Lookout Santa Cruz

Officials plan to use nearly $43 million from Santa Cruz County’s general fund reserves and departmental trust funds to help keep safety-net services available and avoid employee layoffs. The first of several county budget hearings is scheduled for Tuesday.

The post Santa Cruz County budget to dip into reserves to weather financial challenges caused by federal funding changes appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Ryan Coonerty is no stranger to campaigning, having served as a Santa Cruz city councilmember, mayor and county supervisor over the past two decades. He said that although many of the issues the community faces aren’t new, they have evolved. There’s a “broad frustration” that quality-of-life issues aren’t being addressed with more urgency, he said, with a heightened anxiety about the current job market a newer concern among the electorate. 

“It’s everything from traffic to encampments to beautification to proposed developments that are out of scale and will impact adjacent neighborhoods,” he said. “I’m hearing at the doors that people love Santa Cruz, they love living here, and they’re also frustrated by these issues where they want to see more progress.”

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Coonerty said that his platform and the issues he’s most concerned about haven’t changed much since he first announced his bid for mayor, but said balancing issues is always a challenge.

“There are 30 issues at any given time that the city needs to figure out how to respond to,” he said, naming road maintenance and pushing back against proposed offshore oil drilling as examples of both basic and complex problems. “I don’t know that we’ve added to the variety of issues, but I feel like I’m getting a more nuanced view of these issues from my conversations with community members.”

On job creation, given its emergence as a major community worry, Coonerty said he wants to ensure businesses currently operating can continue to do so. That means meeting with them to understand their needs, whether it’s a facade makeover, a parklet or another amenity. He also wants to ensure that the city pitches Santa Cruz as a place with talented people and a good quality of life. 

“There’s no better way to connect to a community than to open a brick-and-mortar store and get to know your neighbors,” he said. “You can bring your skills and business acumen to a community and get an economic benefit, but also community benefit.” 

Coonerty said that the issues cited by opponents — namely his support for automated license-plate readers and his advisor role for San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, now running a campaign for governor that has received sizable donations from tech moguls – don’t come up at all when walking neighborhoods and talking to residents. He said his work with Mahan has “nothing to do with technology,” and that his position on automated license-plate readers is the same as the current city council’s.

“If there’s a way to [use automated license-plate readers] that doesn’t have the concerns with the current administration’s abuse of civil liberties, then we should explore those,” he said. However, he added that he’s not in a rush to do so, especially during a Trump administration.

His opponents point out that Coonerty also has received donations from real estate agents and developers as well as consulting fees from development firms such as Lawlor Land Use.  But he said that doesn’t change his stance on development in Santa Cruz. He also said he wouldn’t do any consulting for local projects should he win the mayorship. He said he would also make sure any work he undertakes complies with conflict-of-interest laws. He added that about 90% of his contributions are from locals, regardless of what industry they work in.

“I have made clear that I believe that there are good projects that benefit the community, provide needed housing or revenue that are real pain points for the community,” he said. “I’m also completely prepared to fight against bad projects.”

Overall, Coonerty thinks his experience speaks for itself, as well as his commitment to the community as someone who has started businesses, run nonprofits and volunteered.

“I love this community. I believe that with focus, we can improve our quality of life and create opportunities for everybody,” he said. “I think I have the skills, knowledge, experience and relationships to get the outcomes the community wants.”

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The post Ryan Coonerty says Santa Cruz residents are concerned about quality-of-life issues, not so much with his political positions appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz County’s budget for 2026-27 safeguards core services and avoids layoffs, despite a historic fiscal squeeze, writes County Executive Officer Nicole Coburn, who is in her first year in the job. The $1.29 billion plan relies on $43 million in one-time funds, reducing county reserves to 10.4%, but keeping critical programs running. Without structural change, she writes, Santa Cruz County faces a projected $67 million deficit as soon as next year. The county is asking for millions from the state for help to overcome the shortfalls caused by federal cuts. This budget buys time, she writes, but the county will likely need to make hard choices in the future. The board of supervisors will meet for budget hearings in the coming weeks.

The post Our $1.29 billion county budget protects vital services today – but we have a tough road ahead appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Esta traducción fue generada utilizando inteligencia artificial y ha sido revisada por un hablante nativo de español; si bien nos esforzamos por lograr precisión, pueden ocurrir algunos errores de traducción. Para leer el artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.

El Concejo Municipal de Capitola comenzará a avanzar hacia elecciones por distritos, evitando así la amenaza de una demanda de un bufete de abogados del sur de California.

“Tenemos la extralimitación de un abogado de otro lugar obligándonos a hacer algo que no nos gusta,” dijo el concejal Joe Clarke en la sesión especial del jueves por la noche. “Pero, lo bueno de Capitola es que todos se unirán y lograrán el mejor resultado, y simplemente pasarán por el proceso.”

La ciudad recibió una carta del bufete Shenkman & Hughes, con sede en Malibu, en marzo, en la que recomendaba iniciar voluntariamente el proceso para cambiar a elecciones por distritos antes de la fecha límite del 5 de mayo o enfrentar una demanda.

La base de la queja del bufete es que las elecciones generales privan de derechos a las comunidades minoritarias al diluir el poder de los votantes latinos de Capitola. Los abogados afirman que la forma actual en que los residentes de Capitola eligen a los concejales viola la Ley de Derechos Electorales de California de 2001 (CVRA). La ley busca otorgar más poder de voto a las comunidades minoritarias desfavorecidas en las elecciones locales.

Shenkman & Hughes afirma que el sistema de elección general de Capitola diluye la capacidad de los residentes latinos para elegir a un candidato de su preferencia “o de otra manera influir en el resultado de la elección del concejo de la ciudad.” Los latinos representan actualmente alrededor del 26.5% de los casi 10,000 residentes de Capitola, según los datos más recientes de la Oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos.

La ciudad llevará a cabo al menos cinco audiencias públicas sobre el cambio, la primera programada para el 28 de mayo y la quinta para el 23 de julio. Durante la próxima reunión del concejo municipal, el 14 de mayo, los residentes podrán aprender más sobre el proceso de distritación y responder a la propuesta.

Es probable que la reunión del 28 de mayo determine el número de distritos y si el cargo de alcalde será elegido de manera general, como en Santa Cruz. La ciudad también contrató a National Demographics Corporation como demógrafo y consultor de mapas. La firma trabajó anteriormente con la ciudad de Santa Cruz y el Distrito de Atención de Salud del Valle de Pájaro.

