The Brief

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• Dangers Of Landslides Remain After Record-Breaking Storms Leave The Southland Saturated

Los Angeles officials on Tuesday reported some progress in responding to the two atmospheric storms that have left the Southland saturated and still at risk of debris flows.

The pair of record-breaking storms have shut down roads, forced mandatory evacuations and severely damaged property in landslides and debris flows.

And while the worst of the storm system had passed, they warned the region has a ways to go in terms of clean up and recovery.

"The road to recovery may be long and it requires an all hands approach," L.A. City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a news conference Tuesday evening. "We will rebuild, we will recover, and we will emerge stronger."

Mayor Karen Bass said she was preparing official requests for assistance from state and federal officials.

Power has been reported to 59,000 L.A. customers, with just over 6,600 customers remaining with lights out, mainly because of a downed tree in Brentwood.

As of Tuesday evening, Crowley said the following had been recorded in L.A.:

• 475 mudslides
• 390 fallen trees
• Multiple successful water rescues
• 12 structure fires
• 919 catch basin and storm water systems cleared
• 441 reports of potholes recorded

From around 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday, forecasters said they were expecting another burst of rain, which could prove perilous for already saturated ground.

Expect more flooding, downed trees, debris flows and other hazards as the storm system slowly makes it way southeast.

Rain and thunderstorms will be sticking around a bit longer.

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National Weather Service in Oxnard

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Mud and rock slides were especially prevalent along mountain areas that got hit by the historically heavy rain.

At around 9 p.m. Sunday, 16 residents were evacuated from nine Studio City homes after a mudslide damaged two structures on Lockridge Road. And L.A. firefighters evacuated people from at least three homes affected by debris flows on West Boris Drive in Tarzana. A landslide on Beverly Crest damaged at least six homes, forcing the evacuation of 15 people.

Culver City issued an evacuation warning for residents in Culver Crest as mudflows were reported on Cranks road and Flaxton street. At noon on Tuesday, Hacienda Road in La Habra heights was closed due to an active debris flow moving through the town.

In Santa Barbara, officials evacuated an estimated 40 people from apartment buildings due to cliff erosion.

A view of mudslide damage in Los Angeles, California.

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There should be a lull in the rain Wednesday morning before the region has to deal with a bit more storm activity through Thursday.

A flash flood warning will likely remain in effect until Wednesday afternoon from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Hollywood Hills and Griffith Park, as well as the adjacent foothills, the cities of Malibu and and Beverly Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains in southeastern Ventura County.

About that rainfall

"This has truly been a historic storm for Los Angeles," said Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Oxnard, who pointed out that this has been the third wettest two-day stretch for the city since they started keeping records back in the 1870s.

People view the Los Angeles River swollen by storm runoff as a powerful long-duration atmospheric river storm, the second in less than a week, continues to impact Southern California on February 5, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

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While on Monday, downtown L.A. saw 4.1 inches of rain — breaking the previous daily rainfall record of 2.55 inches set in 1927 — stations across the Santa Monica Mountains are where the real intense rainfall was centered.

Three-day rainfall totals as of noon Tuesday:

• Bel Air: 12.32 inches
• Sepulveda Canyon at Mulholland: 12.01
• Topanga: 11.95 inches
• Woodland Hills: 11.70 inches
• Mt. Baldy: 9.37 inches
• Santa Fe Dam: 8.61
• Downtown L.A.: 8.13 inches
• Hollywood Reservoir: 7.47 inches
• Santa Monica: 6.79 inches
• Santa Barbara: 5.42 inches
• Saticoy: 5.08 inches

To put those rainfall totals in perspective, the average annual rainfall for L.A. is usually around 14 inches or so.

Don't be surprised if more records fall.

Flood watches and warnings are in place from Santa Barbara to San Diego counties through Tuesday as hazards remain.

Long, sustained periods of rain are characteristic of El Niño storms. Warmer than normal waters off the coast — often associated with the climate phenomenon — are juicing our recent storms by sending more heat and water into the atmosphere.

Reports of landslides

Mud inundates parts of the Hollywood Hills on Monday. Another day of steady rain is forecast Tuesday.

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It's not uncommon for rocks and mud to flow off steep hillsides and onto roads during heavy rains. And debris flows were reported across the region over the past several days. Additional incidents are possible.

