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The scene at Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna’s election night party was mostly buzz cuts, dark suits and high-gloss black shoes. Deputies and politicos chatted over festive music while the local news played silently on a big screen at El Pescador Bar and Grill in Carson, which served as Luna’s campaign headquarters on Tuesday.

When the newscast declared around 9:50 p.m. that the sheriff had won a second term, dozens of friends, family members and colleagues nursing margaritas and tacos burst into a rousing round of applause. After one of the sleepiest sheriff’s races in recent memory, Luna had again cruised to victory over his predecessor, Alex Villanueva.

The vibe Tuesday night was very different than it was at the intimate gathering at his home in Long Beach in June 2022, when Luna learned that his relentless retail politics had fueled a convincing win over the rest of the field in that year’s primary.

Luna has risen far from the low-income neighborhoods on L.A.’s Eastside where he was raised in the 1970s and 1980s, when gangs and violence were rampant. His parents left behind their lives in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Michoacán, immigrating to the U.S., where he was born in an East Los Angeles hospital.

Luna’s wife Celines said Tuesday she didn’t believe he was going to win when he sat her and their two adult children down in summer 2021 and told them he wanted to come out of his brief retirement to run for sheriff. But “he worked 110% and he never gave up” during both the 2022 and 2026 campaigns, said Celines, who brought cheerleading pom-poms to shake for her husband Tuesday evening.

“He got home after 10 o’clock most nights. He basically worked two jobs,” she said.

All that work paid off Tuesday, when Luna became the first sheriff to secure a second term in L.A. County since Lee Baca, who held the office from 1998 to 2014.

Villanueva, on the other hand, has now lost three consecutive elections, including his last two sheriff bids and his failed 2024 campaign for L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s seat, which Hahn won outright in the primary with nearly three-fifths of the vote. The former sheriff’s brand of sharp-elbowed politics plagued by scandal and vitriol has left him effectively radioactive in county politics, according to some political observers.

Luna, meanwhile, has presided over a period of relative calm at the Hall of Justice. “There are, unfortunately, fractured relationships that need to be fixed,” Luna told The Times four days before he began his first term in 2022. “Sometimes,” he added, “the way you approach governing makes a huge difference.”

Luna has made good on that promise to improve relationships. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors took drastic measures to try to rein in Villanueva’s behavior while he was sheriff, including voting to investigate the department’s activities and freezing millions of dollars in funding. Luna, on the other hand, was endorsed by all five supervisors during this year’s campaign.

“Sheriff Robert Luna has earned the trust and support of voters, and this election is an overwhelming show of confidence in his leadership,” Hahn said in a statement. “Crime is down, he is bringing transparency and accountability back to the department, and he is working closely with me and my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to make our communities safer.”

A vague sense that the sheriff is “always in the news” for something good was part of what drove Rafael Nolasco to support his candidacy for a second term. The 49-year-old East L.A. native said last month that he planned to vote for Luna, whom he views as a role model for his children.

“Seeing somebody from your background having a position like that, to me it’s amazing,” Nolasco said after talking with Luna outside a taqueria in the neighborhood.

For Luna, campaigning has meant long hours away from his loved ones, so he’s excited to be able to focus solely on his work as sheriff.

“I want to get back to just doing my one full-time job and get reacquainted with my wife and my family. They sacrifice so much,” he said minutes after the sheriff’s race was called Tuesday night. “You’re working so hard, and at one point you take a deep breath and go, my God, how much have I sacrificed? And is it worth it? But tonight it was.”

Luna’s tenure as sheriff will now stretch from the late COVID-19 era through the 2028 Summer Olympics and beyond. He said late Tuesday that he’s got some priorities for his second term, including making more progress on deputy gangs and determining “what are we going to do with Men’s Central Jail.”

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in September that it is investigating conditions at Men’s Central Jail, which has been plagued for years by overcrowding, violence and other issues. Luna has said in the past that he would like to see the aging jail shut down if it is first replaced with a modern facility providing clinical care to inmates.

The sheriff also said he plans to track and adapt to how the broader political changes ushered in by the Democratic wave in the midterm elections Tuesday could impact approaches on immigration enforcement and other federal initiatives with local implications.

But first he said he’s going to take some time to determine the best way forward for his department.

“I’m going to bring my team back together, and we’re going to revisit all of our priorities … We’re going to continue the things that worked, reexamine things that may not have worked,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do. This is not a finished product.”

Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been barred from driving for six months after a hit-and-run crash into a parked car, prosecutors said.

Paul Pelosi, 86, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run and a traffic infraction of making an unlawful turn in connection with the July crash in Yountsville, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office said.

Under the plea agreement, Napa County Superior Court Judge Scott R.L. Young placed Pelosi on one year of probation and barred him from driving for six months — the maximum time allowed.

The court also ordered Pelosi to complete a 10-day work program and pay fines. As part of the plea agreement, Pelosi paid about $11,200 in restitution to the owner of the damaged vehicle.

During the crash, his brown Maserati convertible collided with an unoccupied Tesla, according to the criminal complaint filed in July.

Authorities at the time said witnesses saw the convertible briefly stop before driving away. The parked car was unoccupied, and no injuries were reported.

Prosecutors said they do not typically issue news releases regarding misdemeanor hit-and-run cases involving only property damage, but that the release was being issued due to public interest around the case.

Paul Pelosi has been issued at least eight driving violations over a more than a decade before the Yountville crash, cited for speeding, blowing through several red lights, and driving the wrong way down a one-way street, a New York Times review of court records found.

In 2022, he pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence after crashing his Porsche into an oncoming Jeep. He was fined, sentenced to five days in jail, and put on probation for three years.

California Democrats dominated in pivotal congressional races in Tuesday’s election, soundly defeating or holding commanding leads over Republican candidates from the state’s northern redwood forests to the Mexican border.

The election marked the first test of California’s new congressional district lines approved under Proposition 50 in 2025, a counterpunch to President Trump’s push to get Republican-led states to redraw their electoral maps to keep Democrats from gaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives — a GOP effort that flopped in spectacular fashion Tuesday.

“We fought fire with fire,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X on Wednesday. “And won.”

In the Central Valley, voters swept out Republican David Valadao, a longtime incumbent and dairy farmer in the San Joaquin Valley who batted away Democratic challengers for years. Valadao lost to Democrat Randy Villegas, a professor and school board member who was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and is aligned with the Working Families Party.

In Northern California, Republican-turned-independent Rep. Kevin Kiley lost to former state Sen. Richard Pan, a Democrat, for a newly suburban and rural seat in and around Sacramento. And in Southern California, Democrat Marni von Wilpert beat out a Republican candidate for a new district stretching across San Diego and Riverside counties. Parts of the district previously had been represented by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, a longtime politician who opted not to seek reelection.

Tuesday’s wins in California were part of a national trend, with Democrats seizing control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate and several governor seats.

As victors were declared on Wednesday morning, some political analysts downplayed Proposition 50’s effect. Instead, they credited Democrats’ success in California to voter discontent after two years of rising tariffs and gas prices, and immigration raids in the Golden State.

Democrats would have triumphed regardless, said Republican consultant Rob Stutzman, pointing to widespread anger over Republican policies, including that party’s push to retain control of the U.S. House through a highly unusual mid-decade redistricting experiment in some states.

“These are all things that activate Democrat voters, and things that alienate middle of the road voters. It’s just too much arrogance, too much power grab,” Stutzman said.

Newsom and other Democratic leaders campaigned for Proposition 50 in hopes of unseating five Republican incumbents in the state’s 52-member congressional delegation, the largest in the nation. 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 nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission.

Republicans’ redistricting efforts failed to reap them wins in several states, including in Texas.

Paul Mitchell, a Democratic redistricting expert who devised California’s new congressional map, disputed the notion that Democrats would have picked up five California congressional districts without Proposition 50 and argued Tuesday’s election showed the state was the most successful amid the nationwide redistricting wars.

“It would have been foolish for Democrats to sit back on their butts and say the future is going to take care of it,” he said, adding that Proposition 50 “crystallized” Democrats’ fight and “brought voters along.”

In another highly watched race, Rep. Adam Gray, a Democrat from Merced, won reelection after easily cruising past Republican challenger Kevin Lincoln. The perennially competitive district — which stretches from Madera through Merced and includes portions of Stockton — became more favorable to Democrats after it was redrawn under Proposition 50 to add urban voters.

And in Northern California, state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) beat out Republican Rep. James Gallagher of Yuba City, who won the seat in a special election earlier this year after the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa. The newly configured district includes Santa Rosa, Paradise and Susanville.

In Southern California, a match-up between two longtime Republican incumbents saw Rep. Ken Calvert of Corona beat Rep. Young Kim of Anaheim.

Calvert retained about half of the voters from his former district heading into Tuesday’s election, while Kim retained about a third. The new maps under Proposition 50 created a district that consolidated conservative voters in Orange and Riverside counties.

In Los Angeles, Angela Gonzales-Torres, a democratic socialist, beat Rep. Jimmy Gomez for a district stretching from Koreatown to East L.A. and the northeast communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park and El Sereno.

Gonzales-Torres’ victory marks a success for progressive groups, which have long targeted Gomez’s seat. The U.S. House Ethics Committee this summer announced an inquiry into Gomez, elected in 2017, over alleged “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.” He has denied wrongdoing, while acknowledging mistakes outside his marriage.

Other Democratic-against-Democratic races were too close to call, including a race for a district in Napa and Sacramento valleys between incumbent Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) and his challenger from the left, venture capitalist Eric Jones.

Times staff writer Hailey Branson-Potts contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — Latino voters, whose swing to the right aided President Trump’s election in 2024, helped Democrats reclaim both chambers of Congress on Tuesday in a stunning reversal of support for Republicans.

The shift, which transpired nationwide but was especially pronounced in Texas, is seen as a rebuke of the president and his party by a group of Americans who have watched as their families and neighbors were detained by immigration agents while their cost of living shot up.