Las elecciones por distritos no entrarían en vigor hasta las elecciones de noviembre de 2028.

Bajo el sistema actual de elección general, los candidatos al concejo municipal pueden postularse para cualquier puesto vacante, representando a la comunidad en general. Todos los votantes eligen quién representa esos puestos.

En las elecciones por distritos, los concejales representan un vecindario específico, en el que también deben vivir. Los votantes solo pueden votar por los candidatos que representan su distrito. Las ciudades de Santa Cruz y Watsonville utilizan este modelo para elegir a los concejales. Scotts Valley tiene elecciones generales.

Los miembros de la comunidad que hablaron en la reunión del jueves estuvieron divididos sobre el tema. La residente de larga data Linda Smith dijo que apoya la transición a elecciones por distritos y que la ciudad evite una demanda.

También pidió al concejo municipal de cinco miembros que considere los requisitos de residencia dentro de los distritos, haciendo referencia a la salida del exconcejal Alex Pedersen, quien renunció abruptamente al concejo municipal la primavera pasada después de que un grupo de miembros de la comunidad lo acusó de no vivir dentro de los límites de la ciudad.

La residente Theresa Green dijo a los concejales que cree que el proceso se está apresurando.

“Parece que ya tenemos problemas para conseguir suficientes personas que se postulen para el concejo municipal,” dijo Green. “Esto puede ser más difícil con distritos. ¿Qué pasa si ningún candidato se postula?”

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The post El Concejo Municipal de Capitola comienza la transición a elecciones por distritos appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Karen Delaney, Executive Director of the Volunteer Center, recently wrote, “Hope and happiness are, sadly, in short supply right now — but not amongst volunteers.”

That’s not sentimental. That’s her thesis, refined over 44 years of building a volunteer movement in Santa Cruz County. Volunteering, Karen will tell you, is the antidote — to isolation, to despair, to the creeping sense that nothing we do matters. People who show up are the people who stay hopeful, because they’ve seen what happens when neighbors help neighbors. They’re healthier. Happier. More connected.

It’s civic duty, but it works on you like medicine.

Karen Delaney has spent 44 years carrying the torch for one simple truth: ordinary people doing ordinary good is how communities thrive. Come celebrate with her on May 20.

This June, Karen is retiring. She has spent her career lifting up the quiet heroes — the volunteer who drove seniors for decades, the literacy tutor who shaped 10,000 others, the neighbors who showed up for the floods and the fires and the daily work of an entire county taking care of itself. Now she’s the one whose legacy is being celebrated, and the only way to honor it — the only way that would actually make sense to her — is to do the thing she spent her life teaching us to do: Show up.

Here’s a list of ways you can start right now. If you don’t see something that lights you up, visit scvolunteercenter.org for 150 more ways to serve, or meet with our volunteer matchmaker (another Karen legacy) and get paired with your new favorite activity.

1. Become a Literacy Tutor
   The Volunteer Center’s Literacy Program has been teaching adults in our community to read, write, and speak English for 50 years. Two to three hours a week, free training, no teaching background required. You’ll help a neighbor build skills that will change their family for generations. Sign up for a free info session.
   
2. Helping Hands — home repairs for seniors
   Use your handy-person skills to install grab bars, change lightbulbs, and other small home repairs that help local seniors stay safely in their homes.
   
3. Saturday, May 9 — Pitch In Santa Cruz County
   Countywide cleanup day. Beaches, creeks, parks, neighborhoods — dozens of groups are organizing across the county, and you can join one or start your own. Three hours of your morning, connect with your neighbors, keep our county beautiful.
   
4. Pack groceries for families at Jacob’s Heart
   Tuesday and Thursday mornings in Watsonville, packing nutritious groceries for families with children in cancer treatment.
   
5. Esperanza Community Farms Food Hub
   Urgent volunteer need to keep a CSA program running for 300 South County families and 30 small farmers. Wednesdays in Watsonville.
   
6. Become a Long-Term Care Ombudsman
   Over 60% of nursing home residents never receive a visitor. Trained advocates visit residents in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, ensure their rights are protected, and stand up for those who often have no one else. Comprehensive training, one-year commitment.
   
7. Join an upcoming beach clean up
   Fun, sun, and community? Yes please!  From Capitola to Main Beach – find a clean up at your favorite spot, or let the Volunteer Center help you schedule one with your group.
   
8. And on May 20 — Be the Difference Awards
   Nearly 500 civic leaders, business partners, and community champions will gather to honor this year’s top volunteers, nonprofits, and businesses — and to celebrate Karen’s Legacy of Service. It’s her last official event, and a once-a-year chance to see what 44 years of grassroots community-building looks like, all in one room. Reserve your tickets before they’re gone.

Karen’s career has been a testimony to one simple truth: connection is the cure. For loneliness, for cynicism, for the worry that one person can’t possibly make a difference.

Her legacy is that we remember, we’re connecting, and we’re the difference.

By Leslie Lee, Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County

About the Volunteer Center

At the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, we connect people for good because meaningful service is the heart of a strong, vibrant community and a healthy, happy life.

For 60 years, Santa Cruz County has trusted the Volunteer Center to help people connect for good, turning compassion into belonging and lasting impact. Our vision is a community where giving is the way of life — where everyone’s gifts matter, kindness is celebrated, and together we build a stronger, healthier, more connected community where everyone thrives.Learn more at scvolunteercenter.org.

The post The happiest people in Santa Cruz County are volunteers: here is how you can join them appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Some of the most powerful mental health support comes from ordinary people who truly “get it”, those who have walked a similar path and found recovery along the way. Individuals with lived experience of mental health conditions, often called “peers,” have a unique ability to foster hope, trust, and self-empowerment in others. These can be the very ingredients that make recovery possible.

Bilingual NAMISCC Peer Leaders and volunteers conduct outreach in the community, sharing a message of hope, offering support, and connecting people to valuable resources.

Mental health needs in Santa Cruz County are urgent and measurable. Nationwide data suggests that about 1 in 5 residents are living with a mental health condition right now. Recent local data also indicates that up to 40% of young adults in our community may have experienced serious psychological distress within the last year (Datashare SCC). Yet despite how common these challenges are, only about half of those who need care are thought to be receiving it (nami.org).

That means many of us, our loved ones, friends, and neighbors, could be struggling without support. Barriers such as stigma, the cost of care, language access, lack of information, provider shortages, and an often-confusing behavioral health system frequently keep people from getting help.

So, what is peer support, and why does it matter?

