The Brief

Seventy days remain until Long Beach voters join the rest of California in deciding how — or specifically by whom — they will be represented over the next six years.

The special election comes after California Democrats last week passed the “Election Rigging Response Act,” which would allow the state legislature to impose new Congressional district maps that would apply only to federal elections in 2026, 2028 and 2030.

The measure, passed 57-20 in the state Assembly and 30-8 in the state Senate, was proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a counterpunch to the Trump Administration, which first urged state lawmakers in Texas earlier this month to redraw their maps to favor Republicans.

If approved by voters, Newsom’s ballot measure will redraw California’s congressional makeup next year, giving Democrats a chance to win five more seats in the 2026 midterms. Democrats control 43 of California’s 53 seats, while Republicans hold a slim 219-212 majority in the House.

In service of that national political fight, the measure would make substantial changes to how Long Beach is represented at the federal level.

Currently, the city is divided between the 42nd and 44th Congressional Districts, represented by Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia and Nanette Barragán, respectively.

Barragán’s district would retrench from Long Beach, retreating to the neighborhoods north of Del Amo Boulevard and west of Downey Avenue, as it loses voters in West Long Beach and the communities that border Lakewood. Inversely, the congresswoman would gain Huntington Park and parts of Commerce.

Meanwhile, Garcia’s district would undergo a major change.

In the proposed map, the second-term congressman would claim a greater chunk of Long Beach, assuming the northwest neighborhoods of Wrigley, Bixby Knolls and Los Cerritos, among others.

Garcia would lose Lakewood, Downey and Gateway City neighborhoods like Commerce and Huntington Park. In exchange, he would take neighboring Seal Beach as the district stretches along the coast, absorbing Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and parts of Newport Beach.

Matt Lesenyie, a political science professor at Cal State Long Beach, said Wednesday the new districts in and around Long Beach bank heavily on Garcia’s popularity in the region, as the 42nd District would siphon Republican neighborhoods out of the 45th and 47th districts — two districts that Democrats Derek Tran and Dave Min won by slim margins last November.

Tran, a Cypress Democrat, won the 45th District seat over Republican incumbent Michelle Steel by 0.2% of the vote — a difference of 653 votes. And Min, a Costa Mesa Democrat, won last November by fewer than three percentage points, or 10,000 ballots.

Inversely, bluer cities in Garcia’s former district, like Bellflower and Downey, will be added to the 41st Congressional District, shoring up Democrat votes to wage a stronger challenge against the current representative, Republican Ken Calvert.

“If I was a strategist, I’d say you have votes to spare in Long Beach and northeast of Long Beach, Paramount,” Lesenyie said. “You don’t have a surplus south of that district.”

In a phone call last week, Garcia said the redrawing might change local priorities and make for some lively town halls, but it will not alter his overall message to voters.

“Whether it’s here or my current district in southeast LA, whether it’s in Orange County, people want to make sure that we’re taking on corruption in government,” Garcia said. “People want to make sure that programs are responsive to protecting health care and social security. They want to make sure we’re providing funds for parks and for infrastructure. … So none of that message is going to change.”

The newly proposed map makes the 42nd seat solely a beach district, as opposed to a mix of coastal and inland communities that sometimes differ on their needs. More attention could be paid toward laws that affect coastal cities, as well as grants that pay for improved water quality, wetland conservation and infrastructure at seaports.

But the district’s Democratic hold hinges on Garcia’s clout; without him or someone of similar name recognition, the new map could allow for a competitive Republican challenge.

The change, in terms of voter registration, will dilute its population of registered Democrats, from 53% to 40%. Republicans would jump from 18% to 30%, while there would be 5% more without a party preference.

“Without an experienced politician like Garcia, this could become basically a swing district,” Lesenyie said.

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, center, along with Congresswoman Nanette Barragán on the left and Rep. Robert Garcia, discuss the effects of the tariffs in Long Beach.

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Thomas R. Cordova.

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Long Beach Post

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State Sen. Tony Strickland, who has worked as a political consultant in Huntington Beach, said the right Republican would focus on “bread and butter” issues like the rising cost of living, as well as high energy costs, crime and “overreaching” building regulations.

But it would be an uphill battle for any Republican, Strickland added.

“Right now, our district that we live in and our map is a very competitive seat that you have to actually campaign hard and earn the people’s vote versus an overwhelming Democratic seat,” he said. “So for a Republican, it would be to try to bring affordability and common sense to California.”

Lesenyie, however, thinks the most formidable Republican would be a culture warrior, one who makes few concessions to moderates and instead taps into the prevailing disdain among those in Orange County against the cultural pace and leanings — such as on gender identity and reproductive health — of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Concessions would be a “poison pill” on either side, Lesenyie said.