“President Trump asked voters to pretend like he was on the ballot, and our observation is that Latino voters did just by that, resoundingly rejecting his extreme policies and actions and anyone who rubber-stamped them,” said Janet Murguía, president of UnidosUS, a Washington-based Latino civil rights and advocacy group.

“While the numbers are still coming in, what we know so far indicates that this will undoubtedly be the largest turnout of Latino voters ever in a midterm election,” she added.

UnidosUS on Wednesday released findings from a poll, conducted by the Los Angeles-based analytics firm BSP Research, of more than 3,000 Latinos who voted in the midterm elections. The findings showed many Latinos are independent, swing voters — 17% of 2024 Trump voters supported Democratic House candidates in this election.

Gary Segura, president of BSP Research, said on a call Wednesday with Murguía and reporters that Latino voters returned this election to historic patterns, with about two-thirds voting for Democrats and one-third voting Republican.

In 2024, Trump won more than 40% of Latino votes, many motivated by his promises to reduce prices.

This year, cost of living and inflation are by far Latino voters’ top concerns, the poll found, with more than half citing food and grocery costs as particular burdens and saying they have no money left over each month or struggle to pay bills.

Immigration was also a factor, with 90% of Latino voters supporting a balanced immigration system and a quarter of them naming ICE and immigration reform as among their top three issues, following cost of living.

“The Republican candidates on the ballot yesterday were really struggling to swim upstream against an administration with this kind of disapproval across issues,” Segura said.

GOP strategist Giancarlo Sopo said right-wing echo chambers didn’t understand that when Latinos hear “criminal illegals” they picture gang members or people who evaded Border Patrol.

“But the vast majority of immigrants without legal status did not swim the Rio Grande,” he wrote in a post on social media. “Conflating people who sneak in with asylum applicants and visa overstayers working through a labyrinthine system is turning off Hispanics.”

In Texas, voters in majority-Latino districts near San Antonio and along the border helped Democrats break Republicans’ longstanding grip on the state to win the races for governor, lieutenant governor and senator. James Talarico’s victory against Republican Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton marks the first time a Democrat has won a Senate seat in Texas since 1988.

NBC exit polling shows that 61% of Latino men, with whom Trump had made particular inroads, voted for Talarico.

Among those casting his ballot was Ronaldo Salgado, the son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Houston. He told MSNOW on Monday that he had placed his “I Voted” sticker on a memorial dedicated to his father.

“I always vote with my parents in mind, with my family in mind, but this year’s vote is definitely with much heavier weight on it,” he said. “I cried as I was casting my vote because I was doing it in honor of my dad.”

Bobby Pulido, a South Texas Tejano singer whose campaign strategy included performing at quinceañeras, beat Republican incumbent Rep. Monica De La Cruz by more than 20 percentage points. De La Cruz was among the battleground Republicans to warn the White House that ICE should focus on criminals and not law-abiding people.

Latino voters told the BSP Research pollsters that both parties, but especially Democrats, reached out to them more in this election cycle than in the past.

Even in districts where Democrats did not prevail, Latino votes made some races tight. In Florida, where Republican Sen. Ashley Moody narrowly won reelection and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar holds a slim lead, Latinos also shifted left.

Doral, a municipality near Miami with the highest concentration of Venezuelans in the country, favored Trump in 2024 by 23 percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris. On Tuesday, Doral voters chose Moody’s competitor, Angie Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, by 3 percentage points.

Nationally, about 6 in 10 Latino voters opted for the Democratic candidate in their local House race, according to an Associated Press exit poll.

The midterm was also pivotal for Latino representation among elected officials.

In the two states with the most Latino residents, Gina Hinojosa became the first Latina elected governor in Texas, and Xavier Becerra is California’s first Latino governor in more than 150 years.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus announced that it will have at least 55 members in the new Congress, making it the largest membership in the caucus’s 50-year history.

“Our representation is growing, our voices are stronger, and no one can afford to take Latino voters for granted,” caucus leaders wrote in a statement.

But representation alone won’t cut it, said Julián Castro, chief executive of the Latino Community Foundation. Latinos will look to how their votes translate into policy changes that benefit those who trusted the leaders they helped elect.

“What are they going to do about affordability?” he said on the call with UnidosUS. “What are they going to do about corruption and rooting that out? What are they going to do about ending ICE abuse and cruelty and pursuing a more balanced approach on immigration?”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), who is likely to become the next chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, acknowledged the responsibility that Democrats have.

“One of the big stories coming out of tonight is the enormous swing that Latino voters are now re-entrusting Democrats on,” he told MeidasTouch News. “…We have to deliver on taking on ICE. We have to deliver on passing real immigration solutions and reform.”

The Force is with Harrison Ford.

The legendary actor, who received the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award earlier this year, will be lauded with another career honor.

The Paley Center for Media will celebrate Ford at its fall gala, alongside previously announced honorees Greg Berlanti, Goldie Hawn and Melissa McCarthy. All four will receive the organization’s highest accolade at the annual Paley Honors event in Beverly Hills on Dec. 3.

Although known for his iconic roles in the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” movie franchises, he recently shifted his focus toward television — first as the Dutton family patriarch in “1923” then as a therapist in “Shrinking.”

“Harrison Ford’s landmark performances have brought some of entertainment’s most memorable characters to life and established him as a global icon whether playing action heroes or the everyman,” Maureen J. Reidy, president and chief executive of the Paley Center, said in a statement. “His recent Emmy Award-nominated turn as Dr. Paul Rhoades on ‘Shrinking’ further solidifies his legacy as one of the world’s most beloved actors. We are honored to celebrate his ongoing achievements with the Paley Honors Award.”

Ford has by no means stopped making movies (see: 2020’s “The Call of the Wild,” 2023’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and 2025’s “Captain America: Brave New World”), but he hadn’t played a regular, recurring TV character before 2022, when he joined the “Yellowstone” prequel series “1923” as Jacob Dutton.

Last year, at the fresh age of 83, Ford became a first-time Emmy nominee for his performance in the second season of “Shrinking.”

The Paley Honors Award recognizes landmark contributions to and enduring impact on the media industry, and its gala will feature a special tribute celebrating each honoree’s distinguished career and creative legacy.

Megaproducer Berlanti is known for his work on numerous TV series, including “Dawson’s Creek,” “Everwood,” “Riverdale,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “You,” as well as DC Comics adaptations like the Arrowverse shows, “Titans” and “Doom Patrol.”

Hawn broke out on the NBC sketch comedy program “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” won the supporting actress Oscar for her feature film debut in 1969’s “Cactus Flower” and starred as the titular “Private Benjamin” in the 1980 military comedy, which snagged her an Academy Award nomination for lead actress.

McCarthy has picked up two Emmys, one for lead actress in a comedy for her role on the CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly” and the other for guest actress in a comedy for hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2017. She also portrayed perky chef Sookie in “Gilmore Girls,” and earned two Oscar nominations for “Bridesmaids” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Mike Madrid was prepping to interview Xavier Becerra on Olvera Street last month when the immensity of the moment hit him.

That morning, Becerra held a rally for his gubernatorial campaign in the birthplace of Los Angeles alongside California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and the leader of the state Senate, Monique Limón, that doubled as a referendum on where Latinos stood politically.

Never before have Latinos occupied the top spots in both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s mansion simultaneously, Rivas told the cheering crowd. Becerra reminded the audience that the moment was fraught for Latinos, though. Federal agents were still detaining undocumented immigrants across the state, and Latino residents — the state’s largest ethnic group at 41% — were suffering under the crushing cost of food, gas and housing.

“[Latinos] are here, we are present and we will fight,” Becerra said. “But right now, our fight is to get the vote out, to make sure everyone understands that our power lies in our vote.”

Madrid, a longtime political commentator and strategist, had set up his recording equipment at the Pico House, formerly a historic hotel named after the last Mexican governor of California. He recalled how Pio Pico, who helped found the California Republican Party but ended up dying destitute, opened the structure in 1870 as a testament to what Latinos had contributed to their state. But they would eventually be seen as a relic of the bygone days when Mexicans ruled — days that gringos imagined would never return.

The symbolism of a Becerra victory would be “kind of a big deal,” Madrid said, representing a back to the future opportunity for an ethnic group that ruled California until the United States won the Mexican-American War, then was relegated to political irrelevance for over a century before finally being at the doorstep of the governor’s mansion again. Becerra would become California’s first Latino governor in modern times and the second since Romualdo Pacheco served for 10 months in 1875.

Now that the race has been called, Becerra’s victory signifies how much Latinos have advanced since Pico’s days. But it’s also anticlimactic.

As California’s Latino population grew and their political power eventually did too, the days when such a victory would have been an inspiring surprise are long gone. Becerra is now just one of many Latino political captains who steer the Golden State.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero became the first Latina to occupy that role when Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed her in 2023. The state’s senior U.S. senator, Alex Padilla, is the son of Mexican immigrants who settled in the San Fernando Valley. Rep. Pete Aguilar, a fourth-generation Mexican American from Redlands, is the third most powerful Democrat in Congress as the head of the party’s House caucus. Lorena Gonzalez, daughter of a Mexican immigrant father and white mother, leads the California Labor Federation, a longtime kingmaker in state politics.

And now, with Becerra at the helm, they will have to govern at a precarious moment, inheriting a state with existential problems affecting everyone, everywhere.

Droughts, El Niño, an eroding coast and the year-round threat of wildfires, much of it accelerated by climate change. Stagnant population growth that threatens to shrink the number of congressional seats. A presidential administration that keeps fighting California in federal court and has attempted to block the votes of 20,000 Californians it alleges are noncitizens. A restive population that Madrid predicts won’t let Becerra bask in his historic win.

“This is what you’ve always wanted. Here’s the keys to the car,” he cracked. “You’re responsible for it now. Who you’re going to blame if things don’t get better — Trump?”

Jody Agius Vallejo, associate director of USC’s Equity Research Institute, said she hopes that California’s new caretakers remember the struggles of getting to the summit — that they represent the dreams and battles of generations of politicians, voters and activists — as they embark on whatever’s next.

“You use these narratives [of Latino personal and collective struggle] to get elected,” she said. “Use them to understand what people need, and govern for them.”