At its heart, peer support is grounded in shared experience. In mental health recovery, it means building connection with others who have personally navigated the ups and downs that can come with mental health challenges and seeking care. Again and again, research has shown that peer support works. The evidence is found not only in numerous peer-reviewed studies, but also in the everyday stories of people quietly showing up for one another.

Peers and family members shared stories of personal experiences during NAMISCC’s Compassion Training with Watsonville Fire Dept. in March 2026.

NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, with more than 650 independent affiliates serving communities across the country. Here in our community, NAMI Santa Cruz County (NAMISCC) provides a vital lifeline of free, bilingual, peer-based services. This includes support for individuals navigating mental health challenges, family members, and those with a loved one who is a peer. Additionally, NAMISCC provides early intervention education and support for youth and the wider community.

NAMISCC’s educational programs, weekly support groups, bilingual HelpLine, and social supports offer a bridge to recovery and community for hundreds of individuals every year — many who might otherwise experience isolation and despair. What makes these programs especially powerful is the role of peer support. All NAMISCC programs are facilitated by individuals with lived experience. Peer Programs are led by peers, while Family Programs are led by family members with experience supporting a loved one through mental illness.

At NAMISCC, we see the impact of peer support come alive every day. One participant describes the importance of reliable, accessible weekly support: “Every week I have a safe space to be heard or to listen to others. These groups are something I look forward to, and they have become a vital part of my routine.”

“NAMISCC planted the seed of hope within me and continued to support me.” – NAMISCC Peer Leader Jen Wentworth

Peer Leaders Hugh, Michael, and Jen help lead NAMISCC Peer Programs and facilitate monthly Peer Meetup socials.

NAMISCC Peer Leader, Jen Wentworth, says that discovering NAMI peer support literally saved her life. “When I first took the NAMI Peer-to-Peer class back in 2008 I was completely surprised and very inspired that the classes were taught by peers like me. They were living a self directed life and were living in recovery which never seemed possible for me until I saw them in recovery.” She says of her peer community, “we have a special bond because we know what it’s like to live with serious mental illness and the struggles of managing our symptoms in our life.” Now, Jen is part of the NAMISCC Peer Leader team, supporting and inspiring others to seek recovery. She says, “Peers and family members often come to NAMI desperate and confused. Here they find a safe place to learn, understand, and find support within the mental health community – and they grow in their lives. It creates hope for them. ”

“Living with mental illness and/or trauma is a very isolating experience. Humans are social animals; we need the support of others for recovery and healing.” – NAMISCC Peer Leader Amante Libre

For 17 years, Peer Leader Amante Libre has been involved with NAMISCC’s Peer Programs – both as a participant and then as an employee. “Having been part of NAMI and in particular the Connection Peer Support Group program for many years, I have had the privilege of seeing how transformative peer support can be. Through peer support, people learn that recovery is possible and that they can still live a satisfying life while living with mental illness and trauma. Many of the participants of our program have been so transformed by their experience that they decided to become part of the program themselves. I consider that the secret sauce of why the Connection program has been so successful at providing compassionate support.” 

Peer support inspires people in their hardest moments, showing them that recovery is possible, healing can happen, and no one has to walk this path alone.

If you live with mental health challenges, or have a loved one who does, NAMISCC is here for you. No diagnosis is needed to join our supportive community of peers and family members. Learn more on our website: click here.

All of NAMI Santa Cruz County’s programs and services are 100% free to participants, thanks to the generosity of caring people in our community. Currently, there is a need for funding to keep these essential supports free and available to all who need them. You can help ensure that no one has to face mental health challenges alone. 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and you can make a difference this month in our community by supporting no-cost mental health education and services through NAMISCC. Right now, you have the chance to change a life through a donation to NAMISCC’s Spring Fundraiser. Join in to offer hope, healing, and a pathway to recovery for someone in need of support today: Yes, I want to Provide Peer Support Today.

The post From isolation to community: Why peer support matters appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

This post is updated throughout the day to reflect the latest incidents. It was last updated at 7:31 a.m..

Here’s what’s happening on the roads this morning…

▼︎ new incidents

Road incidents as of 7:30 a.m. on May 1

• A lane on westbound SR-152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville/Pajaro is closed for asphalt paving. The closure will last until July 3, ending at 5:59 a.m.
   
• A single car crash happened at CRG12 and Pini Rd in Watsonville/Pajaro at 6:48 a.m. today. The car ended up on its passenger side on the curb, but did not roll over. No other cars were involved, and there were no major injuries or damage. The driver left the scene at first but came back. A tow truck was called.
   

Disclosure: Traffic incidents are partially generated by artificial intelligence. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and quality of our AI-generated content. However, there may still be errors or inaccuracies. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

The post Friday morning traffic: SR-152 lane closed for paving; minor crash at CRG12 appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

A viral fruit-shaped mousse dessert at a Capitola bakery has drawn long lines and daily sellouts, with hundreds of pastries gone within hours as customers flock from across the region. The surge in demand is pushing owner Ela Crawford to shift focus from wholesale to her storefront, even as the labor-intensive treats limit how many she can produce.

The post Crowds line up for viral fruit desserts at Capitola’s Sugar Bakery appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

After three decades at Soquel High School, retiring band director Jim Stewart leaves behind a program defined as much by community and belonging as by musical achievement. Through a mix of humor, discipline and care, Stewart shaped generations of students — many of whom went on to careers in music and education.

The post More than music: Jim Stewart’s 30 years of building community in Soquel High’s band class appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Under the threat of a lawsuit, the Capitola City Council voted Thursday night to start the process of switching to district-based elections. The complaint from a Southern California law firm charges that the current at-large system disenfranchises minority communities by diluting the power of Capitola’s Latino voters.

The post Capitola City Council to begin transition to district-based elections appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Gillian Greensite has lived in Santa Cruz for more than 50 years and has been politically active for most of that time. But this year marks her first run at any elected office. 

Why now? She said she believes the city is promoting “overdevelopment.” She said that outgoing mayor Fred Keeley leaves “big shoes to fill,” but that she’s up to the task.

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“My research into that made me think that it’s time for leadership to take the city in a direction more responsive to the neighborhoods who are being impacted by the overdevelopment,” she said, adding that she listened to neighbors speak at a community meeting on a project at 930 Mission St. who were fighting back tears. 

“I feel that our neighborhoods and our existing community is being shoved aside,” Greensite said, “and the impetus is on more development, and I think that needs a change in direction.”