Overview of notable incidents as of Tuesday morning:

• Studio City: Two homes damaged by mudflow, with a total of 16 residents evacuated from nine homes.
• Tarzana: Three homes damaged by a mudflow and two people evacuated from a home.
• Beverly Crest: Seven homes have been damaged by debris flow and 15 people were evacuated.
• Palos Verdes: Eastbound Palos Verdes Drive south is closed due to mud.
• Culver City: An evacuation warning has been issued for residents of the Culver Crest area after mudflows were seen behind multiple homes.
• La Habra Heights: Hazardous levels of mud were reported along Hacienda Road at noon on Tuesday.

Coastal erosion

On Tuesday morning, Santa Barbara County officials evacuated approximately 40 people from four apartment buildings in the beachside college town of Isla Vista. Residents were later allowed to return with some of the property cordoned off.

County public information officer Jackie Ruiz said officials were concerned that the columns holding up the structures could give way because of cliff erosion below the buildings.

She said no other evacuations had been issued in the area, and that safety and planning officials were assessing damages to the buildings to determine needed repairs.

Up in the mountains

So far, snow levels have been relatively high, mostly above 5,500 feet.

Winter storm warnings are in effect in both the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests until late Tuesday night.

Snowfall totals as of 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday:

• Mountain High: 24 inches at 7,000 feet
• Mountain Baldy: 24 inches at 7,8000 feet
• Snow Valley: 17 inches at 7,000 feet
• Bear Mountain: 17 inches at 7,000 feet
• Wrightwood: 2 inches at 5,900 feet.

Higher mountain peaks like San Jacinto (10,834 feet) could get around 1 to 3 feet of snow, while Mt. San Antonio (10,064 feet) could see 4 to 6 feet.

The eastern San Gabriel mountains and the San Bernardino County mountains are under a winter storm warning until 10 p.m. Tuesday for areas above 6,000 feet.

Travel is expected to be difficult, if not impossible. Higher mountains could see winds up to 70 mph, which can damage trees and knock them onto roadways. If you must head in or around these areas, pack emergency supplies in your car just in case.

The Mount Wilson observatory closed Saturday until further notice because of the weather. Mountain High Resort will reopen today starting at 9 a.m.

The Angeles National Forest is urging people to stay away from the area at least for the next few days. Very hazardous conditions are expected, including heavy rain, fast-moving landslides, snow, and flooding.

What's up with the L.A. River?

Social media has been inundated with videos of the Los Angeles River gushing with water as historic rains pummel Southern California.

Jon Sweeten, a reservoir regulation engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, said videos of the river seemingly on the verge of overflowing shouldn't necessarily be cause for alarm.

“People see a lot of water in a channel that they see that's normally dry and they go, ‘Oh my goodness, there's a lot of water,’” he said. “That's just the channel operating in the way it was designed.”

The system, Sweeten added, “is designed to hold some of the water behind the dams and release it into concrete line channels that will convey the flow very effectively to the ocean.”

Since the 51 miles of river pass through different cities, at the time the infrastructure was built, municipalities were responsible for building bridges within their respective boundaries. At the time, local officials pushed for a narrower river, so that it would be cheaper to build the bridges while also preserving more land for development.

“In order to make the system work well, they designed it so that it flowed very fast so — the system flows much faster than a natural stream would flow,” Sweeten said. “Which is why it's dangerous for people to stand on the concrete in the L.A. River, because water up to your ankle is capable of knocking you off your feet.”

Sewage spills

Avoid fecal coliform bacteria and all sorts of nasty chemicals by not going into the ocean during or right after it rains.

It's a notion that holds doubly true for Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, and every swimming area in Long Beach, as an estimated 8 million gallons of sewage have flowed down into the water.

A sanitation department spokesperson said sewer systems were so overwhelmed by rain that they backed up and spilled out into the Dominguez Channel, which leads to the Port of Long Beach, and into Compton Creek, which flows into the L.A. River.

An additional 40,000 gallons of sewage are also estimated to have spilled into the L.A. River following a backup in Commerce.

Public health officials advise people to wait at least 72 hours after significant rainfall to go into the ocean water.

More information on the spills can be found here.

Evacuations

Multiple evacuation orders and warnings for L.A., Ventura and Santa Barbara counties have been canceled, though it's possible as the storm progresses that additional alerts will be issued.