Many voters were already shrugging about the significance of Becerra’s likely victory — especially Latinos. Only 45% of Latino voters in California felt “proud” about the prospect of a Latino governor, according to a Berkeley IGS poll released last week.

Those results aren’t surprising to Lena Gonzalez, a Long Beach-area state senator who chairs California’s Latino Legislative Caucus. She praised Becerra’s victory as the culmination of decades of political organizing. But voters care more about results than identity, she said — something the Latino political class has been slow to realize.

“People will say, ‘OK, that’s great [he’s Latino], but how are you fighting back?’” she said. “I just think we need to lead now and not advertise we’re Latinos.”

Becerra has long been a poster child for Latino political firsts, representing L.A.’s Eastside in the state Assembly and Congress for 27 years before Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to be California’s first Latino attorney general in 2017. Three years later, Becerra became the country’s first Latino Health and Human Services secretary under President Biden.

Becerra has rarely highlighted his latinidad while never shying away from his background as the child of Mexican immigrants. He told Madrid at the end of their interview at the Pico House that Californians should be prouder of his working class roots than his ethnicity.

Some have complained that Becerra is an unworthy, boring torchbearer for Latinos — not dynamic enough to meet a moment where many hoped for a firebrand. But in many ways, his style is a callback to the past.

When Latino politicians first began winning local and state legislative elections in the decades after World War II, they “were constantly about, ‘How do I mobilize the Latino vote without alienating the white vote, and how do I get support from the establishment which is white?’” said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University and a longtime chronicler of California politics.

Latinos were the majority of the population in some areas during that era, but politicians couldn’t rely solely on them to win, because they still didn’t represent a majority of voters. That changed by the late 1980s, as immigration brought millions of Latinos to California.

Civil rights activists successfully sued cities and counties to draw district lines making it easier for Latinos to vote for Latino candidates. Local activists registered new voters by selling them a future where people like them would be leaders, not tokens. Pioneers like Richard Alatorre and Gloria Molina subsequently created political machines, which helped Becerra get his start.

That set the stage for politicians who “didn’t need the external validation anymore” of white voters or power brokers, Guerra said. “They could now say, ‘I am a Latino candidate with a Latino agenda, because I represent a Latino district.’”

By 1996, two years after the anti-immigrant Proposition 187 galvanized Latino activism, a record number of newly registered Latino voters in Orange County helped Loretta Sanchez upset longtime Republican Rep. Bob Dornan, the first welt of purple in a famously red county. That same year, Cruz Bustamante became the first Latino Assembly speaker, then lieutenant governor — the first Latino elected to statewide office in California since Pacheco ascended to the same position in the 1870s. In 2005, Antonio Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles, sparking national headlines as the first Latino to occupy that position in modern times.

The Latino political firsts kept coming over the next 20 years, now reaching a pinnacle with Becerra’s win. Guerra said that “incremental” approach made Latinos mainstream to the point where the novelty of another milestone quickly wore off.

“Do you want a transformative moment? Absolutely,” he said. “But those come few and far in between. Incremental comes every two years.”

Becerra started his campaign for governor far behind in the polls, surging after Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out due to sexual assault allegations. Becerra’s campaign leaned into his milquetoast persona and crowned him Tío Xavier — Uncle Xavier — to market him as a non-threatening moderate who happened to be Latino.

Madrid, a lifelong Republican, voted for Becerra because of GOP candidate Steve Hilton’s refusal to denounce MAGA. He also thinks Becerra can “resurrect a healthy economy for the working class” — something he accuses Democrats of “abandon[ing] for a generation.” The “burden” is on California’s Latino leaders to show they can serve not just their own community but everyone, he said.

On Monday, Becerra mingled with eaters at Homegirl Cafe in Chinatown, looking anodyne in a white shirt, wire-framed glasses and tan khakis as supporters asked for selfies or a hug.

Half-hearted shouts of “¡Sí se puede!” gave way to authentically boisterous chants of “Be-ce-rra!”

The heavy favorite for governor took questions in the packed dining room and didn’t flinch when I asked him to reflect on the fact that Latinos will head every branch of California government if he wins.

“We’re all fortunate when a state like California gives all of us opportunities to be in position of authority,” Becerra replied.

He nodded at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who stood by his side.

“But we gotta do it right,” he said. “And it’s on me to be a good governor — not to be a good Latino governor, but to be a good governor.”

WASHINGTON — As the scale of the Republican Party’s losses came into focus late Tuesday, President Trump watched from the White House and went looking for someone to blame.

First it was Fox News. Just before midnight, with Democrats projected to seize control of the House, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the network “bears responsibility for these losses by constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition, and worse.” Then it was the fact that he had not been on the ballot, otherwise, he said, “we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”

Minutes later, Trump was on the phone with the same network he had just accused of sabotaging his party. And over a 22-minute interview, conducted before the Senate had been called for Democrats, his tone shifted from grievance to something closer to acceptance, though never to the idea that the election results were a rebuke on his administration.

“Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years and they finally got it,” the president said. “But I don’t view it as a hit on me. I think we’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the president in terms of the economy, in terms of all the things that we’ve done.”

Reflecting on the losses, Trump largely put the onus on the candidates, some of whom he said he only endorsed for the good of the party.

“I was trying to get people that, frankly, let’s say that I didn’t get along with. But for the purposes of the party I went along with it,” he said.

Trump said his supporters “didn’t like the candidates,” and that some of the nominees had failed to “inspire” the MAGA base, which over a span of 30 days he tried to engage in campaign rallies in Republican strongholds, including South Carolina, Texas and Kansas, where Democrats pulled off upsets against the GOP candidates.

As Trump reflected on the election results, he offered a narrow acknowledgment that his war with Iran has played a role, saying voters “probably don’t agree with the short-term consequences” such as higher gas prices.

“It’s a short-term problem but for long term-gain,” he said, and then argued that history would judge his actions in the Middle East as “much more important than this evening.”

Looking ahead to what the election results mean for the last two years of his presidency with Democrats in control, Trump said he is willing to work with them — but that he will not hesitate to use the power of the veto.

“I have the power of veto, one of the strongest powers that a president has and they’ll send over things that are insane and I will veto them,” he said.”After a couple of months of vetoes they will call, and they’ll say, how do we get this stuff done? And we’ll work together.”

Trump said he has “a lot of friends who are Democrats.” He said he talked to five Democrats – two senators and three representatives – on Tuesday night and that three others were about to call him.

In the end, Trump said Democrats “fought hard” and did a “good job.”

A ballot measure that would funnel more money to the Los Angeles city Fire Department by raising sales taxes by a half-cent was leading in early returns Tuesday night, along with seven other ballot measures before city voters.

“I’m humbled by the support of the voters,” said Doug Coates, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, which spearheaded the measure. “We showed up and we did what we needed to do … Thank you to the voters.”

Partial returns also showed L.A. voters turning thumbs up on a City Charter amendment that would allow the City Council to meet just once a week, instead of the thrice-weekly meetings now required.

Measure FD would increase the city’s retail sales tax from 10.25 cents to 10.75 cents per dollar spent, with all of the extra revenue going to the Fire Department. The city still would be required to fund firefighters at its normal rate, meaning the measure would add an estimated $345 million annually to the department’s budget.

Proponents of the measure include the union representing rank-and-file firefighters, who say the department is underfunded. The tax fund is needed to lower response times across the city and increase the number of firefighters, according to the union.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., a nonprofit that advocates for lower taxes, opposed the measure. The organization raised concerns that this would be the third sales tax hike since 2024, costing an average of $86 per person and $345 for a family of four in additional sales taxes each year.

It also was opposed by the union representing Los Angeles Police Department officers, which objected to limiting the revenue to one city department.

The measure that would allow the City Council to meet just once a week was included in Charter Amendment EE. Most City Council members supported it, with Councilmember Tim McOsker noting his time is better spent working in his district.

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez opposed the measure, arguing that having fewer public forums is a disservice to constituents, who would have less time to meaningfully engage with their representatives. She also worried fewer meetings would mean council members would rush through deliberations.

The amendment also would make smaller changes to how the city governs, including giving more power to independent inspectors to conduct audits of the L.A. Police and Fire Departments, and increase the penalties for campaign finance violations.

The number of signatures needed for a ballot referendum also would rise, and ethics commissioners would be barred from City Council or the L.A. Unified Board of Education for five years.

The six other measures were leading by wider margins.

Proposition TE was ahead in early results. Measure ULA, also known as the “mansion tax,” imposes additional taxes on L.A. property sales above $5.4 million. Proposition TE would allow Palisades fire victims who own homes in the area to avoid the tax as long as they sell the property within five years of the disaster.

Charter Amendment LA, which aims to streamline how the city delivers basic services for infrastructure in need of repair, was leading in early results. The measure would reduce the power of the city Board of Public Works and possibly lead to eliminating it.

Charter Amendment PL took a big lead in partial early returns. The measure folds in five proposals, including to consolidate the city’s planning department, to facilitate building and opening businesses in the city.

Charter Amendment PRK, which would double the minimum amount of money earmarked for the Department of Recreation and Parks, had a big early lead in early results. If it passes, the department could receive a minimum of $986 million annually by 2036, up from the current rate that would generate $493 million by that year.

A measure that would make changes to the city’s airports, harbor and Department of Water and Power had a big lead in early results. Charter Amendment PRT would require the Los Angeles World Airport’s board of commissioners to include two members who live in Van Nuys and three who live around LAX.

Charter Amendment SC, which makes small clarifying changes to language surrounding campaign finance rules for the LAUSD Board of Education, also led in early results. Those changes would affect campaign contribution limits, filing deadlines, public disclosures and fundraising windows.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna was leading challenger and former Sheriff Alex Villanueva by a wide margin in his bid for reelection Tuesday, according to early returns, in a rematch of the 2022 race between the two lawmen.

Early returns also showed L.A. County voters favoring Measure A, which would establish binding arbitration for sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and other public safety employees who by law cannot go on strike.