In the decades since Greensite moved to Santa Cruz from Australia, she’s been active in the community. She’s a frequent attendee and public commenter at Santa Cruz City Council meetings, an advocate for rape prevention, having worked as head of rape prevention education at UC Santa Cruz for 30 years, and a longtime environmentalist who has pushed back against the city on numerous occasions. She was involved in lawsuits regarding the Wharf Master Plan, as part of her work with community group “Don’t Morph the Wharf,” and a lawsuit when the city tried to change its heritage tree ordinance. She served on the city’s Commission of Prevention of Violence Against Women, its Parks and Recreation Commission, and the civil grand jury in 2023 and 2024.

Greensite said the city is developing far beyond what the state is requiring, adding that although the state required the city to plan for more than 3,700 units by 2031, there are already more than that in the pipeline just halfway into the cycle. She pushes back on the argument that the rapid pace of building is because the city failed to build enough in past years, and while she doesn’t think Santa Cruz can stop building, it can control its pace and promotion. She also wants more transparency regarding who is getting into the new units. 

“We still don’t know what percentage of any of the affordable housing is actually going to local workers,” she said. She cited research from San Francisco that argues whoever occupies new units, more than anything else, dictates the cost of housing.

“If you have expensive housing, which most of the new housing is,”she said, “people who move in have higher incomes. Since we’re overbuilding more than we’re required to, it is going to make this community less affordable.”

Greensite also is against “ministerial approval” for housing developments, meaning that there would be no public hearings in front of elected bodies regarding new projects, an idea the city is considering. 

“I think councilmembers and the mayor should hear from people that they are hurting with this development if they’re living right next to it,” she said. “If the council says we can’t do anything, well, you better hear how people feel about it rather than squash public hearings.”

At the city government level, Greensite would like to cut managerial bloat in some departments, particularly the housing and economic development departments, and redirect funding to what she believes are undervalued bodies. That includes the parks department, where she said she has seen “neglect.”

Greensite said she’d encourage all councilmembers and the mayor to hold regular, moderated meetings with constituents in each of the city’s six districts, giving them the chance to connect more directly and ask questions of their representatives. She also would like to hold a town hall with state representatives like state Sen. John Laird and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin to explain support for state laws making it easier to build.

“There are cities who push back against the state,” she said. “Not very successfully, but why aren’t we a leader amongst them?”

Greensite said that although Keeley runs efficient meetings, she doesn’t like that there’s no discussion of an issue until a motion is on the floor. By that time, councilmembers often have already drafted a motion with city staff before the meetings, she said. She thinks the lack of transparency isn’t a new problem, but it is growing along with local bureaucracy. She thinks that councilmembers should be working through motions with their colleagues during a council meeting, rather than beforehand.

“I think it’s done a disservice and I think that people feel their comments are wasted,” she said.

Greensite, drawing from her experience in rape prevention advocacy, also wants to see more transparency around the law enforcement response to reported rapes. She wants more robust data, and a regular evaluation of how the city is responding to ensure the “best possible response to those who report rape.”

On the topic of law enforcement, Greensite said that she understands the law enforcement benefits that automated license-plate readers provide, but that the city council made the right move pulling out of the Flock Safety contract, and is not interested in bringing the technology back.

Although that is in line with all candidates other than Ryan Coonerty, Greensite said she believes she diverges from them on the issue of homelessness. She said she has compassion and empathy for people struggling with mental health and substance-abuse issues to the point that they cannot take care of themselves, but that “a small group of folks” exhibit destructive behavior. She said she does not take a blanket approach to homelessness, and thinks if people turn down shelter offered to them, they should not be allowed to live on the streets and should possibly be involuntarily committed to a facility where they can get the treatment they need.

“We’re not living in an era where these big institutions locked people up and did experiments on them,” she said. “We’ve sort of swung the pendulum to saying ‘Whatever you want to do in public is OK and we can’t impose on your rights.’ I think it needs to be brought back into balance, but not repeat the mistakes of big institutions of the past.”

Greensite believes that her platform and feelings on the state of Santa Cruz will resonate with locals, and if not, at least she made her case.

“I think the community is actually quite concerned at the nature of the changes to Santa Cruz,” she said. “I may be wrong, and if I can get my message out and I’m not elected, that’s alright. Then the community sees it differently.”

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.

The candidates running for lieutenant governor are apt to hint at the post’s largely symbolic and overlooked status when discussing their ambitions for the statewide office.

It’s true that California’s lieutenant governor is mostly a ceremonial position. Eleni Kounalakis, who currently holds the position, is next in line if the governor is absent or vacates the office, such as when they’re out-of-state, undergoing surgery or if they die. Kounalakis, who terms out this year, is also president of the state Senate and can cast a rare tiebreaking vote if called upon. Most of her influence lies within higher education, where she sits on all three of the state’s higher education boards.

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Because of this, the four major leading candidates for the office in the upcoming June primary are emphasizing the sway they’d like to have on higher education, such as freezing tuition or cutting back on remedial coursework.

Previous lieutenant governors have used the office as a stepping stone to the state’s top job, including Gov. Gavin Newsom who held the position for eight years before his election in 2018. 

But it’s still mostly unknown to voters and suffers a poor reputation.

“I called the lieutenant governor sort of the Seinfeld of state government, because nobody knows who it is, and then they think it’s a job about nothing,” Gloria Romero, a Republican candidate, told CalMatters.

The major Democratic candidates include Josh Fryday, who leads volunteer programs in the Newsom administration, state Treasurer Fiona Ma, who terms out this year, and former Stockton mayor Michael Tubbs. 

Here is what each candidate, in alphabetical order, said about how they’d approach the gig.

Josh Fryday Josh Fryday leads volunteer programs in the Newsom administration. Credit: JoshFryday.com

Fryday said one of his biggest priorities as lieutenant governor would be to try to get California community colleges to credential more trade workers to help build more clean energy projects and boost the state’s renewable energy supply.

Prior to becoming part of the governor’s cabinet in 2019, he was the CEO of NextGen America, a clean advocacy organization started by billionaire Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer.

He also said he would push for developing more student housing on public land to increase enrollment and create more revenue to stem rising tuition costs.

The former mayor of Novato also emphasized expanding the volunteer service program he helped develop as chief service officer in Newsom’s cabinet. He would like it to include more community colleges and universities. In addition to Newsom’s support, he’s endorsed by the California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers. 

Janelle Kellman Janelle Kellman is a climate attorney and former mayor of Sausalito. Credit: JanelleKellman.com

Former Sausalito mayor Janelle Kellman wants to make community college free and expand training programs for in-demand jobs as a member of the state’s higher education boards. But the lieutenant governor is one of 18 members on the University of California board of regents and has limited capacity to enact a single policy change. 