Los Angeles County

• Topanga Canyon: Evacuation order and warning issued for the area around Santa Maria Road in the Owen Fire burn scar.
• Soledad Canyon: Evacuation warning issued for the Agua Fire Burn scar east of Acton.
• Juniper Hills: Evacuation warning issued for Juniper Hills and Valyermo area.
• San Gabriel Mountains: Evacuation warnings are in effect for areas near the Bobcat Fire (north end) and Lake Fire burn scars.
• Duarte: Evacuation warning is in effect for the area in the Fish Fire burn scar.
• Culver City: Evacuation warning in effect through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday for areas of Culver City’s Upper Crest area due to potential mud or debris flows. The city is asking people who live above, below, or adjacent to a hillside in or below the Upper Crest neighborhood to take extra precautions.
• Warnings and orders will likely remain in place until 6 p.m. Tuesday. More info about above incidents is here.

Orange County

• A voluntary evacuation warning was issued for Irvine Lake, Black Star and Baker Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Williams Canyon, Modjeska Canyon, Live Oak and North Traduce Canyon, and Traduce, Rose, and Holy Jim Canyons.
• Canyon residents were strongly encouraged to prepare and voluntarily evacuate on Sunday, especially those with disabilities, access and/or functional needs, and canyon residents with large animals.
• More info here.
  

San Bernardino County and Riverside County

• Evacuation warning issued due to potential mud and debris flow in the El Dorado and Apple fire burn scars.

Schools

• Los Angeles Unified School District announced that all schools will be open on Tuesday with the exception of Topanga Elementary Charter and Vinedale College Preparatory Academy. Topanga students may report to Woodland Hills Academy while Vinedale students may report to Glenwood Elementary School.
• Santa Monica schools are open Tuesday; Malibu schools are closed.
• Long Beach Unified schools are open Tuesday.
• Santa Barbara Unified school district reopened on Tuesday.

About 62% of LAUSD students attended school on Monday. In a statement issued later that evening, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said close to 90% of teachers made it in as well.

The superintendent also noted some bus delays but said more than 90% of bus drivers reported to work and all routes were eventually completed. One bus had a breakdown that delayed students for an hour and a half.

LAist has asked the district for more details on that incident and how it's accommodating Vineland and Topanga elementary school students.

Road closures

In short, it's a mess.

Rockslides, mudslides, flooding and snow have inundated roads from Ventura to San Bernardino.

Check in with your local department of transportation for the latest updates:

• Caltrans (best for highway and mountain conditions)
• L.A. County
• L.A. City
• Ventura County
• Santa Barbara County
• Riverside County
• San Bernardino County

Universities

• UCLA- Normal operations. Classes will occur as usual
• USC- Normal operations. Classes will occur as usual
• In person classes have resumed at Cal State Fullerton.
• UC Santa Barbara campuses are set to reopen Tuesday.
• Cal State Long Beach said it expects normal operations and classes to resume on Tuesday.
• Cal Poly Pomona returns to normal campus operations Tuesday.
• Cal State Northridge also resumes campus operations Tuesday.

Emergency proclamations and preparation

L.A. County issued an emergency proclamation Sunday night. Supervisors said that move aligned the county with the state's emergency order and would make it easier to act quickly to deploy resources.

In, L.A., Mayor Bass declared a local state of emergency on Monday.

San Bernardino County also declared a state of emergency Sunday night in anticipation of extreme rain and snow expected through Wednesday.

A man and his dog were rescued from the Pacoima Wash near Foothill Boulevard via helicopter after he jumped into the water after his pet. LAFD Fire Chief Kristen Crowley said both the man and the dog are safe.

Bass said more than 100 unhoused people had to be evacuated from a tiny home complex. She added that they’re being moved into a nearby shelter that wasn’t being used, but now will be “instantly” filled.

Bass also answered a call from President Joe Biden toward the end of Monday’s news conference and held the phone up to the microphone so he could speak to the people of Los Angeles.

“We’ll get any help on the way as soon as you guys request it, so just let me know,” Biden said.

More ahead

Residents in mountain, canyon and coastal areas should prepare for the risk of debris flows and flooding to remain at least through Tuesday.

Those in landslide prone areas like the Palos Verdes Peninsula should be on the lookout for indications of land movement, including the formation of new cracks, the fracturing of underground utilities, doors and windows falling out of plumb and sounds of creaks and groans coming from the ground.

Sandbags are available at all Los Angeles Fire Department locations. Sand is also available at select other locations, and updates on availability can be checked here.

Los Angeles County Fire Department locations also have sandbags and sand.

Sand and sandbags are available at these locations in Orange County.

Understanding National Weather Service warnings

Here’s an excerpt from our guide to understanding flood warnings, if any are issued:

• Flood advisories are how the NWS begins to raise the alarm. The goal is to give people enough time to take action.
• Flood watches are your indicators to get prepared to move.
• A flood warning is issued when a hazardous weather event is imminent or already happening. When one is issued for your area, you need to get to higher ground immediately.
• A flash flood warning is issued when a flash flood is coming or in progress. Flash floods are sudden and violent floods that can start within minutes.