A second county ballot measure, Measure E, was far ahead in early returns. Measure E asks voters to create an independent ethics commission that previously was approved by another measure, and address administrative missteps that invalidated funding approved by voters in 2020 to support jail alternatives.

In the sheriff’s race, Villanueva was seeking to regain the job he lost in 2022 when Luna successfully challenged him for reelection.

This contest was lower profile than the 2022 race, but the stakes are just as high, as the new Los Angeles County sheriff will face a host of challenges, from navigating relationships with federal and local agencies to boosting recruitment and retention.

Luna pitched himself to county voters as a calmly effective operator who has brought down crime while building relationships with local, state and federal leaders that suffered under his predecessor’s tenure. The incumbent highlighted his department’s successful navigation of World Cup security and the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration agents and troops to L.A. as examples of the efficacy of his approach.

Villanueva, on the other hand, has sought to depict L.A. County as more dangerous under what he describes as the overly permissive approach of Luna. The former sheriff claimed Luna has presided over a deep decline in department morale and staffing while being too soft on drug users, the homeless and petty criminals.

Representatives of the Luna and Villanueva campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening.

Both men guided the department through tumultuous periods for the county. Villanueva was sheriff for nearly two years at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Luna was in office during the Eaton and Palisades fires.

The next four years promise further challenges. The Olympic Games are less than two years away, and the sheriff’s department will be expected to play a major role keeping millions of visitors and athletes safe.

The new sheriff also will be expected to rein in the department’s budget, which has experienced ballooning overtime costs as sworn vacancies have risen markedly under both sheriffs.

Villanueva claims Luna is out of touch with deputies and that they are leaving the force en masse in response to his poor leadership skills. Villanueva said he would improve staffing by redirecting overtime spending and serving as a beacon to would-be deputies who’ve been turned off by Luna.

But Luna denies that deputies are fleeing the department and says he’s taken major steps to improve the hiring process. He has hired an outside contractor to speed up applicant background checks and provided an avenue for many new deputies to go from the academy to patrol instead of first requiring a stint in one of the county’s jails.

Among the two countywide ballot measures, Measure A was the highest profile, with unions representing county deputy sheriffs, firefighters and others spending millions of dollars in support.

Measure A would mandate binding arbitration between the county government and negotiators who represent deputies, firefighters, lifeguards and other public safety employees in the event contract talks reach an impasse.

Currently, the county supervisors can impose a final offer that employees must accept because by law, public safety personnel are not allowed to strike.

Supporters say the measure adds balance to the negotiations process and removes the unilateral authority of the county Board of Supervisors. The change is backed by unions representing county firefighters, sheriff’s deputies and other public safety employees.

County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath authored the motion, which has the support of four out of the five supervisors. No formal opposition has been filed. Supervisor Holly Mitchell raised financial concerns about the measure but has not officially opposed it.

Measure E on the county ballot would fix issues with Measure J, which was approved by voters in 2020, and Measure G, which passed in 2024.

Measure J earmarked at least 10% of locally generated, unrestricted revenue to incarceration alternatives. However, some of the ballot language in Measure G unintentionally repealed Measure J — an administrative error that was discovered in June 2025. Amendment E would partly ensure the funding to incarceration alternatives remains in effect.

The amendment also would enshrine in the county charter the seven-member ethics commission and ethics compliance office that was created when Measure G passed.

The amendment has the support of Horvath and other supervisors, as well as the League of Women Voters of L.A. County, who said Measure J shouldn’t be undone by an administrative error.

The New York Liberty have fired Chris DeMarco after just one season as head coach, the team announced Tuesday.

DeMarco, who had no prior WNBA experience, led the Liberty through a rocky season that included a Commissioner’s Cup win in June before eventually finishing 26-18 and earning the No. 8 seed for the playoffs. The team swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 2-0 in the first round, becoming the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in league history.

But the Liberty were then swept 3-0 by the Atlanta Dream in the semifinals. The series included a massive Game 2 mistake by the Liberty coaching staff of not knowing they had a reset timeout left to use in the final seconds of the 101-98 loss.

After the Liberty were eliminated, DeMarco said he expected to return for the 2027 season. Instead, the franchise will be looking for its third head coach in three years. This will also be Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb‘s fourth coaching search since 2019.

DeMarco was named coach of the Liberty in December, after the franchise chose not to renew former coach Sandy Brondello‘s contract for the 2026 season. A former WNBA player as well as longtime coach of the Phoenix Mercury, Brondello’s four-year tenure with New York included leading the team to its first ever WNBA championship in 2024.

A former assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, DeMarco arrived to New York with 14 years of NBA experience as well as having served as the coach of the Bahamas men’s national team from 2019 to 2025. When asked during his introductory news conference in December about how he was preparing to coach women for the first time in his career, DeMarco said he had “ordered every book on the New York Liberty you can find online.”

Following their final loss to Atlanta, Liberty stars Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones did not have much to say regarding DeMarco’s future with the franchise other than it wasn’t their decision.

But Stewart, who helped carry the team for much of its injury-laden season, said then that she “1000%” believed the team has the talent to win a championship and described the season as “a missed opportunity.”

“Of course we want to win a championship every single time we step on the court, but it’s really hard in this league,” Stewart said. “And in order to do that, you need to be consistent for the full 44 games … and I don’t think that we were consistent throughout the season. … This is not like cramming for a test, you got to be ready to go since the jump.”

The Liberty’s coaching vacancy is the second in the WNBA after the season. The Sparks fired second-year coach Lynn Roberts after the conclusion of the regular season in September.

Walt Disney Co. is experimenting with using artificial intelligence to test out different concepts for music videos showcasing the lyrics to its songs, starting with “Go the Distance” from its 1997 animated movie, “Hercules.”

The effort is part of a deal with Bay Area AI startup OpenArt, which makes AI generated videos. Disney can input its songs into OpenArt’s platform, which will create a storyboard preview of a lyric video based on the song’s words, mood and emotional tone. Disney can make any changes during the process and fine-tune the video.

“They are very excited to bring some of the older catalogs of the music and create visual lyrics videos for those songs,” said OpenArt CEO Coco Mao, adding it’s “early exploration” for Disney to see how AI could potentially help with their creative workflow.

By working with OpenArt, “creative teams can iterate more freely, generating and evaluating multiple concepts in hours rather than weeks, enabling new fan experiences around Disney music between major releases,” Disney said in a blog post.

The commercial deal was announced as part of the Disney Accelerator Demo Day on Tuesday in Burbank. OpenArt was one of five companies in this year’s Accelerator program, which provides participants with investment capital and the opportunity to explore future collaborations with Disney leaders. This year, the entire cohort is made up of AI companies.

“We’re looking at how we can fit these companies into our existing workflows and help expedite that,” said David Min, vice president of innovation at the Walt Disney Co.

The experiment comes as Disney has challenged other AI companies over the use of its intellectual property. Disney and other studios have sued AI companies Midjourney and MiniMax, and in February, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Chinese tech company ByteDance over its AI video generator Seedance 2.0.

OpenArt offers a platform that works with many different AI models, including Kling, Google Veo and Seedream. Businesses can select which AI models they wish to use for their videos. OpenArt also has a tool that helps flag potential intellectual property infringement.

Videos featuring the lyrics to Disney songs can be popular on social media and video platforms. For example, a lyric video posted six years ago featuring “Go the Distance” sung in different languages with a scene from “Hercules” generated 280,000 views on YouTube.

In general, making music videos has been a popular way that creators are using AI, as it can be more economical and allow them to test bold ideas without blowing the budget or going to multiple locations. Rather than a static image with music, a lyric video with different imagery can also help increase views on social media platforms.

“Before joining Open Art, I was in a rock band, so I was one of the artists that know the pain of not having enough money or time or resource to make lyrics videos or any kind of videos to promote your song on social media, so being able to be a part of building a tool that helps musicians and songs from big to small is very monumental,” said OpenArt executive Chloe Fang, who oversees entertainment and enterprise partnerships.

OpenArt was founded in 2022 by former Google engineers Mao and John Qiao. The company said it has nearly 100 employees and 17 million monthly active users.

Disney is considering different ways to incorporate AI into the company. For example, Disney Accelerator participant Irvine-based FieldAI is working with Disney on exploring whether robots can support parking or other operations within theme parks and San Francisco-based Physical Intelligence is looking at whether robotic systems can help with the handling and arranging of 3D glasses for cleaning between shows at Disney theme parks.

In September, Disney named Character.AI’s then-Chief Executive Karandeep Anand as its new chief technology officer. Last month, Character.AI filed for bankruptcy, and Disney offered $20 million to license some of the startup’s intellectual property. Other bidders can still top Disney’s offer.

Not all of Disney’s AI partnerships have worked out. Last year Disney announced a $1-billion investment in OpenAI and a licensing deal to bring Disney characters to OpenAI’s AI video generator Sora, but it fell apart months later after OpenAI decided to shut down Sora to focus its resources on other aspects of its business. The deal was never completed and no money changed hands.

Rachel Apa, a former Division I field hockey player and first-time marathon runner, died Sunday after she collapsed while participating in the New York City Marathon. She was 24.

Apa experienced a “medical incident” during the race, according to marathon organizers New York Road Runners, and a bystander administered CPR until medical staff arrived. Staff continued with CPR and also used a defibrillator in their efforts to revive her. EMS transported Apa to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where doctors tried to save her life for more than six hours, her father, Steve Apa, told the New York Times.

“We are deeply saddened by Rachel’s passing following running in Sunday’s race,” the Road Runners said in a statement. “Our thoughts and sincere sympathies are with her family, friends, and the entire running community.”

According to multiple media outlets, the family was told by doctors that Apa had died of rhabdomyolysis — “a rare condition in which muscle cells break down and release a substance into the blood that can lead to kidney failure,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Marathon runners are listed as people that could be affected by the condition.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in New York did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this article.

Apa spent four years with the Bucknell University field hockey team before graduating in 2024 with a degree in business administration. She made 42 starts in 63 overall games, compiling 40 points on 17 goals and six assists.

A product manager at TE Connectivity who was pursuing an MBA at Charleston Southern University in South Carolina, Apa decided earlier this year to run the New York City Marathon as part of the Parkinson’s Champions team.