Kellman has received support from the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and the LGBTQ Stonewall Democratic Club.

The lieutenant governor has no role in electricity regulation or insurance. But Kellman, a climate attorney, said she would work to cut utility costs by getting rid of extra electricity fees. She also said she’d work with the insurance commissioner to reduce premiums for homeowners who take preventive measures to mitigate wildfire risks.

Kellman spent 10 years in local government on Sausalito’s planning commission and city council and is the founder of a climate nonprofit focused on sea level rise.

She also supports building more student housing.

Fiona Ma

Finding other ways to generate revenue for California State universities outside the general fund is one way Ma would look to lower the cost of housing and tuition. She supports partnering more with private companies to lease out spaces such as campus theaters when they’re not being used.

Ma has an exhaustive resume in local and state politics: She spent six years in the Assembly after one term on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and was on the Board of Equalization for four years before she was elected state treasurer in 2019.

As treasurer, she has issued housing bonds to California universities, which she said has given her “a different perspective” on how to build more student housing.

“Some of them do have land and they are working with some of the developers that have a speciality with building student housing” she said. 

Ma is endorsed by the California Democratic Party and construction and hospitality unions. She was accused of sexual harassment in 2021 by a former employee, who said Ma required her to share a hotel room with her and bought her gifts. The state, using taxpayer dollars, settled the lawsuit for $350,000 in 2024.

Ma has repeatedly denied the accusations and called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

It took up three years of her life, and voters still elected her, she said. “I still got all the same endorsements that I got the first time I ran in 2018,” Ma said. “I’ve gotten even more support for my lieutenant governor’s race.”

Gloria Romero Republican Gloria Romero served in the California Assembly and was the first woman to become majority leader in the state Senate. Credit: GloriaRomero4LtGov.com

Romero, a Democrat-turned-Republican, supports school vouchers to let parents use taxpayer dollars to pay for private school education — which teachers unions vehemently oppose. She also supports slashing remedial coursework to help students finish their degrees faster.

A former assemblymember and first woman to become Senate Majority Leader, Romero spent 12 years representing east Los Angeles in the state Legislature as a Democrat until 2010. She switched parties in 2024 and announced her lieutenant governor run as a joint ticket with Steve Hilton, one of the leading Republican candidates for governor.

On how she’d navigate negotiating with the Democratic supermajority in the Legislature and on numerous boards as a rare Republican, Romero said she would individually meet with each colleague to see where their priorities overlap.

Michael Tubbs Michael Tubbs was the first Black mayor of Stockton, elected in 2016 at age 26. Credit: MichaelTubbsforCA.com

Tubbs is looking to return to office to help drive down the cost of higher education more than a decade after skyrocketing to political stardom in Stockton as one of the youngest big city mayors in the county.

His ascent as the city’s first Black and youngest mayor at 26 in 2016 garnered him national attention as the son of a single mother raised in a poor neighborhood who climbed his way to full ride at Stanford.

He supports freezing tuition at all public colleges by cutting “administrative bloat,” cutting remedial coursework that doesn’t count toward graduation requirements and streamlining programs for in-demand industries such as nursing.

Tubbs is a special economic adviser to the governor and leads the nonprofit organizations Poverty in California and Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, dedicated to implementing universal basic income pilot programs in cities across the state, a flagship initiative of his mayorship.

California’s major public employee union, Service Employees International, is supporting Tubbs.

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Recalling the optimism that surrounded the launch of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program is bewildering, even though it happened just five years ago.

The $5 billion initiative was part of the Biden administration’s goal of having 500,000 public EV charging ports by 2030. Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s transportation secretary, said NEVI would “help us win the EV race.” 

And then things went sideways. First, the Biden administration took a long time to write the program’s rules and had barely started disbursing money by the time President Donald Trump took office. Then, Trump froze the funding and has been defending the decision in court ever since.

It would be reasonable to assume that NEVI hasn’t done much. But a report issued this week by the Sierra Club tells a different story. Despite many obstacles, the program increased its reach and accomplishments in 2025, with states spending $94 million on projects. That’s more than double the $44 million spent in 2024. This translates to hundreds of charging ports, with agreements to deploy thousands more.

And the successes aren’t where you might expect. Pennsylvania and Ohio rank first and second, respectively, in program funding because they were among the first to get organized and apply.

But the spending is still a tiny share of the amount originally set by Congress with the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. More than 95% remains unspent, largely because of legal challenges related to the federal freeze.

“Far more urgency, accountability, and action are needed to deliver the truly nationwide EV charging system Congress promised the American people in 2021,” said Josh Stebbins, managing attorney at Sierra Club, in an email.

Stebbins is part of the legal challenges to the freeze. In one case, Washington v. U.S. Department of Transportation, 17 states and a coalition of environmental advocacy groups successfully argued that the Trump administration broke the law by trying to claw back the money. A Jan. 23 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington agreed with the states and ordered that funding resume.

Advocacy groups are urging states to move aggressively to secure and spend the funds, which requires work to develop project proposals for charging stations.

The 2021 legislation allocated funding to states based on their share of federal highway aid, with the payments spread over five fiscal years starting in 2022.

At the end of 2025, $2.7 billion was available under the terms of the legislation but not yet sent to the states; $1.3 billion was “obligated” under the program, which means states had contracts to spend this money but had not spent it; and $94 million had been spent, according to the report.

The states that spent the most were the ones that moved the fastest to submit proposals from 2022 to 2024. This is why Pennsylvania, with $16.2 million from the program, has received more money than larger states such as California, which got $920,000.

Credit: Rahul Lal for CalMatters

Federal money covers a portion of the costs to deploy public charging stations, with others, often businesses, covering the rest.

After reading the Sierra Club report, I decided to visit the first NEVI-funded project in the United States, which is a short drive from me in the Columbus metro area. It’s at a Pilot Travel Center along I-70 in London, Ohio.

The area around the exit has four large gas stations or truck stops, two of which have EV chargers.

The Pilot Travel Center’s four charging ports looked the same as when I wrote about them in 2023. And just like then, nobody was charging during my visit.

So, I went down the street to TA Travel Center, which had 12 charging ports, and met Chip and Cathy Lillyman of Celina, Ohio, who were relaxing in their Lexus RZ 450e while the battery charged.

High gasoline prices make this a good time to buy an EV, even with the Trump administration’s cancellation of consumer rebates. The price was $4.29 at every station that day, which is pretty close to the local high since the Iran war started in February.