Read more: Flash Flood Warnings? Watches? Here’s What You Need To Know

Tips for driving in the rain

Advice on driving in the rain:

• Check weather and road conditions all along your planned route
• Slow down
• Keep a wider-than-usual distance between your vehicle and the one in front
• Don't drive through standing water — as little as 12 inches of rushing water can carry away most cars, and two feet can carry away SUVs and trucks.
• Make sure tires are fully inflated
• Check windshield wiper blades and replace if necessary

Read more: What You Should Do If You End Up Driving In A Flooded Area

Downed tree, power line or flooded road?

Dial 911 if it's an emergency.

However, if you need to report a flooded road or a downed tree, you can call the following non-emergency numbers:

• L.A. City: Dial 311 for a flooded road or downed tree. Call (800) DIAL-DWP if you see a downed power line.
• L.A. County: (800) 675-HELP
• Ventura County: (805) 384-1500
• Orange County: (714) 955-0200 or visit here.

If you're in L.A. County and need sand bags you can find some at local fire houses.

Staying safe when the winds are high

• Watch for traffic signals that may be out. Approach those intersections as four-way stops.
• Make sure you have a battery-operated radio and flashlights. Check the batteries to make sure they are fresh. Use flashlights for lighting during a power outage; do not use candles because they may pose a significant fire hazard.
• If you’re in a vehicle with a fallen power line on it, stay in the vehicle and remain calm until help arrives. It is OK to use your cellphone to call 911. If you must leave the vehicle, remember to exit away from downed power lines and exit by jumping from the vehicle and landing with both feet together. You must not touch the vehicle and the ground at the same time. Then proceed away from the vehicle by shuffling and not picking up your feet until you are several yards away. 
• Water and electricity don’t mix. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. Do not step in or enter any water that a downed power line may be touching.
• Do not use any equipment inside that is designed for outdoor heating or cooking. Such equipment can emit carbon monoxide and other toxic gases.
• If you use a generator, place it outdoors and plug individual appliances directly into it, using a heavy-duty extension cord. Connecting generators directly to household circuits creates “backfeed,” which is dangerous to repair crews.
• Leave the doors of your refrigerator and freezer closed to keep food as fresh as possible. Place blocks of ice inside to help keep food cold. Check food carefully for signs of spoilage. 
• Check on your neighbors to make sure everyone is safe.

Tips on staying warm

• State law requires residential units to have heating systems that can keep indoor temperatures at a minimum of 70 degrees. That means every dwelling unit and guest room offered for rent or lease should offer heating equipment, usually central air conditioning (A/C) or a wall heater. — Caitlin Hernández
• Use heat smartly to save money: Cranking things like the A/C and wall heaters can be expensive. If money is tight, be judicious about how and when you use your utilities. For example, only use heaters at night or only set the thermostat to around 70 degrees.
• Open and close those vents: If you have central A/C, look at where the vents are around your home. Are any open in places where you don’t stay long? Practice opening and closing those so warm air only goes where you need it (most vents should have a small toggle lever). Humidifiers can also help you warm things up — and it’s useful to add moisture into our dry air.
• Adjust your wall heaters: If you have a wall heater, you can change the output by adjusting the knob (usually at the bottom). Since wall heaters can only warm the areas where they’re placed, it’s essential to close doors to rooms you won’t be in so hot air doesn’t get wasted.
• Turn on your ceiling fan (really): If you have a ceiling fan, try turning it on. This sounds counterintuitive, but there’s science behind it. The direction a fan turns can push air in different directions, and since hot air floats up, you’ll want to move that around. Your fan should spin clockwise to create an updraft to circulate. Not all fans will have this option, though.
  

Sign up for emergency alerts

• L.A. City: Notify L.A.
• L.A. County: Ready L.A. County
• Ventura County: Ready Ventura County
• Orange County: AlertOC
• Riverside County: AlertRivCo

How we're reporting on this

George Kiriyama, a senior editor, is tracking the storm and adding updates along with Kevin Tidmarsh, a producer, and Fiona Ng, LAist's weekend editor. Other LAist staff members, including host Sharon McNary and associate producer Gillian Morán Pérez
also kept a close eye, while other members of the newsroom have been keeping watch during the week.

This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes and/or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.