“My grandfather was my role model growing up,” she wrote on the team’s fundraising page. “He taught me to stay active, push my limits, and embrace challenges, shaping my love for sports and movement. Later in life, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and I watched as the disease slowly took away the freedom to move that he once loved so much. He passed away in 2022, but the lessons he taught me continue to drive me forward.”

The fundraiser garnered more than $21,000 in donations, far surpassing Apa’s stated goal of $4,000.

Her father, Steve Apa, told the New York Times she had been training for the marathon for months.

“It’s unfathomable,” he said of his daughter’s death. “Perfect health, perfect shape, 24 years old.”

He told multiple media outlets that his daughter was accompanied to the race by her mother and some friends, while he stayed home in Lewisberry, Pa., and tracked her progress on an app, texting with her along the way.

Several miles into the race, Steve Apa told NBC News, his daughter texted “I feel amazing” and “I’ve never felt this good.”

Soon after, at around the 14-mile mark, Apa’s mother shot a video of her daughter smiling and waving as she ran by.

A few miles later, Steve Apa told the outlets, he started receiving texts from his daughter that said things like “ugh” and “ow.” He stopped hearing from her around mile 20 or 21 but could see on the app that she was still running, until her progress stopped at mile 24.

According to the New York Police Department, police officers assigned to the marathon “observed a 24-year-old female experiencing a medical episode near mile marker 24” at around 1:40 p.m. “EMS responded and transported the female to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition,” NYPD said in an email.

Apa’s mother rushed to the location and was told by an EMS worker that her daughter had been taken away in an ambulance, Steve Apa told NBC News. Michelle Apa received a ride to the hospital in another ambulance.

Apa was declared dead at around 9:40 p.m., Steve Apa told the New York Times.

According to the Road Runners, the last time a New York City Marathon participant suffered a medical incident during the race and later died at a hospital was 2024.

Nearly two-thirds of California voters are worried that the Trump administration may try to halt the vote count early, stoking disquieting levels of election anxiety on the eve of the midterms, a new poll shows.

Those fears arise as the Justice Department continues its aggressive efforts to challenge or wrest control over state voting processes, including threatening to prosecute uncooperative elections officials in California, after years of baseless claims of widespread election fraud by the Republican president.

Among California voters, 63% worry that the federal government may attempt to stop the counting of votes in California and other states in the days following Tuesday’s election, according to the poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times. Around half of voters — 49% — are not confident that the state’s election will be free of federal interference, the survey found.

“Both of the items, together, I think should raise alarms for threats against democracy in California,” said Matt Barreto, director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

California voters also have grievances with the state’s ballot propositions, a slate of 14 measures that include new taxes on billionaires and funding for cancer research. More than 8 in 10 of the state’s likely voters said that this year’s propositions were worded in a way that made them hard to understand and that special interests groups have too much influence over which propositions appear on the ballot.

Those concerns were shared across partisan lines, unlike how Californians felt about the threats posed to integrity of elections by the Trump administration. The high level of fear in the state reflects the fact that registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 2 to 1 in California.

While 58% of Democrats are not confident the election will be free of federal interference, 27% of Republicans feel the same way, according to the poll. Similarly, 85% of Democrats are worried about the vote count being halted, compared with 22% of Republicans. A majority of California voters not affiliated with either party also expressed fears of interference by the Trump administration.

“I think voters are reflecting the reality,” Barreto said. “For the past month, the president and the Department of Justice have been attempting to directly interfere and take over California elections and voters are aware of that.”

The Department of Justice has sued California requesting the state set aside some 20,000 ballots the federal government has flagged as being potentially from noncitizens. Federal prosecutors have threatened criminal actions against election officials who refuse to comply. On Monday, the Trump administration escalated its effort to discount the flagged California ballots to the Supreme Court, which rejected its request to set aside the ballots.

Over the weekend, Newsom sent a letter to U.S. District Court judges across California sharing his “grave concerns federal agents will seek search warrants to seize ballots and ballot materials before the election results are certified” and urging judges not to comply.

Newsom wrote that President Trump’s history of weaponizing the Department of Justice to carry out his partisan agenda supports “legitimate concerns about further attempts to disenfranchise voters and undermine election integrity.” Newsom said this could include an attempt to prevent the certification of California’s election.

Concerns have also been raised about the presence of immigration agents around voting centers and performing door knocks and street stops to try to identify voter fraud.

Court rulings have recently dealt a series of blows to the Trump administrations efforts to intervene in the state’s voting process. Nonetheless, distress over election integrity remains extremely high, according to the poll.

Fears of federal meddling in the election are slightly higher among voters of color; 64% of Black voters and 54% of Latino voters said they are not confident the election will be free of interference, compared with 44% of white non-Hispanic voters, according to the poll.

Voters of color tend to lean more liberal, but the historic and ongoing efforts to disenfranchise minorities probably also contribute to this disparity, Barreto said.

Black voters have been a target of voter suppression efforts from the post-Civil War Reconstruction era through the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, he said. More recently, the Trump administration has singled out Latino Californians, accusing them of being noncitizens and voting illegally.

Professor Eric Schickler, co-director of the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, described the level of alarm over election integrity in California and across the nation as without precedent.

He noted that both parties are distrustful about different things, with Republicans focused on allegations of fraudulent voting and Democrats fearful that the federal government may attempt to overturn results.

The last time America saw extreme political polarization paired with widespread claims of illegitimacy over election outcomes was during the Reconstruction era in the late 19th century, when there were widespread accusations of voter suppression in the South and of people voting illegally in the North, he said.

“That hasn’t happened really in the United States for well over a century now,” Schickler said, “so what we’re seeing now is really unusual, especially for a modern and long-lived democracy.”

Schickler said his highest level of concern with possible federal efforts to halt California’s vote count would be with congressional races. A handful of California races could play a pivotal role in deciding which party takes control of the U.S. House of Representatives. However, he said current polling data do not indicate that a Democratic path to victory in the lower house will rely on Golden State voters.

Trump in the past has criticized California for being one of the slowest states in the nation to finish tabulating its election results due to its large population and high number of voters who mail in their ballots. He’s also complained about late arriving ballots. Votes processed after election day in California typically contain a higher proportion of Democratic ballots than those processed on election night.

In addition, to highlight the unprecedented anxiety many California voters are feeling, the poll also shines a light on frustrations voters have with the state’s ballot propositions. Among likely voters, 82% agree that the wording of this year’s propositions made them hard to understand and 82% also agree that special interest groups have largely taken over which initiatives qualify.

In addition, 62% of likely voters feel that there are too many propositions on this year’s ballot. There are 14 statewide propositions, with many voters also seeing additional initiatives at a county and city level.

“The initiative is meant to be an outlet for voters when special interest groups lead legislators to fail to respond to their concerns,” Schickler said. “But now most voters believe the initiative process is itself too beholden to special interests.”

In the last 20 years, California’s ballot initiative campaigns have become increasingly controlled by large corporations or union groups. Part of this is due to the fact that it takes at least $50 million to run an effective campaign capable of reaching the state’s 23 million registered voters, making it challenging, but not impossible, to run a grassroots campaign, Barreto said.

The poll surveyed 2,787 registered voters in California from Oct. 19 to 25 in English and Spanish and has an overall estimated margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Among likely voters, the estimated margin of error is about 3 percentage points in either direction.

Times staff writer Kevin Rector contributed to this report.

Homeless encampments line the streets. Buying a home — or even finding an affordable place to rent — is increasingly out of reach. Roads are riddled with potholes, tens of thousands of streetlights are out, and water and power bills are surging.

For many Angelenos, morale is poor and quality of life in the city is slipping.

This is the challenge for whoever becomes Los Angeles mayor — and it is one that has left some longtime political experts wondering how much one person can control in this vast city of 3.8 million.

“The expectations, given the powers that the mayor actually has, are probably too high,” said Tom Hogen-Esch, a professor of political science at Cal State Northridge. “You have all of these wicked problems that are difficult to solve in a perfect scenario, and [even more] in a governmental system as tangled and confused as L.A.”

The next mayor will have to deal with enduring problems of deteriorating infrastructure, police reform and budget woes. But there is also the unprecedented task of rebuilding Pacific Palisades after catastrophic firestorms and trying to help the city’s ailing film industry — all while preparing the city for the global spotlight of hosting the 2028 Olympics.

A recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll of likely L.A. voters, co-sponsored by The Times. found that the top priority for the next mayor to address was reducing the number of homeless encampments, followed by ensuring public safety and building more affordable housing. Protecting immigrant communities was the next most cited concern, followed by balancing the city budget.

After studying L.A. politics for more than three decades, Hogen-Esch said the city feels stuck.

“We’re talking about the same issues over and over and over … and a general underlying frustration with city government,” he said. “It’s almost like you could wake up 30 years later in a Rip Van Winkle dream, and you’re in the same spot.“

Homelessness

When Karen Bass launched her 2021 mayoral campaign, she proclaimed homelessness was her “overwhelming top priority.”

After nearly four years of her leadership, homelessness has gone up. This year, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced that more than 45,194 people in the city were homeless — up from 41,980 homeless people in 2022 — an increase the agency attributed to external funding cuts and rising economic pressures.

After spending more than $391 million on Inside Safe, Bass’ flagship program to clean up homeless encampments and house homeless people, the city moved about 6,500 people into interim housing. But about 42% of the program’s participants have returned to homelessness.

Bass insists Inside Safe has made progress, clearing 140 encampments across the city. But the difference is not visible to many residents as more encampments continue to block city sidewalks.

Over the last four years, L.A. budgeted about $4 billion to address the homeless crisis — about $100,000 for every homeless person in the city, according to Lee Ohanian, a professor of economics at UCLA.

But the city has not spent all that money. L.A. underspent its homelessness budget by at least $473 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year, L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said, because of its decentralized approach to homelessness, budget structure, staffing shortages and long approval delays for affordable housing.