Will Newsom’s plan pass?

It’s unclear how people across California feel about the move. Even among supporters, it will be a measure of whether they see it as a necessary sacrifice to their own democratic process.

A UC Berkeley/Politico/Citrin Center poll taken earlier this month found that California voters resoundingly want redistricting power kept with the state’s independent commission. But another survey by the same coalition last week found that 63% of respondents think California should “fight back” against efforts in Texas and other Republican-led states to stack the deck in Congress.

Typically, Congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years, immediately following the release of U.S. Census results. Lines are agreed upon by California’s 14-member independent redistricting commission, a power it has controlled since 2010. If Newsom’s measure is approved, these new maps would circumvent the current ones until the state’s independent redistricting commission draws new boundary lines in 2031.

A mid-decade redistricting is rare, and usually only happens as the result of a court order that found some violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Proponents of Newsom’s plan, like former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama have lauded it as a necessary response to the Trump Administration’s own push to strengthen Republican power in Texas.

The resolution reiterates California’s support for “fair, independent, and nonpartisan redistricting commissions,” and asks for federal legislation to require a system nationwide.

It also has trigger language, meaning the new maps would only take effect if Texas or another state moves forward with a mid-cycle redistricting.

But that hasn’t stopped rising opposition, most notably other California Republicans and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who argue that wresting map-drawing powers from the state’s nonpartisan commission undermines its democratic process and further erodes public trust.

Strickland called the move “authoritarian,” saying a system “where the elections are predetermined” and noncompetitive are not good for democracy.

“We have the gold standard here in California,” Strickland said, adding that unlike places like Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts — where legislators draw the maps — the system in California is designed to promote fair and engaging competition. “It’d be a shame to throw it away.”

It also won’t be cheap. An estimate by Assembly Republicans tallies the cost at more than $235 million to taxpayers, according to CalMatters.

At a town hall in Signal Hill on Monday, Garcia gave a preview of the pitch voters should expect from Democrats.

Speaking to a crowd of 70 or so people, he said he wholeheartedly supports the state’s independent commission, but, “If Republicans are going to go this extreme and try to rig an election, I think the governor’s right, and I think the response is appropriate.”

“I believe that Democrats can no longer play this respectability politics game and say we’re going to do the better thing,” Garcia continued. “I know not everyone agrees with that. ‘We’re going into the mud. We’re doing what they’re doing.’

“But I think we’ve reached a point where what’s on the line, I strongly believe, is a future where we can actually have a government that helps people and not cause so much damage to our democracy,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story was corrected to show Garcia is in his second term, not third.

With tensions already high in Minnesota after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer killed Renee Macklin Good, the Trump administration is ramping up the pressure on cities and states to cooperate with its immigration crackdown.

The administration had already surged federal agents — sometimes accompanied by military troops — to Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Charlotte, Memphis, Washington D.C. and New Orleans.

Now the White House is threatening to cut funding for sanctuary cities. Here's a brief explanation of how local governments interact with federal immigration enforcement, and what the White House can and can't require from them.

A fight over federal money 

President Trump threatened this week to cut "significant" federal funding to sanctuary cities. He hasn't said exactly what money his administration wants to cut, though he gave a deadline of Feb. 1.

Nor has Trump said exactly which cities or states will be targeted, though the Department of Justice did publish a list of more than 30 cities, states and counties in August. (That list includes the state of Minnesota, though not Minneapolis or St. Paul or their respective counties).

In remarks on Tuesday at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump seemed to be focused on places that limit their cooperation with ICE.

"They do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens. And it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come," Trump said. "So we're not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities."

This is not the first time President Trump has made a threat like this. During his first term, the president tried to withhold some federal funding from sanctuary cities. More recently, Trump signed an executive order nearly a year ago directing the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to make a list of sanctuary cities and withhold money from them.

But courts have sided against the administration in nearly every case, saying that the federal government cannot use funding to coerce state and local governments into changing their policies on immigration.

"Here we are again," U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco wrote in April. Orrick granted (and later extended) a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from 16 jurisdictions, including San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul and New Haven.

"The threat to withhold funding causes them irreparable injury in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between the Cities and Counties and the communities they serve," Orrick said.

No precise legal definition of 'sanctuary'

There's no exact legal definition of "sanctuary city." But broadly speaking, the term refers to any city, state or county that limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The legal questions here are nuanced. Local law enforcement cannot block federal agents from doing their work but courts have said that state and city officers can withhold some cooperation.