Your questions or ideas

Rep. Thomas Massie moved Monday to force a vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, setting the stage for a dramatic vote on whether to remove one of the Trump administration’s most prominent figures following sweeping election losses.

The impeachment resolution was introduced by Massie, a Kentucky Republican, as soon as the House opened for the first day of sessions after the midterms. It largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth’s role in carrying out military actions in Yemen and Venezuela.

Massie said the secretary’s actions amount to “high crimes and misdemeanors” and his leadership at the Pentagon “thus warrants impeachment.”

A vote in the House could come by mid-week, putting pressure on Republicans — many of whom blamed their election wipeout on the Iran war — but next steps are highly uncertain.

House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent this outcome, and warned lawmakers against impeaching the Defense secretary while the U.S. is engaged in military actions in the Middle East.

“Impeaching a Cabinet secretary right now, especially the Department of War in the middle of hostilities abroad would be a terrible, terrible look, a terrible thing for our allies and our enemies to see that,” Johnson, a Republican, said as he opened the chamber.

“We don’t impeach Cabinet secretaries for political gain or for cheap tricks, and I think that’s what this is and I think everybody knows it.”

Most House Democrats are expected to support impeaching Hegseth, with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying over the weekend it’s time for the Defense secretary to go.

If the House votes to impeach Hegseth, it would next go to the Senate for a potential trial. Republicans remain in the majority in both chambers, until the new Congress convenes in January with Democrats in control.

Hegseth issues his own defense and prepares for a fight

Hegseth maintains he’s eager to litigate the military actions that he and President Donald Trump have taken against Iran, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Venezuela’s previous leaders.

“If you want to take issue with what we did in Epic Fury or Rough Rider or nabbing Nicolás Maduro, you’re taking issue with the troops and what they accomplished, which is historic,” Hegseth told reporters Monday, using the military code names for the Iran war and campaign of strikes to halt the Houthis’ attacks on shipping in the Middle East.

Hegseth also announced that he would hold a rare news conference on Tuesday — his first in over 180 days — on the impeachment threat. His last briefing was in May, and he has not held one on the Iran war, strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats or other U.S. military actions since then.

The Pentagon chief is bearing the brunt of anger and calls for his ouster after the Iran war and its economic impact contributed to severe Republican losses in the midterm elections that cost the party control of Congress.

Hegseth waves off impeachment push as ‘noise’

Hegseth, after giving a speech at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, brushed aside the impeachment push.

“There’s a lot of politically motivated people who may have substantial policy disagreements, but their disagreements are with success,” he told reporters. He added that “if we want to litigate” the military actions that the Trump administration has taken, “I’m happy to do it all day long.”

“My team, we’re not worried about the noise — it’s what I told the troops, too — ‘don’t worry about the noise,’” he said.

Asked about Vice President JD Vance blaming the Iran war for the massive GOP losses in the election, Hegseth noted that Trump said he would do it again, and “I agree.”

He largely repeated a line that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said to reporters a day earlier: “It doesn’t have to be necessarily popular, but it can be necessary.”

Hegseth argued that the war was necessary because “someone had to confront the Iranian regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon” and said “the choice was don’t act and wish it away or take a bold move.”

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Trump defended Hegseth to reporters on Sunday night.

“He’s guilty of two things, basically winning two wars,” Trump said. “I believe we saved the Middle East and Israel combined. And it’s awfully hard to say let’s impeach somebody who did that.”

Pentagon chief insists ‘Iran is devastated’

Hegseth reiterated that “Iran is devastated,” even though the Islamic Republic has been able to keep striking military bases in the Middle East that are used by the United States, causing billions of dollars in damage, as well as commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions to shipping in the waterway, where one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war, have led to higher energy prices that hit voters’ pocketbooks.

He said the next steps on the war are up to Trump, including telling Iran: “Hey, we’re done, and we’re going to watch your nuclear material. You better not move it.”

Hegseth’s defense of the war comes after about 6 in 10 voters said the U.S. made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 voters in the United States.

With anger in Congress rising, Hegseth has been on a social media blitz, posting a video last week acknowledging the threat of impeachment. He said it would be “all about the politics of personal destruction” and insisted that “won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”

Since then, scores of political appointees within the Pentagon have posted images of Hegseth emblazoned with the words, “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.” The White House also posted a video to social media that featured praise from Trump.

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

It is the final hoorah for the 119th Congress. Republicans have just weeks left in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main thing on the agenda: keeping the federal government open. Funding is set to run out on December 11, when a stop-gap measure passed about a month ahead of the midterms expires.