Part of the challenge in addressing homelessness is that L.A. adopts a fragmented approach, sharing responsibility with the county and spreading programs among different nonprofits, said Fernando Guerra, founding director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. Unlike in New York, the L.A. mayor does not oversee the health department, mental health and drug recovery programs, and jails.

“The challenge for the mayor has always been that she or he is only given basically half of the arsenal to fight homelessness,” Guerra said.

Poor oversight is also a problem. Federal prosecutors have charged multiple nonprofit leaders with defrauding taxpayer funds meant to support the homeless. Last month, a nonprofit chief executive pleaded guilty to wire fraud and embezzling $23 million in homeless funds to pay for a $7-million Westwood home and vacation property in Greece.

But perhaps the biggest challenge is the staggering cost of building housing for homeless people in L.A.. Because of complex government financing, prevailing wage requirements, environmental rules, and the integration of medical and social services, a single unit in L.A. can cost as much as $600,000.

Housing affordability

Nearly 6 out of 10 renters in L.A. are cost-burdened, and polls show a majority of L.A. voters have considered leaving the city because housing is so expensive.

Bass has taken steps to accelerate the building of affordable housing. Her signature program, Executive Directive One, succeeded in cutting the time it takes to review 100% affordable projects and led to a flurry of development proposals. But after tenant advocates warned that rent-controlled apartments would be demolished and homeowners complained that density threatened historic neighborhoods, Bass restricted the locations eligible for the program.

Nearly four years after Bass took office, developers are not exactly seeing a building boom. Last month, the mayor’s office said more than 47,000 units of affordable housing are in the pipeline, but only 7,728 are under construction.

As with homelessness, the mayor has limited power to improve affordability.

A big test for the new mayor will be the state’s push to pass laws that spur more housing, such as state Senate Bill 79, designed to accelerate development around transportation hubs. With new buildings likely to face opposition in many parts of the city, Bass has opposed SB 79, arguing that it will erode local control.

Whoever the next mayor is, they will have to balance the need to build significantly more housing with homeowner opposition to new development, said Christian Grose, a professor of political science and public policy at USC.

“Voters probably are somewhere in the middle,” Grose said, “and there doesn’t seem to be a policy agenda that reaches those voters.”

Ailing infrastructure

When Chief Deputy City Controller Rick Cole retired from City Hall last year, he complained that “mind-numbing bureaucracy” had made the city ungovernable. Los Angeles was paying for city leaders’ decision long ago to organize the city to disperse authority, he said, citing deteriorating city infrastructure as a key example.

“Beneath the broken sidewalks,” Cole said, “is a broken system.”

More than 5,000 requests for sidewalk repairs are pending. Tens of thousands of streetlights are out. Last year, the city stopped repaving streets for eight months as officials struggled with staffing shortages to meet federal requirements to construct curb ramps for wheelchairs and new city rules that mandate bike, bus and pedestrian enhancements.

“The city can’t seem to manage the basics,” Bass’ challenger, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, said when she announced her campaign in February.

Guerra said it was astounding that such a large city government — with a $14.8-billion budget and more than 5,500 public works employees — was so behind on fixing streetlights and resurfacing roads.

“How could that be?” Guerra said. “You cannot tell us that you need more people and more money to do this. What is happening?”

To speed up infrastructure repairs, some public officials are urging voters to pass Measure LA, which would require the city to develop a long-term capital infrastructure plan and distribute more power to the director of public works. Supporters say the measure would cut systemic bureaucracy and fragmentation. Critics, however, say it would lead to one person holding too much authority.

Balancing an unstable city budget

Last year, the City Council and mayor declared a fiscal state of emergency as they faced a $1-billion deficit due to revenue shortfalls as well as increased liabilities from the Palisades fire. Rating agencies, including S&P and Kroll, downgraded the city to a “negative” outlook.

Mejia cited ongoing revenue shortfalls, liability payouts and departmental overspending as the key reasons for the ballooning budget, which has grown by about 25% over the last four years.

The Bass administration has increased pay and benefits to thousands of city employees and police officers. It has also had to hand out record liability settlement payments due to LAPD excessive force claims and dangerous street and transport conditions.

Raman, a democratic socialist, has frequently voted against high city spending, opposing pay raises negotiated by Bass for Los Angeles Police Department officers and the $2.6-billion expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“She’s the one that says, ‘We cannot afford that. How are you going to pay for that?’ ” Guerra said of Raman. “It’s very, very strange that the socialist is the fiscal hawk.”

Police reform

Violent crime in L.A. has plummeted. Last month, Bass announced a 47% drop in homicides since she took office, and she has also touted a decline in property crime such as burglaries.

But police reform and police pay remain issues. While Raman has reversed her past stance on defunding the police, she has stated she would replace LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who she says has “lost the confidence” of Angelenos on the issue of immigration. The city, she says, needs a police chief who ensures officers do not cooperate with federal immigration officers. She has vowed to conduct an audit of the department to determine whehter there are gaps between Los Angeles’ “sanctuary city” policies and police practices.

Bass has publicly backed McDonnell, supporting his efforts to stem officer attrition and rebuild the department’s ranks. The department would be significantly disrupted, she has argued, if the chief is removed before the 2028 Olympic Games.

City Hall credibility

The new mayor will also face a challenge that is harder to qualify: making residents believe City Hall can fix Los Angeles’ many problems.

“I think we’re beyond pessimism in some places,” Hogen-Esch said, noting that for the first time in a quarter of a century he has spotted no mayoral campaign signs in his El Sereno neighborhood.

When it comes to homelessness, Angelenos would be happy to spend money if it actually solved the problem, said Jim Newton, a veteran journalist and editor of UCLA Blueprint magazine. Most want encampments gone for good, and not by locking people up or punishing them for being poor, but by genuinely helping them to be better.

“Is that possible?” he said. “I don’t know.”

Others say it will take new ideas and big swings that can be challenging in a city where the mayor has only limited powers.

“When they first took power, they were incredibly innovative and incredibly creative,” Guerra said. “Now they not only lack creativity and innovation in Los Angeles, but compared to other city governments, they’re laggard in implementing new ideas.”

For all their dominance, California Democrats will emerge from Tuesday’s election facing considerable challenges.

As polls show nearly 6 out of 10 Californians believe the state is going in the wrong direction and even more anticipate bad financial times ahead, the state’s new governor and legislators will have to confront some chronic problems, including a severe budget deficit, housing unaffordability, homelessness, and rising energy and insurance costs.

They will also have to grapple with difficult decisions on whether the state can provide Medi-Cal healthcare to low-income residents, how to make the state more resilient to climate change, and who pays for wildfire damage.

“There’s not going to be a long honeymoon period,” said Mark Baldassare, the survey director at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Californians are in a “pretty grumpy mood,” Baldassare said. Although their dissatisfaction is mostly hyperpartisan, with Democrats pointing the finger at President Trump and Congress as Republicans blame Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sacramento legislators, he said, a majority of Californians are worried about the state of the economy and want to see better government performance.

Affordability and housing

For voters, a key concern is unaffordability. More than half of Californians rank cost of living, inflation and the economy — along with housing cost and availability — as the most important issues facing California today.

The state has long suffered from a housing shortage, driven largely by local zoning restrictions, high construction costs and lengthy permitting bureaucracy. Newsom made housing a centerpiece of his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, initially pledging to build 3.5 million homes by 2025. He has largely fallen short of that goal.

Since Newsom took office in 2019, about 692,000 homes have been built across the state.

“I don’t know if anyone sees a new direction to go,” said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego. California Democrats have passed a slew of laws designed to solve the housing crisis and spur home building, he said, but although they have helped at the margins, prices keep creeping up.

The median price of a California home has risen from about $570,000 in 2018 to $900,000 in 2026.

Even if California’s housing woes are partly a product of its successful economy, Kousser said, “that’s no solace for anyone trying to make the rent or have a place to live, so these will remain defining problems for the next governor.”

Before the governor can do anything, voters will decide whether to pass a series of consequential propositions on housing and taxes.

Proposition 1 would allow the state to borrow $11.25 billion for low-income and veteran housing, and Proposition 37 would allow the state to amass a $25-billion down payment assistance program for middle-class households. Proposition 45 would enable the state to overhaul the California Environmental Quality Act to speed up reviews for housing, roads and water projects — a proposal that leaves many torn between protecting the environment and wanting more affordable housing.

“There are going to be a series of difficult choices that Californians will have to make,” Baldassare said.

Budget woes

One of the governor’s first challenges out of the gate will be submitting a state budget in January to legislators.

This fiscal year, California has an estimated $18.5-billion operating deficit, according to the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. By the end of the year, the office predicts the state’s “wall of debt” to balloon to about $29 billion — even as the state’s economy and revenue have grown.

Lee Ohanian, a professor of economics at UCLA, said the major issue California faces is that the state budget has expanded about 75% in the last eight years. This translates to a 40% increase when adjusted for inflation.

California’s budget growth is particularly alarming, Ohanian said, considering politicians have had limited success in addressing major challenges such as homelessness and had delayed maintenance of public road and water infrastructure.

“It would have been one thing if that 75% increase had fixed all those issues,” Ohanian said. “But the next governor and state Legislature are going to be faced with some of the same exigencies that we’ve had for a very long time and they may struggle to pay for those repairs and that deferred maintenance. The question is: Where is the money going to come from?”

In many cases, Ohanian said, California’s ballooning budget has not resulted in higher quality of public services. The state’s school budget per classroom is over $500,000 a year, he noted, well above the national average. But only about 38% of California students met or exceeded state standards in mathematics.

“The Democratic Party just needs to at some point have a come to-Jesus moment,” Ohanian said. “With the amount of money we’re spending, we can do better.”

Healthcare for the masses?

After pledging in 2018 to bring universal healthcare to California, Newsom set about expanding the state’s Medi-Cal program that began under his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown.

In 2024, California expanded Medi-Cal to cover all income-eligible adults, regardless of immigration status.

Spending on Medi-Cal now accounts for 40% of the state’s total spending and is expected to reach $219 billion this fiscal year — more than double what it was a decade ago. But as the state faces massive cuts in federal Medicaid funding, rising healthcare costs and budget shortfalls, it has begun to roll back that commitment.

