.

USC and Baylor jumped into the top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after big opening week victories.

The Bears began the season with a victory in Paris over then-No. 7 Duke to replace the Blue Devils in that spot Monday, climbing nine places. The Trojans edged then-No. 9 North Carolina State by a point Sunday to move up 10 spots to eighth overall.

While USC will be missing star JuJu Watkins all season as she recovers from an anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered last March, coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s team has a new young star in Jazzy Davidson, who hit the go-ahead shot with 8.2 seconds left.

Connecticut, South, Carolina, UCLA and Texas remained the top four teams in the poll after relatively easy opening week wins. The defending champion Huskies received 30 first-place votes from a national media panel while the Gamecocks got the other two.

Louisiana State and Oklahoma stayed at fifth and six, respectively. The Sooners faced UCLA on Monday night in Sacramento, a site of one of the NCAA regionals next spring.

Maryland moved up one place to ninth. N.C. State, which besides falling to USC beat Tennessee by three points in the opener, dropped to 10th. The Lady Vols fell to 12th and the Blue Devils 15th.

In and out

No. 25 Washington entered the top 25 for the first time in two years. The Huskies were hosting Montana on Monday night before heading to Utah on Saturday. Richmond dropped out of the poll after losing at Texas.

Banner raising

UConn unveiled its 12th championship banner on Sunday when the Huskies beat Florida State. The team took to the court before the game wearing custom white-and-gold tracksuits that read “National Champions XII” on the back.

Happy anniversary

The women’s basketball poll celebrates its 50th anniversary this month with the first rankings coming out in late November 1976. Founded by Mel Greenberg, the poll was a coaches’ poll until 1994-95 when it became one voted on by national media.

Games of the week

No. 2 South Carolina at No. 9 USC, Saturday. The Gamecocks will head west to face the Trojans in a home-and-home series dubbed “The Real SC”. Saturday’s game will be played at Crypto.com Arena and next year’s game will be played in Greenville, S.C.

No. 17 Texas Christian at No. 10 N.C. State, Sunday. The Wolfpack continue their difficult non-conference schedule facing the Horned Frogs, who added transfer Olivia Miles from Notre Dame this offseason.

Feinberg writes for the Associated Press.