Chip Lillyman, who is a retired auto body shop owner, said high gas prices were one the main reasons they bought an EV. Previous gas price shocks are vivid in his memory, especially the one during the early 1970s Middle East oil embargo.

“I worked at a gas station at that time,” he said.

Cathy (left) and Chip Lillyman of Celina, Ohio, were charging their new Lexus EV this week at the TA Travel Center near London, Ohio.

The Lillymans traded in their Honda CR-V for the Lexus last week, and plan to do most of their charging at home, but were traveling that day.

The TA Travel Center is not listed among those receiving NEVI funding. 

Providing EV charging is one of several ways a convenience store can attract customers, and competition is intense at this exit. But EV market share in Ohio remains low, ranked 28th in the country as of the third quarter of last year, the most recent figure available from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group.

As EV market share grows, convenience stores will need to add chargers. I’m going to keep checking in and see which nearby locations here have chargers, and how much they’re used.

As of March, the country had 170,158 public level 2 charging ports, which are a step up from a garage wall outlet, and 69,630 DC fast-charging ports, according to the federal government’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.

Five years earlier, the country had 81,601 level 2 ports and 17,231 DC fast-charging ports. 

But NEVI has had little to do with the growth. The few hundred chargers connected to the program are barely a blip compared to what’s happened in the broader market, with private investment and state and local programs helping to build a national network.

Most of NEVI’s contribution is still coming, which is one reason I think the Biden-era goal of having 500,000 charging ports by 2030 is well within reach — even though the current administration is often hostile to EVs.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.

California has emerged as the epicenter of a sweeping hospice fraud crisis, one that is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and putting vulnerable older adults at risk. 

Yet years after the state acknowledged the problem, key regulatory fixes remain in limbo while state and federal officials trade blame. 

Hospice care, an end of life service typically reserved for people with less than six months to live, has become a target for fraudsters looking to steal taxpayer dollars — with devastating consequences for patients caught in the middle. It has also become rich fodder for government and media investigations.

Last week, Sheila Clark, who leads the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, became emotional as she told congressional leaders the story of a woman in Southern California who in 2020 suffered a devastating fall in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom. The woman, a Medicare recipient, could not see; she needed cataract surgery. But scheduling that surgery ran into a hitch: at the time, Clark said, the woman’s records showed her enrolled in hospice – seemingly fraudulently. Unable to recover from the injuries of her fall, the woman died two months later. “That did not need to happen,” Clark said.

That case and others have refocused attention on a problem that advocates say has never gone away – and is again sparking a partisan fight. At the congressional hearing, some Republicans blamed California and Gov. Gavin Newsom for failing to get a handle on it, while some Democrats blamed the Trump administration for not doing enough and pardoning fraudsters. 

The Newsom administration says it has not been standing idle. Just this month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced charges against 21 suspects who allegedly defrauded the state of $267 million in a major hospice fraud ring. Since 2021, the office has filed 119 hospice-related criminal cases. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also announced separate recent arrests in California.

The California Department of Health has also revoked 280 hospice licenses over the last two years and is reviewing another 300, according to officials. Meanwhile, state regulations meant to limit who can obtain a hospice license were due months ago.

Stuck in the middle of delays and political back-and-forth are Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Californians who truly need end-of-life services may be at risk if they sign up with a sham hospice operator who might provide inadequate care or none at all, while others are enrolled in hospice services even though they are not dying and are locked out of services they need. “People lose access to care, they lose access to medications, to their [doctor], elective surgery,” Clark said. “It’s disheartening.”

Stricter hospice rules are still pending

In 2022, the California State Auditor found that the state’s “weak controls have created the opportunity for large-scale fraud and abuse.” Among other red flags, auditors noted a clustering of hospices in single buildings, particularly in Los Angeles County, and high rates of living patients discharged from hospice. 

The audit found that Los Angeles County saw a 1,500% increase in hospice agencies over a decade, along with indicators of large-scale billing fraud and evidence that thieves stole medical personnel’s identities to obtain licenses.

That same year, the state placed a moratorium on new hospice licenses, which is set to expire next year. Meanwhile, emergency hospice regulations intended to tighten who can obtain a hospice license are again delayed. The state Department of Public Health says it’s revising draft emergency regulations based on feedback from industry representatives and consumer groups. 

“Once these regulations are in place they will include stricter standards for who can own or run a hospice, nurse-to-patient ratios, limits on operators who try to oversee multiple agencies at once, minimum staffing requirements, and more thorough screening of potential licensees before a license can be approved,” said Mark Smith, a department spokesperson. 

Licensing is only the first step – the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services must certify operators before they can start billing. Clark and Isidro say better fraud prevention would demand more transparency and better data sharing between state and federal government.  

Fraud can happen in a number of ways

Psychotherapist Lynn Ianni still does not know how fraudsters got a hold of her information. Two summers ago she was finishing her last physical therapy session for a shoulder injury when Medicare denied her claim: Records showed she was enrolled in hospice care. 

Ianni, who also testified in last week’s hearing, assumed it was a clerical error – she had hurt herself playing pickleball, but led an active healthy life. Medicare pointed her to a hospice in Arcadia where she was supposedly enrolled. The address was in a strip mall; she had never heard of the doctor. She spent hours on the phone, over months, trying to clear up the problem. Medicare refused to cover care for her shoulder even as she paid her premiums. 

“It was over six months that I had no coverage or no services,” Ianni said. “I was really terrified because I couldn’t figure out how to solve it, and I had no resolution in sight.”

Fraud can take different forms. It can be providers knowingly overbilling Medicare and Medi-Cal or submitting false claims — but it can also be elaborate cases in which bad actors create sham agencies, steal medical information and bill for services they never provide or that are not medically necessary. 

These scams sprawl past hospice care. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of Inspector General have also raised concerns over fraud in home health services, skin substitutes, and durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs and walkers or oxygen tanks. Just Tuesday, the feds accused a Pasadena clinic of improperly charging Medicare more than $34 million for skin grafts and wound care services it didn’t provide.

Scammers have many tricks. They make robocalls or approach people at grocery stores, after church, or door-to-door, offering gift cards, meals, or free health services in exchange for forms that ask for personal and medical information.

“They don’t realize that their Medicare number is being stolen, and next thing you know, they’re being entered into hospice,” said Catherina Isidro, director of the California Senior Medicare Patrol, a group that helps people report and navigate Medicare fraud.