Any funding extension is all but certain to be done through another short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution. The typical government funding process — 12 carefully negotiated appropriations bills — would take time and political will that lawmakers currently lack.

Congress will also need to find a path forward on the National Defense Authorization Act, long considered a must-pass annual military funding package. This year, the bill is quagmired in the unforgiving politics of the Iran war. The conflict is opposed by a majority of Americans — something President Trump has acknowledged was a key force in driving his party out of power.

The House is also likely to vote on an impeachment effort targeting Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Introduced by Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a key figure in forcing the administration's release of the Epstein files, the impeachment measure lists a number of charges, including that the administration failed to properly consult Congress on the military campaign.

Democrats are unlikely to be in a compromising mood on legislation, just weeks away from taking control of both chambers. That means continued work on big-ticket items like the Protect College Sports Act, meant to introduce new regulations around college athlete compensation, and a bipartisan energy permitting overhaul will likely wait until the new term.

With slim majorities in both chambers, they could also have to contend with some attendance problems after a demoralizing performance in last week's midterm elections. That further complicates passing legislation through chambers already governed by the thinnest of majorities.

Mike Ricci, a Republican strategist with the group Seven Letter and aide to former Speakers of the House John Boehner and Paul Ryan, told NPR that a number of forces could help draw reluctant lame duck legislators back to Washington, including winding down their offices, finding new work and attending the White House Christmas party.

Copyright 2026 NPR

As he campaigned for California governor, Xavier Becerra reflected on the way his Catholic upbringing informs his politics. “The sanctity of life is something that’s really ingrained in you,” the Democrat and former U.S. health and human services secretary said earlier this year.

He then explained his rationale, confounding to some, for supporting abortion rights. Becerra exemplifies how Catholicism’s deep roots often go hand in hand with California’s progressive reputation. That complexity is a snapshot of a larger reality — that American Catholics are in many ways a politically mixed bag.

“There is no Catholic vote,” said David Gibson, the director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture. White evangelicals for Republicans or Black Protestants for Democrats are more politically reliable religious groups, he said.

With Becerra’s win this week, California has elected five consecutive Catholic governors — a remarkable streak indicative of Catholicism’s enduring influence. “Catholicism is part of the fabric of California culture the way Puritan Protestantism is part of the New England regions,” Gibson said.

Catholic voters — especially Latinos — helped elect Becerra, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of roughly 100,000 midterm voters. He became the state’s first elected Latino governor.

Beginning with Gray Davis, who took office in 1999, four of those five governors also have been Democrats. Some have been more vocal about their faith than others — notably Jerry Brown, who was a seminarian in the 1950s.

California is home to more Catholics than any other U.S. state. A Pew Research Center poll in 2024 found that 25% of adults in California identify as Catholic, accounting for almost half of the state’s Christians.

But numbers aside, Catholicism has been woven into the fabric of the state for centuries.

California Catholics are politically diverse

From economically progressive strains of Catholic social teaching and explicit rejections of the death penalty to official teachings against abortion and in vitro fertilization, Catholic theology rarely fits neatly into political categories, which helps explain the unpredictable voting habits.

Take Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose strong support of abortion rights is at odds with Catholic leadership. Yet his announcement this week that he planned to change more than 500 death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole was celebrated by the California Catholic Conference, the public policy organization representing the church in California.

“I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us,” Newsom said in a public letter.

Some leaders within the church have subverted Trump administration policies, like San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas, who last year formally excused parishioners from their weekly obligation to attend Mass following immigration detentions on parish properties in the diocese.

Others have taken high-profile conservative stances, like San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who in 2022 barred U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic, from receiving Communion over her support of abortion rights.

About 2 in 10 voters in the California governor’s race were Catholic, and they mostly voted for Becerra, according to The AP Voter Poll. About 6 in 10 Catholic voters supported Becerra, while about 4 in 10 voted for his Republican opponent Steve Hilton.

About 7 in 10 Latino Catholics voted for Becerra, while white Catholics were split between Becerra and Hilton.

Those complex political patterns are also reflected nationally. Catholics were split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

That’s a modest shift from 2024, when just over half of U.S. Catholics voted for Trump, according to AP VoteCast.

California Catholics are ethnically diverse

Catholics in California are also ethnically diverse. Many are immigrants from Latin America and the Philippines. Resident Tracy Creighton’s ancestry goes back to the missions founded more than two centuries ago by Spanish Franciscan priests.