Last year, Newsom and state legislators agreed to freeze new enrollment for Medi-Cal benefits for adult immigrants without legal status. Next year, many adults under 60 enrolled in the program will also face a $30 monthly premium.

Democrat Xavier Becerra, who polls predict will beat Republican Steve Hilton by a wide margin, has promised to protect Californians’ health by “cracking down on fraud” and “cutting waste.” Becerra has significant healthcare experience after serving as secretary of Health and Human Services under President Biden, but he has yet to provide specific policy details.

More or less taxes? And who pays?

As Californians become more concerned about affordability, Baldassare said, they are becoming increasingly fiscally conservative. Polls now show a majority of Californians now say that they’d rather pay lower taxes and have fewer services.

But at the same time, about 6 in 10 likely voters also say the wealthiest Californians should pay more taxes.

“There’s a more liberal orientation, but that doesn’t translate into people saying ‘I want to pay higher taxes and have more services,’” Baldassare said. “It just is ‘I want to have more services. I want to be sure that we’re going to have healthcare’… but looking to others to take that fiscal responsibility.”

The midterms offered Californians a chance to weigh in on who should pay. The measure that grabbed the most headlines was Proposition 40, the so-called billionaire tax that would authorize the state to impose a new one-time tax on residents with assets over $1 billion.

But Californians also got to vote on a string of other tax measures that could affect the state’s budget. Propositions 41 and 42 would constrain state government’s ability to raise potential taxes on assets in the future, and Proposition 43 would make it more difficult for special taxes to be increased by local governments.

Proposition 3 would make permanent a temporary tax increase enacted in 2012 on individuals who earn at least $371,000 a year to fund schools and healthcare. Kousser described the original 2012 tax increase as a game-changer that allowed the state to redistribute wealth from rich to poor regions.

“If that political deal falls apart,” he said, “the state will face much more strain.”

Who pays for wildfires?

As California contends with ever more catastrophic wildfires, Democratic politicians have so far failed to agree on who should be financially liable when a fire is sparked by electrical equipment: Wildfire victims? Insurers? Utility company investors? Ratepayers?

Earlier this year, Newsom pushed a controversial plan to limit utility companies’ liability, arguing that holding them fully financially responsible would raise the state’s already high power bills and thwart utilities’ ability to modernize and meet state clean-energy mandates.

But Newsom’s deal would have shifted more of the cost to property insurers, risking the prospect of rising insurance premiums. After wildfire victims dubbed the plan a corporate bailout, Newsom abandoned most of it and tried to push a compromise that would help fire victims receive quicker compensation. That deal also fell through, however, when the Assembly declined to vote on it

Political experts agree it will be a tricky issue to resolve.

The utility companies are not popular, said Rob Stutzman, a GOP strategist. Yet to shore up utilities’ risk profile and prevent upward pressure on utility rates, he said, the state will probably have to grant some liability caps.

“We’re going to pay for it through utility rates, or insurance rates, or subsidies from the government,” Stutzman said. “Those are basically the three options — and none of those are going to be that pleasant for the governor or for the Legislature.”

Artificial intelligence

With momentum building for regulating AI, California is in a unique position as the hub of the technology boom.

Politicians in Sacramento face intense lobbying from major tech companies and venture capitalists as they seek to limit AI’s potential for disruption and misinformation without stifling an industry that’s fueling the state’s economic growth — and has provided a critical stream of tax revenue to the state.

But some political experts say the issue may not prove as thorny for California as issues like housing or wildfires.

Most voters oppose data centers in their areas and support AI safeguards. Even some AI pioneers are calling out for more regulation. In recent weeks, Anthropic and OpenAI have written open letters to Newsom urging stronger safety requirements.

“That creates an unparalleled political opportunity for a governor and the state to lead the nation in addressing the issues,” Kousser said.

What does it mean when a Sunset Strip hotel installs a white pool table with gold balls and puts a swing set on the roof?

It means that Ian Schrager, the New York lifestyle entrepreneur who co-founded Studio 54, is again reaching west to try some new ideas.

This time, his new hotel property is known as the Public West Hollywood. It opened Oct. 30, occupying the same 1962 building that was home to the Standard Hotel from 1999 to 2021.

Though rates start at about $450, Schrager said he is guided by the idea of “luxury for all.” The hotel, which also goes by PUBLIC, includes 137 guest rooms and suites and plenty of cultural and health-and-wellness programming, including Pilates, sound baths and DJs. There’s a bakery/coffee shop, a lobby bar and restaurant, a poolside scene festooned with greenery. There’s a small club called Studio with black velvet walls and six Renaissance portrait “paintings” in ornate frames. (If you watch those portraits carefully, you may see their expressions change.)

And then there’s the roof.

Faced with a snug property that has already been declared a protected local cultural resource, Schrager persuaded West Hollywood officials to let him reinforce some walls and open the hotel’s roof up as a 14,000-square-foot park-like area for up to 400 guests. Surfaced with artificial turf and pebbles, it has a swing set, firepits, picnic tables, a running track, a bar, a 30-foot-wide screen for movies and panoramic views of the Hollywood Hills and city skyline. (Non-hotel guests can access the area until 5 p.m. by buying a $35 day pass.)

“Approximately 75% of the public space in the hotel is outdoors,” Schrager said. “We feel that’s just the right thing to do when you’re in Southern California. It brought another dimension to the hotel.”

Yet Schrager confessed that he’s still not exactly sure how that will work.

“We never know how people are going to use the space,” Schrager said. “We do the best we can … and then we make adjustments.”

The Public’s building, a three-story structure by Midcentury Modernist architect Herbert R. Kameon, opened as the Thunderbird Inn and featured wave-shaped balcony walls, which remain. Later it became the Hollywood Sunset Hotel, then the Golden Crest retirement home. Its profile grew when the Standard Hotel, a venture by André Balazs, opened in 1999 and raised eyebrows with its upside-down sign, a DJ booth next to the front desk, a poolside deck covered in blue artificial turf and (as shown in a 2000 episode of “Sex and the City”) a glass box in its lobby, which often contained models and actors in provocative poses. After the Standard shut down, the building fell idle for years.

Its new incarnation features design contributions from Schrager and British minimalist designer John Pawson and departs from upscale boutique hotel tradition in several ways.

The lobby floor is white, the furniture supplying pops of blue, green and red. The front desk is a trio of pink podiums (one for self-check-in, two to be staffed). The luminous LED lighting in public rooms and corridors hints at a UFO arrival and pays homage to artists James Turrell and Dan Flavin. Room service is limited because, Schrager said, the cost of delivering a soft-boiled egg to someone’s room makes no sense for anyone anymore.

“I think really what’s important is that everybody who is working at the hotel is personable, is friendly, is charming and genuinely interested in being helpful,” Schrager said. “I think that’s more important than the gold buttons, gold epaulets and all the other accoutrements.”

As much as he loves coming up with design ideas, Schrager said, most are “a little bit like the special effects in a movie. They can make a good movie better, but they can’t make a bad movie good.”

In the Public Hotel’s guest rooms, almost everything is white and there are no visible TVs. Instead, each room has a bench housing an angled projector. Click your remote control and you have an 11-foot-wide image on a white wall — a sort of private screening room.

“I couldn’t bear to have a big, black ugly TV on the wall in my pristine hotel room,” Schrager said, adding that “it’s going to change the industry. Everyone’s going to do that and get rid of the television because it just makes sense.”

Schrager, 80, speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent. He won wide attention as co-owner of the New York night club Studio 54, which opened in April 1977, nearly 50 years ago. Though it lasted just under three years, that scene became an emblem of its era, but it ended poorly for Schrager. In 1980, he was convicted of tax evasion and served about a year in federal prison. In 2017 — after reinventing himself as a hotelier, achieving sustained success and expressing remorse — he was pardoned in 2017 by President Obama.

“I wanted it for my family,” Schrager told the New York Times. “It’s hard to be a good example for your kids when you did something like what I did, and you try to teach your kids to live by the rules and be an upstanding person.”

Schrager’s rise in the hotel business was steep. In 1984, he and business partner Steve Rubell opened Morgans Hotel, a pioneer in the “boutique hotel” category. Soon Schrager and Rubell expanded Morgans Hotel Group to include the Royalton and Paramount hotels in Manhattan and the redesigned Mondrian (now known as the Valorian) in Los Angeles. After selling his interest in Morgans Hotel Group, Schrager teamed with Marriott International to build that company’s Edition brand, including the Edition hotel that has been in business on Sunset in West Hollywood since 2019.

With the Public in WeHo, Schrager is building yet another brand, one which already includes New York’s Public Hotel (opened in 2017). Schrager’s partner in Public Hotels is Highgate Hotels, a New York-based global hotel that is handling financing and management while Schrager focuses on “branding, marketing and creating the vibe.” If all goes to plan, Schrager said, Public will soon open three more hotels in Manhattan, the first within 18 months.

But first, he needs to help introduce the Public to West Hollywood. In the run-up to opening, the New York-based Schrager said, he’s been visiting L.A. weekly for the last few months.

And since his own hotel was unfinished, where has he been sleeping?

“I hate to say this. The Four Seasons.”

Come to find out, as we approach the season of plump turkey legs and similar Santa Clauses, all is not well at ESPN. Turns out Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are having a hissy fit.

Will sports broadcasting ever be the same? As the late Chick Hearn would say, “Oh me, oh my.”

Buck and Aikman have broadcast various pro football games together for 25 years. They are Abbott and Costello, but not anywhere near as funny. You tune in just to wait for Joe to say, “I’m Joe Buck and this is Hall of Famer Troy Aikman.”

Kind of gives you goose bumps.

According to various reports, Joe went out and negotiated a new contract without telling Troy. Divorce lawyers are now circling the wagons.

The reports have Joe getting $108 million for six years. That’s around $17.5 million a year, so that Joe can tell us that one of the teams on the field needs to establish a run game. Golly.

Troy didn’t know about his buddy’s new deal, wasn’t happy not to know and reportedly doesn’t quite get that much, so there is little joy in Mudville’s press box. (OK, that’s baseball, but you get the point.)