Health workers have also filed whistleblower complaints reporting that colleagues share patient information with fraudsters in exchange for kickbacks, Isidro said. That kind of fraud is harder to guard against because medical providers are supposed to be people of trust.

Clark said fraudsters have made a business of stealing Medicare identification numbers from the dark web and then selling them to hospices or home health agencies. “They literally call themselves brokers,” Clark said. “‘Here’s 10 beneficiary numbers. How much will you give me every month that you’re able to bill?’” 

Safeguarding your medical information is key

Families who truly need hospice care should not shy away from seeking the benefit over fear of fraud, said Mollie Gurian, vice president of government affairs at Leading Age, a group that represents providers of aging services. People can use the Medicare Care Compare site’s quality scores and phone directory to start looking for legitimate hospice providers. Legitimate providers should pick up the phone and be able to answer questions about their services, Gurian said. 

“[Hospice] is a great benefit, and the fact that it’s been utilized to commit fraud in this way is very distressing.”

For everyone else, advocates advise guarding Medicare and Medicaid identification numbers like a Social Security number – never sharing the number over the phone or in exchange for freebies. People should also read Medicare summary notices and explanation of benefits documents to ensure everything looks accurate. 

“It’s really critical that older adults, you know, Medicare beneficiaries, their caregivers or their family members, whoever is taking care of them, that they be very vigilant,” Isidro said. 

Those who suspect fraud should call their state’s Senior Medicare Patrol, a federally funded helpline that can help people disenroll from services they did not request, often within a day or two.

That hotline helped clear up Ianni’s Medicare account and restarted her benefits. Six months after first learning she was fraudulently enrolled in hospice, Ianni got a new Medicare card in the mail, with no explanation for what had happened. Just in time, too, she said: two weeks later, she broke a finger. “I was so relieved.”

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

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With the weekend nearly here, check out things to do around Santa Cruz County with a recommendation from Lily Belli and a specially curated list from Lookout’s BOLO events calendar.

The post Best of Santa Cruz County entertainment, arts & food events this weekend, April 30-May 3 appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Here’s what’s happening on Santa Cruz County roads this morning…

▼︎ new incidents

Road incidents as of 7 a.m. on April 30

• A lane on westbound Highway 152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville is closed for asphalt paving. The closure is scheduled to last until July 3.
   

Disclosure: Traffic incidents are partially generated by artificial intelligence. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and quality of our AI-generated content. However, there may still be errors or inaccuracies. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

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After the Department of Justice eased medical marijuana’s legal status, full reclassification could come as early as this year – a move industry participants say would help level the playing field for cannabis businesses by lowering taxes and fostering financing and trade opportunities.

The post How Santa Cruz County cannabis businesses will benefit from recent reclassification of medical marijuana appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Chris Krohn says he wasn’t really considering running for Santa Cruz mayor even six months ago, but when he kept hearing concerns that there might be only one candidate — longtime politico Ryan Coonerty — he decided to go for it. He sees a lack of candidates as a problem, adding that, while he likes District 3 County Supervisor Justin Cummings personally, him running unopposed for reelection to that seat is “bad for democracy.”

“I’ll never attack Ryan on his character, integrity or anything like that, because I think he loves Santa Cruz and just has a different vision of Santa Cruz than I have,” Krohn said of Coonerty. “I think the folks who are running now all have different, particular interests that we want to put forward, and they’re not the same, but it’s much more wide-ranging and promotes a debate and discussion.”

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Krohn said the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee’s failure to reach a consensus on endorsements for the Santa Cruz city races shows that the organization has also opened up to more perspectives.

“It was a resounding victory for the reason all of us ran,” he said. “We all felt like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. We’re getting a conversation here.’”

Krohn has lived mostly in Santa Cruz since 1983, with stints in Washington, D.C., working on political asylum applications for Salvadorans and Guatemalans, and in Nicaragua, where he helped run and teach at a language school. He was drawn to Santa Cruz when he heard about the late Mike Rotkin, one of the few mayors in the country who called himself a socialist. Krohn attended UC Santa Cruz and connected with Rotkin, who co-founded the university’s Community Studies program.

Krohn has served two separate terms on the Santa Cruz City Council, the first from 1998 to 2002, serving as mayor in 2002. His second term was to run from 2016 to 2020, but he did not finish it, as he and fellow councilmember Drew Glover were recalled in March 2020. Now, he’s returning to electoral politics to push back against what he sees as “selling off Santa Cruz to outsiders.”

Five of a legion of former Santa Cruz mayors (from left): Chris Krohn, Tim Fitzmaurice, Jane Weed-Pomerantz, Katherine Beiers and John Laird. Credit: Via Laurie Brooks

“Are these people producing housing for folks who live here? My contention is they are not,” he said, arguing that much of the new housing mostly caters to second-home buyers or people in the tech industry. “I’m afraid they want to bring in a different class of people.”

Krohn also takes issue with the potential housing development planned for the site of The Catalyst. “I think the city could do something to save that venue, or at least designate another venue before they’re out of business,” he said. “Because you know that music venue is not going back there. Nobody’s gonna want to live above a nightclub.”

Krohn said one of his first priorities is advocating for a town hall meeting for residents to discuss development in the city. He said he’d want to include people from various perspectives, including Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) advocates, homeowners associations and more, including people from jurisdictions such as Santa Monica and Los Angeles involved in lawsuits against the state.

“The folks on the council want this development, and they’re using ‘my hands are tied’ as a way of saying the state is doing this,” he said. “We could slow it down a lot.”

Krohn said his vision of successful development is two- to four-story projects that better fit the scale of Santa Cruz. He said he also would push for city staff to work with affordable housing providers rather than luxury housing developers; he believes the city has too much high-end housing in the pipeline. He pointed to Paris, which he said has high-rises in only a specific part of the city, despite a much larger population than Santa Cruz. He said he’s glad that Measure C, a real estate transfer and parcel tax, passed in November, but thinks it could have gone even further and taxed the most expensive properties more aggressively.

Krohn said he thinks the dwindling of homeless services, such as the closure of Housing Matters’ day services, is serious, and that social services are “paramount to the progressive era.” He said that while he understands Housing Matters’ decision, he thinks the nonprofit can’t just take the services away with no alternative.

“[Housing Matters] has a vulnerable population moving into those new places and they’re going to have to go through that gauntlet of human misery, so I get that,” he said, adding that it reminds him of when the city moved to close the encampment between Highway 1 and the Gateway Plaza. “It wasn’t like, ‘Where are we going to locate folks? This might not be the appropriate place,’ they just wanted to get those people out of there.”