As the mother of teenagers, Creighton has sought to pass on the importance of serving others and respecting nature — values she believes are both deeply Catholic and Californian.

“I feel in the last several years we have lost our way in terms of being of service to others,” she said, citing Saint Francis of Assisi as a model. “That is why I stay Catholic.”

Catholic faith, history and culture contribute to many Californians’ understanding of themselves, such as their relationship to the 21 missions founded between 1769 and 1823.

“Obviously, the legacy of the missions is a mixed one and has problematic implications,” said Cecilia González-Andrieu, a theology professor at Loyola Marymount University. “For Latina theologians like myself, there’s a need for us to be able to hold that in tension, the fact that within our very selves we have this mix of cultures and bloods.”

Leaders are increasingly reckoning with that tension and how it should be communicated to young people. The history of the missions is included in the statewide public fourth-grade curriculum, which is often accompanied by a field trip to one.

A law signed by Newsom went into effect last year that requires schools to teach in social studies class about how missionaries mistreated Native Americans, and to share Native perspectives.

But mistreatment isn’t the only fraught legacy of the missionaries who arrived in the late 18th century.

“The mission system spread disease and was ill-equipped to deal with the immunological effects of old-world people and their immunities,” said William Deverell, a historian at the University of Southern California. “It’s your major consequential institutional moment which brings with it a horrible demographic decline of the Indigenous population.”

California Catholicism is about more than faith

Despite their complicated legacy, the missions are landmarks. Many still operate as Catholic parishes.

The missions also helped influence the Spanish Colonial Revival style of homes that became signatures of California architecture. “Why I love California so much is the architecture and the beauty of it. And I think Catholicism plays a lot into that,” Creighton said.

Creighton says it’s difficult to overstate the significance of Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, near San Diego, where she lives.

“Everyone does their homecoming pictures, their Christmas pictures. It’s just ingrained in us,” she said, adding that even non-Catholics will often take photos there. “It’s a landmark that’s important in who we are here.”

Beyond architecture, Catholic influence is all over many California homes.

Between the crucifixes and votive candles on display, Brian Murillo’s Fresno home is a testament to his Catholic upbringing. The state employee describes himself as a lapsed Catholic who stopped going to Mass because he felt the American church’s leadership was too aligned with Republican politics.

But Murillo, whose father is from Mexico, still says a Hail Mary or an Our Father prayer whenever he leaves the house.

“Sometimes I’ll be cleaning the house and I’ll be doing a prayer or in the car by myself,” he said. “It’s been such a part of my growing up, even to this day.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

In the home-stretch of the L.A. mayor’s race, Mayor Karen Bass and her former ally-turned-challenger Nithya Raman met for the only televised debate of the campaign.

They traded jabs over public safety, homelessness and other core issues for Angelenos. But one dig was particularly eyebrow-raising. It came toward the end of the debate, when Bass chided Raman for her support from bike lane advocates.

“There’s very influential people who are supporting your campaign who are very, very much advocates for bike lanes,” Bass, who conceded the race Thursday, said in the Oct. 13 debate hosted by NBCLA and Telemundo.

“Um, yes,” Mayor-elect Raman can be heard quietly saying as one of the moderators tries to move the conversation along.

While it represented just a moment in the race, the brief exchange encapsulated what was at stake for public transit and bike champions: Maintain the status quo with the current mayor, or take a chance on a candidate who made improving transportation and mobility across L.A. a centerpiece of her campaign.

Since the race was called for Raman by the Associated Press, public transit supporters have been cheering her win.

“I’m just on Cloud 9 right now,” said Jonathan Hale, street safety activist and founder of the grassroots group People’s Vision Zero.

 ”It is time for a cultural shift towards a city that prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists and people who take public transit,” Hale added. “We finally have a mayor who believes that.”

It’s not just bike lanes. Raman’s successful campaign hinged on a policy platform that viewed broken sidewalks, streetlights in disrepair and pothole-ridden roads not as intractable issues, but urgent crises that can be addressed with better governance.

Raman, who has said she used trains and buses to commute to work in the past, also has her eyes on L.A.’s larger transportation network. On election eve, while riding the L.A. Metro B Line with supporters, Raman said the region can buck its car-centric reputation and be home to a fast, safe and connected transit system.

“That vision is totally achievable, if you have the will. I have the will,” Raman said.

The will of the people meets political will

For years, L.A. voters have signaled their support for better public transit and improved mobility.

More than 70% of L.A. city residents voted in favor of countywide sales tax measures in 2008 and 2016 to fund transportation projects, which have resulted in transit projects like the first section of the D Line extension.