If that kind of money ruffles your feathers a bit, at a time when you need to carry a blood pressure machine with you to the gas pump and grocery store, being paid around $17 million a year and having a hissy fit about it would seem to be a little tone deaf. Remember, these guys aren’t getting hit, they describing how others are.

Troy cut his broadcasting teeth by starring at quarterback at UCLA and the Dallas Cowboys. He knew what was going on when Peyton Manning yelled “Omaha.” Joe probably knew, too, when Troy told him. Joe cut his teeth by working his way up the ranks; also maybe by hanging around a lot when dad Jack Buck broadcast for years from most of the sacred citadels of sports.

Again, these guys don’t play, they talk.

Anyway, who ever said there were attempts to introduce perspective to sports via a broadcast team? No need. Take the stats the network intern kids are handing you and create drama with the tone of your voice, even though the picture from the field covers that better.

Of course there is homework to be done.

“We talked to wide receiver Jim Lightning-Fast yesterday and he said this team is ready for a big game.”

“Coach Harold Headset told us that this is the best week of practice this team has had all year.”

Then they can throw it down to a sideline reporter:

— “Coach, how do you feel about that flat first half by your team?” (The real answer: lousy).

— “Coach, what does it mean to you winning tonight’s game?” (Real answer: It means I won’t get fired this week).

Those stick-a-microphone-in-your-face interviews always bring to mind the way the great Gregg Popovich of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs handled them. He was once asked how his team’s winning play happened. “We practiced it,” he said.

The Joe-Troy hissy fit takes on additional import because they are set to call the Feb. 14 Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium. ESPN has three and a half months to fix this, but there is speculation that even if the hissy fit isn’t settled, the game will go on.

How about this: Hire Peyton Manning to do the color commentary. He certainly knows football and he has that elusive thing that most of those in sports speaking into microphones lack. A sense of humor.

Pair him with the legendary Al Michaels, who is 81, also has a sense of humor and still brings it on Prime Ticket’s Thursday night game. Michaels knows more about baseball and football and yes, even hockey, than most of his younger peers.

But obviously, for that Manning-Michaels matchup to happen, we’d have to believe in miracles.

ESPN personality Michael Wilbon announced he is taking an indefinite leave of absence from “Pardon the Interruption,” the sports debate show he has hosted with Tony Kornheiser for 25 years, and his NBA duties with the network and on ABC.

In a statement posted to social media on Monday, Wilbon cited “struggles with multiple health issues in recent months.”

“This isn’t retirement, but it is a trip to the injured list,” Wilbon, 67, wrote. “Hopefully not an extended one.”

He added: “Probably, I should have listened to medical professionals and people closest to me, yep Kornheiser included, who saw worrisome signs in recent years that suggested I take time away earlier. But I didn’t.

“And as one close friend has said as my issues have become bigger, ‘the bill has come due.’ The struggles are all health related, not to alcohol (I’m not swearing off the now-and-then Kier Royale) and not to gambling (those winds of change I find loathsome).”

Appearing on “The Tony Kornheiser Show” podcast Monday morning, Wilbon said he had taken last week off from “PTI” because “I was just, I mean, exhausted. Beyond exhausted — lifeless. And this has been going on for a while.”

He said that “part of what I have to deal with right now” stems from having diabetes. But, Wilbon added, “that’s not the entirety of it.”

Wilbon and Kornheiser, both former Washington Post sports writers, have hosted “PTI” since it debuted Oct. 22, 2001. The show has won the Sports Emmy Award for daily studio show three times (2009, 2016 and 2019). The hosts signed multi-year contracts in September 2025.

“Michael and his family have ESPN’s full support as he takes time away to focus on his health and well-being,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “He’s an important member of our ESPN team and widely respected by his peers, sports fans and so many others throughout our industry. We are here for Michael every step of the way and look forward to welcoming him back whenever he is ready.”

ESPN likely will have guest hosts fill in for Wilbon on “PTI” while calling on some of its other analysts to handle his NBA duties.

“I have loved sparring and hosting PTI with Tony every single day these past 25 years,” Wilbon wrote. “And I’m incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement of my colleagues as I take this time away to concentrate on me, specifically on my well-being. I have no idea exactly how this part of my journey will wind up. The goal is to come out of it feeling much better than I do now and ready to return to sparring with Tony.”

As President Trump tries to convince voters to maintain the Republican majority in the House and Senate ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, some Fox News viewers are taking a break.

That’s what Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and chief executive of Fox Corporation, believes is behind the steep October ratings drop for the conservative leaning cable news channel. Fox News, which often draws more viewers in prime time than one or more of the broadcast networks, saw its October audience levels drop 28% compared to a year ago, according to Nielsen. Its total day audience among viewers ages 25 to 54 fell to 98,000, the lowest monthly level in 25 years.

“The business is in incredibly good shape and we’re very proud of the team,” Murdoch told analysts Monday on the company’s quarterly earnings call. “What we are seeing, though, is some viewer fatigue where our viewers have gone through some incredible news cycles the last few years.”

Murdoch noted that Fox News suffers in a year-to-year comparison with a 2025 news cycle that included President Trump’s inauguration, and the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, which spiked the network’s ratings in the fall last year.

Murdoch also said Fox News viewers are not switching to MS NOW or CNN and are instead watching slightly less television overall. But both of those networks gained viewers in October, which suggests the fatigue is not being felt across all of cable news.

Even with the ratings decline, Fox News says it is on pace for its highest-rated midterm year in total day viewers. The network’s total day average was 1.1 million viewers in October, down from 1.5 million a year earlier.

Politically minded viewers tuning out when their side is struggling has happened at the other end of the political spectrum. Progressive-leaning MS NOW, formerly known as MSNBC, saw its ratings drop sharply in the months following Trump’s victory over then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election that returned him to the White House.

The Fox News ratings slide had no impact on the parent company’s earnings, which were strong in its fiscal first quarter thanks to the record-setting audience levels for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup and robust political ad sales on its TV stations. Fox News’ audience also declined during that quarter, and the company reported lower digital news advertising revenue.

Fox News has slightly more than a 50% share of the combined audience for the three major cable news channels and remains the dominant leader over competitors CNN and MS NOW, both of which gained viewers last month. Fox News has also broadened its base of advertisers in recent years and benefits from negotiated increases in revenue from cable and satellite providers that carry the channel.

Murdoch said Fox News saw a similar ratings dip during the 2006 midterm campaign when then-President George W. Bush was in his second term. (Republican viewers were also turned off by the Bush administration’s botched handling of Hurricane Katrina.)

Murdoch did not cite the more recent example of late 2020, when the audience tuned out of Fox News as they were unhappy over the results of the 2020 election and the network’s coverage of them, including its call of Arizona for Joe Biden. Trump and his most ardent supporters insisted he won and that the election was rife with voter fraud. (While Fox News journalists were consistent in reporting that Joe Biden won the election, the network repeatedly aired Trump’s false claims of fraud, leading to a defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems, that was settled for $787 million in 2023.)

Fox News ratings rebounded in early 2021. The network also bounced back from a ratings dip that followed the ousting of Tucker Carlson in April 2023, when he was the most-watched prime time personality on the network.

In the current election cycle, Fox News opinion hosts continue to deliver strong support for Trump. But Trump has complained that the network is not giving enough coverage to his rallies.

The competitiveness of the midterm elections has the network devoting more time to the poll numbers that indicate the Democrats will have a strong night on Tuesday, largely due to voter unhappiness over Trump’s handling of the economy and the war with Iran.

Trump has complained publicly about Fox News giving attention to Democratic candidates, even though the network has always welcomed the party’s members to appear on its programs. Candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, along with the left wing organization’s leaders, have been willing to engage with its anchors even as Fox News opinion hosts paint them as dangerous radicals.

But Fox News is also likely feeling the impact of the dwindling number of homes with subscriptions to pay TV, as consumers continue to abandon cable and satellite services for streaming, although CNN and MS NOW gained viewers despite the same trend. Fox has tried to recoup some of those cord-cutters through its direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service Fox One.

Murdoch touted the growth of Fox One and said it is fulfilling its mission of signing on consumers who no longer have pay TV, but the company has not revealed subscription numbers.

Murdoch touted the growth of Fox One and said it is fulfilling its mission of signing on consumers who no longer have pay TV, but the company has not revealed subscription numbers.

“L.A. is a city of conflicting realities,” says gallerist Jeni Abramson, and she likes it that way. Evolving directly from Don’t Look Projects — the residency and project space Abramson ran alongside Omar Yousif from 2024 through early 2026 — her eponymous gallery establishes a rigorous, intellectually charged platform dedicated to contemporary photography, multimedia and conceptual art. “I’m drawn to artists whose work examines how political, economic and technological systems operate through images, whether that’s an artist working with archives, surveillance, AI, or the accumulated weight of decades spent looking at the world through a lens,” she says. “My own formation, moving between very different political and economic systems, shapes how I read that work.”

The gallery inaugurated this vision with “Remains of the Day,” presenting more than 50 years of work by Michel Auder — capturing unvarnished, intimate fragments of Andy Warhol’s Factory, his marriages to Viva and Cindy Sherman, and decades of well-chronicled and timelessly sensual bohemian life — organized with support from Hamza Walker, Abramson’s neighbor at the nearby kunsthalle the Brick, and an exceptionally talented archive-wrangler.

The gallery’s November-December presentation is “Meat Ghost,” a solo exhibition of new work by research-based multidisciplinary artist Jen Liu.

Shaped by coming of age in post-Soviet Eastern Europe, where underground electronic music offered a vital bridge between fractured systems, Abramson approaches visual culture with a sharp, systems-aware lens. That critical framework finds a natural home in Los Angeles, particularly when it comes to the city’s complex legacy of CalArts conceptualism, the entertainment industry’s image machinery and the city’s enduring subterranean countercultures. Operating outside the speculative frenzy of the ultra-high-end marketplace, Abramson says, “The collectors I work with don’t approach art as an asset class. They collect for deeply personal reasons.”