Krohn said he’d look to expand a county program that pairs a nurse and social worker together to respond to nonviolent and mental health crises. He said he himself used the program to check on his brother dealing with mental health issues, and the responding social worker got his brother proper medication and treatment at a Capitola nursing facility. 

“Let the police do what they do best if they’re going after criminals,” he said. “A social worker nurse program is expensive, but so are police officers.”

Krohn said pulling out of the Flock Safety contract was the “most progressive thing I’ve seen the city council do.” He said he wouldn’t support automated license-plate readers of any kind, and expressed concern with Coonerty’s willingness to explore the technology.

Should he win the mayorship, Krohn said other top priorities would be working to fill vacant storefronts, improve the city’s bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and prepare for federal immigration enforcement, particularly by barring the feds from using city-owned property and training city employees on how to deal with agents, should they come to the city.

Krohn was recalled after he was accused of mistreating city staff and fellow councilmembers. He argues, however, that the impetus for the recall went well beyond personal or political disagreements. He said he and a short-lived progressive majority were “focused on the most vulnerable people in our community” as well as social justice issues and affordable housing, which the current council has strayed from.

“It has much to do with capital, has to do with money, and we didn’t represent those interests,” he said. “Santa Cruz is a very valuable place, and this city council is not protecting that value. It is denigrating the value, and it’s giving the value away to these outside developers. I’m running for city council to bring about balance in that relationship.”

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Five candidates are competing to become the city of Santa Cruz’s next mayor: Ami Chen Mills, Ryan Coonerty, Gillian Greensite, Chris Krohn and Joy Schendledecker. Coonerty and Krohn have held the office before, while Chen Mills, Greensite and Schendledecker are well-known activists, none of whom have ever held political office. Lookout has covered the race here.

Lookout asked each candidate five simple questions we think will give readers a sense of who  they are, what they stand for, and how they could shape the future of the city. We include their responses here in alphabetical order. 

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The first vote happens in the June 2 primary. Santa Cruz uses California’s “top-two” system, meaning all candidates run in the same race, regardless of party. If one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, that candidate wins outright. If not, the top two finishers move on to a run-off in November.

Whether you’re already following the race or just getting up to speed, here’s a look at each candidate – in their own words – before you cast your vote.

You can also see the candidates live at Lookout’s May 7 candidates forum at Hotel Paradox featuring these mayoral contenders, along with District 4 candidates Scott Newsome and Hector Marin, and District 6 candidates Renee Golder and Gabriella Noack. Get more information and RSVP for free here.

Ami Chen Mills Ryan Coonerty Gillian Greensite Chris Krohn Joy Schendledecker

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The post Five candidates, five questions, one big decision: Meet the voices vying to lead Santa Cruz – and get ready for the June 2 primary appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.

Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling narrowing the Voting Rights Act undermines legal protections that have helped Latinos gain representation in politics California Democrats and activists say.

The case centered on the boundaries of a Louisiana congressional district. The court found by a 6-3 majority that Louisiana had relied too heavily on race to decide the borders.

“One may lament partisan gerrymandering, but … partisan gerrymandering claims are not justiciable in federal court,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito for the majority. “And in a racial gerrymandering case like the one before us, race and politics must be disentangled.”

The ruling scales back Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices that discriminate against people based on their race.

The ruling will not change California’s congressional districts, which were redrawn to favor Democrats after voters approved Proposition 50 last November. Partisan gerrymanders are permitted under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has previously ruled. 

The decision also nullifies the California Republican Party’s “Hail Mary” attempts to invalidate the state’s new maps, which the GOP argued were a racial gerrymander to favor Latinos.

But when it comes to House majority math in the U.S. Congress and which party clinches a majority in the November election, the curtailing of Section 2 could make Democrats’ Prop 50 gains moot. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom put forward the measure after Texas Republicans redrew congressional boundaries to favor the GOP. Prop 50 was meant to help Democrats pick up five additional California seats.

After the new ruling, several Southern states in particular could redraw their maps to eliminate “majority-minority” districts that were drawn to magnify the power of nonwhite voters. Such a move could oust as many as 12 Democrats, according to a New York Times analysis, and shift the long-term balance of power in the House toward Republicans. The GOP could then control Congress’s lower chamber even if the party loses the popular vote by a wide margin.

Newsom called the new ruling “outrageous.” Attorney General Rob Bonta, also a Democrat, said in a statement that while it’s unclear what impacts the changes will have on California, the ruling overall endangers minority voters in other states. 

“While the full impact of this ruling is still uncertain, we know from past experience that decisions striking down, or effectively gutting, provisions of the Voting Rights Act are often followed by new state laws that restrict access to the ballot for voters of color,” Bonta said in a statement. 

Kristin Nimmers, policy and campaigns manager of the Black Power Network, said in a statement that the decision rolls back “generations of progress.”

“The ability of voters to challenge discriminatory districts manipulated to drown out people’s voices based on race is a critical safeguard against being silenced,” Nimmers said. 

In California, Voting Rights Act violations aren’t only a memento of Civil Rights-era discrimination. As recently as 1990, a federal judge cited Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in declaring the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors had unconstitutionally gerrymandered their districts to exclude Latino voters. 

Section 2 required that redrawn district maps must be “equally open to participation” from protected groups — including racial minorities. The Supreme Court decision on Wednesday left Section 2 intact, but significantly curtailed how it could be applied by raising the bar for violations to “a strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred.” 

The high court’s three-justice liberal minority argued that the changes to Section 2 effectively dismantled the Voting Rights Act. The conservative majority on the court has been narrowing the law since 2013. 

Conservatives in California celebrated the ruling. 

Chris Kieser, senior attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, said the ruling was a victory long hoped for by California conservatives who had argued that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act improperly used race in redistricting. 

“The very idea of a majority-minority district and having a candidate of their choice is kind of antithetical to democracy,” Kieser said. “Voting is an individual right, it’s not a group right.” 

The Voting Rights Act has been primarily used to help the state’s growing Latino population achieve political representation from the 1960s to the 1990s. Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the ruling is unlikely to have much immediate impact in California. 

The ruling won’t affect California’s recent redistricting effort, he said, nor will it affect the independent state redistricting commission’s decisions. 

“I don’t believe there is any challengeable gerrymandering in this state,” Saenz said. 

But Rosalind Gold, chief public policy officer of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, said the ruling has dire long-term implications for Latino representation in California. 

“By eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, this could open the door to counties and localities looking at how they used Section 2 to draw their maps and challenging those maps,” Gold said.  

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