The legal arguments are rooted in the U.S. Constitution and the division of powers between the federal government, which is in charge of immigration enforcement, and state and local governments, which run their own police and sheriffs' departments.

Courts have backed states that don't want to share data on residents in their records, including information about driver's licenses. And in many places, state and local law enforcement will not honor what's known as a "detainer request" from ICE, which essentially asks police to hold someone in detention until immigration authorities can take custody.

Local officials push back 

Virtually all the cities and states the administration has focused on so far are led by Democrats, who don't seem to be backing down after Trump's threat to cut federal money.

"This is just a threat to intimidate states like New York into bowing into submission. And that is something we'll never do," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said earlier this week. "You touch any more money from the state of New York, we'll see you in court."

State and city leaders argue there is a fundamental public safety rationale for their sanctuary policies. They say that working with ICE would undermine trust and cooperation between local law enforcement and immigrant communities as they seek to prevent crime.

There's clearly a political aspect to this as well. In many sanctuary cities, voters are asking Democratic leaders not to give in to the White House and its immigration agenda, so local leaders may have a strong incentive to dig in their heels.

Why local cooperation matters 

In the past, ICE has found that it's faster and safer to arrest people who are already being held in local jails. And that's one reason ICE was able to make so many arrests during the administration of President Obama, for example, before sanctuary policies were as widespread as they are now.

The White House says a lack of local cooperation is hindering its efforts to build "the largest deportation operation in the history of our country," a pledge Trump made frequently during his reelection campaign.

"Minnesota's 'leaders' have chosen defiance over partnership," the White House said in a statement on Friday.

But Democrats say the administration is deliberately creating confrontations in cities and states that are led by political opponents, provoking chaotic scenes on purpose for reasons that go beyond simply enforcing immigration law.

Copyright 2026 NPR

On a recent Saturday, a group of teenage musicians took to a stage inside an unlikely place: an unassuming unit in a business park at the bottom of Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena.

This space has a stage sitting on its concrete floor with the words "Backyard Party" playfully scrawled across the bottom.

The members of a band called The Wendolls sound checked with Matt Chait at the mixing board.

Backyard Party, one of the area’s newest all-ages venues, is brainchild of Chait and Sandra Denver.

“The fires crushed garages where kids would have been playing. It burnt backyards where they would have been playing. It burnt down the schools where they would have been playing. So this is the communal backyard party. That’s specifically what we built and why we built it,” Chait said just outside the makeshift venue. The only thing that sets it apart from the nondescript units around it is a handwritten sign that says ‘No Ins and Outs.’

Chait, who was evacuated from his residence during the Eaton Fire, teamed up with Denver to manage the volunteer-run Backyard Party a few months ago. Her daughter sung lead vocals in a band called Sly, one of four bands on the lineup.

“We wanted to provide a space for all of the teen bands all around to come and play and help them create a kind of scene,” Denver said.

It’s the type of spot Denver said she wishes she had growing up in Phoenix, Arizona.

The tip box at Backyard Party

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And she’s just one of several supportive parents here who are helping load in amps and guitars and bass drums.

Sixteen-year-old Jett Bizon is the drummer for Saints of Sinners, one of the bands on the bill. He said there’s another reason there are so many parents in the crowd.

“Well, nobody drives. Everybody needs a ride,” Bizon said with a chuckle.

With his long dark hair, Bizon explained that he’s already played some legendary local venues like The Whiskey a Go Go. But he said it feels like Backyard Party is becoming a much needed space for younger musicians in the area.

“We need to let out some type of energy and everybody’s putting it into music,” Bizon said. “I think it’s a great thing. Finally a scene again, it’s fun.”

As Bizon and his bandmates played their set of hard rock songs, the only people on their phones in the crowd were parents filming.

Some of the young folks taking the stage were affected by the Eaton Fire in one way or another. Some of them were evacuated. Others lost homes or saw their friends displaced.

Payton Owen was part of the crew running the door, taking tickets and dolling out snacks. She too is a musician and writes reviews of some of the concerts here.

“I think it’s amazing. I think it’s really like a point of community,” she said from behind a glass case filled with bags of popcorn and candy. “It’s a really nice opportunity for kids to really have somewhere where they can go.”

Teenager Elise Lamond agreed. She’d been following Chait around all night, learning how to set levels for the musicians, run the house lights and more.

“Most people at this age don’t have those kinds of opportunities,” she said, adding that, as a musician herself, she appreciated having free access to the venue’s music equipment, too.

Chait, who had a hand in running the now closed AAA Electra 99 venue in Anaheim and has been a musician since he was 12, said Pasadena and Altadena have a noteworthy music pedigree.