In 2024, two-thirds of voters passed Measure HLA requiring bike, pedestrian and transit improvements throughout L.A.

Streets for All, the influential transportation advocacy group that put up Measure HLA, has supported Raman throughout her political career. Its political action committee buoyed the mayor-elect’s run with nearly $1.7 million in ad spending opposing Bass, according to campaign finance filings.

Its founder and chief executive officer, Michael Schneider, said Raman’s victory further solidifies the sense that Angelenos want to see their built environment improve.

“It's a mainstream moment for safe streets advocacy,” Schneider said.

In her policy platform, Raman promised to “fast track safety improvements by delivering on HLA.” Progress on the voter-approved initiative has been slow and the subject of ongoing legal battles.

Damian Kevitt, the executive director of the street safety nonprofit Streets Are For Everyone, is also optimistic. Kevitt said the nonprofit tried its best to engage Bass and “multiple council members” on the issue of traffic violence, which, in recent years, has killed more Angelenos than homicides.

“Raman's office was one of the few that engaged,” Kevitt said. “Time will tell, but we think that the future looks brighter.”

Raman has said she wants to create a Vision Zero director in the mayor’s office to “make safety the governing lens for every decision made related to our streets.” In 2015, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti adopted a policy framework known as Vision Zero to zero out traffic deaths by 2025.

Now that Raman’s been elected mayor, the future of a contentious road project near Griffith Park could shift. The project emerged as a flashpoint about street safety during the campaign. Raman had pushed for a long-studied lane reduction plan along Forest Lawn Drive. Bass canned that proposal just a few weeks before the project’s groundbreaking and adopted a design to widen the roadway’s lanes instead.

Reinstating her vision for Forest Lawn Drive will require Raman to work with her colleagues on L.A. City Council, nearly all of whom endorsed Bass in the mayoral election. Most have said they’re ready to work with her. 

A powerful voice on Metro’s board 

The mayor of L.A. has a dedicated seat on the 13-person Metro Board and can appoint three of its members. That accounts for roughly a third of the voting power on the powerful body that makes countywide transportation planning decisions. The rest of the board is made up of all five L.A. County supervisors and non-L.A. city representatives.

Nick Andert, a documentary filmmaker and transit advocate YouTuber, said he wants to see Raman appoint people who use Metro “at least from time to time” and also someone with relevant expertise to transit planning.

Bass' current appointments include the founding member of a faith-based development group in South L.A., Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, as well as L.A. City Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Imelda Padilla. When Raman joins the board in December, she’ll have the power to change those appointments.

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the mayor’s appointees often vote as a bloc. She said disagreements with the L.A. mayor often mean disagreeing with “potentially four votes on the board,” as was the case earlier this year during deliberations over how to extend a Metro rail line into West Hollywood.

Horvath, who endorsed Raman for mayor in October, said she’s looking forward to working with someone who has demonstrated interest in transit. She pointed to Raman’s support of projects like the Sepulveda Transit Corridor and K-Line Northern Extension, and making day-to-day operations of the transit system more reliable.

“Raman has really listened to what people are looking for,” Horvath said. “If we listen to our riders more and make those improvements, those are the things that help bring people into the system.”

The mayor-elect has signaled her support for extending Metro’s operations later into the night, a proposal that Cassy Horton, co-founder of the Downtown L.A. Residents Association, hopes materializes.

“Downtown is a nightlife hub,” Horton said. “It would be a huge game changer, probably reviving nightlife, if trains were running until bars and restaurants close.”

In a statement, Metro congratulated Raman on her victory.

“We look forward to welcoming her to the Board,” Metro said, adding its gratitude to Bass for making Metro a “safer, more welcoming and equitable agency.”

Workers repair potholes and skim a large portion of street in Los Angeles on Jan. 13, 2026.

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Genaro Molina

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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Quick-turn improvements promised in Raman’s first 100 days

As the incoming mayor, Raman will lead city departments that impact transportation and mobility. In her first 100 days in office, Raman has pledged to begin addressing urgent road repairs and potholes. She also said she’ll make public when broken streetlights in the city will be fixed.

“ I love the fact that Nithya Raman has built her agenda on making cities work from the sidewalks up,” said Hilary Norton, executive director of FastLink DTLA.

Norton said cities are successful when residents, including those with disabilities, can travel through local infrastructure with ease.

“ We meet on the sidewalks and we travel together and we interact together, we're bringing our democracy back,” Norton said.