“I mean, Van Halen started in quite literal ‘backyard parties’ over on Allen. I think it lives here,” he said.

And Chait said he’s blown away by the new talent that’s come to this stage. For his part, he thinks it’s the start of a new scene that will balloon beyond Altadena and Pasadena.

Matt Chait going over the sound setup with Elise Lamond at Backyard Party.

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Robert Garrova / LAist

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“The fact that these kids who are now, let's say, 15-20 all lived through COVID and were very separated from each other. And now, in this particular neighborhood, are also separated again because of the fires. And they have supportive parents and now they have the physical place to be... All of the pieces of the puzzle are here,” Chait said.

For now, Chait said this is a labor of love. The space here is provided by Altadena Musicians, a non-profit that’s working to get instruments back in the hands of people who lost their gear in the fires. And as for ticket sales?

“It is the best part of running the venue: the end of the night, when we hand cash to these kids for playing,” Chait said.

Tonight’s bounty from a full-house? $320.

“There’s a couple of these kids, if they play one or two more times, we’re going to have to give them 1099s,” he said.

How to catch a BYP show

Backyard Party
1260 Lincoln Ave. #1300
Pasadena

For a calendar of upcoming shows, check out BYP’s website and Instagram.

On Friday, Southern California Edison filed lawsuits against Los Angeles County and several other agencies over their alleged roles in the Eaton Fire.

Two lawsuits were filed.

In one suit, the utility company alleges Southern California Gas delayed shutting off gas in the burn area for several days after the fire, making the blaze worse.

“SoCalGas’ design and actions caused gas leaks, gas fires, reignition of fires, gas explosions and secondary ignitions during the critical early stages of the Eaton Fire,” according to the suit.

The claim goes on to say this contributed to the spread of the fire and made firefighting and evacuation efforts more difficult.

In the second suit, the utility company alleges the Eaton Fire was made worse by the local government response, “including due to the failures of LASD, LACoFD, OEM and GENASYS in issuing timely evacuation alerts and notifications,” the claim reads.

The same filing says L.A. County was to blame for vegetation and overgrown brush in the Eaton Canyon area that fueled the blaze.

It also named the city of Pasadena and its utility system, Pasadena Water and Power, the city of Sierra Madre, Kinneloa Irrigation District, Rubio Cañon Land & Water Association, Las Flores Water Company and Lincoln Avenue Water Company as parties responsible for water systems running dry in Altadena as the fire broke out.

Edison says hydrants running dry compounded the extent of the disaster.

Those claims will be heard in the L.A. County Superior Court, which is also handling L.A. County’s lawsuit against SoCal Edison.

Edison itself is the subject of hundreds of lawsuits from survivors of the Eaton Fire, which could cost the company billions of dollars in settlements.

Edison has said its equipment likely sparked the Eaton Fire and filed these suits, in part, because it believes these various entities should share some of the blame for the disaster, which resulted in the destruction of thousands of buildings and the deaths of 19 people.

A compensation program Edison established for fire survivors who forgo suing the company has made settlement offers to more than 80 of those who applied.

A new organization is taking over production of the MLK Day Parade, almost 40 years after the first parade was held in South L.A. to commemorate the civil rights leader.

Bakewell Media, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper (a partner of The LA Local), was granted the permit in September to organize the parade for the first time by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. Formerly called the Kingdom Day Parade, the parade has been rebranded as the Los Angeles Official Martin Luther King Day Parade. The parade was previously produced and organized by Adrian Dove and the L.A. chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality California (CORE-CA).

With less than a week before the parade kicks off, LA Local reporter LaMonica Peters sat down with Danny Bakewell Jr., president and executive editor of the LA Sentinel, to discuss the details and what attendees should expect.

This Jan. 12 interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Why did you decide to produce the MLK Day Parade this year?

Bakewell: It all started because Adrian Dove, who was the previous promoter, had announced that he was retiring. When he announced he was retiring, LAPD, city council offices and other people said, “Hey, we still want to do the MLK Day parade. Would you guys be interested? You have the infrastructure to put it together.” And we said yes.

What’s different about this year’s production?

We’re going to start the parade with a singer performing “Lift Every Voice.” We’re going to play the message from Bernice King at the start of the show. Obviously, we have Cedric the Entertainer as our grand marshal to add the entertainment value, but the community has always been and will continue to be a major part of this parade.

Is ABC 7 covering the parade this year? 

It’s still going to be televised by ABC. We’re working diligently on how the show is going to be, but ABC has been a great partner.

What was the preparation for this parade?

Thanks to our corporate sponsors, we have a number of bands. The truth is, particularly in LAUSD at this time, and other school districts, they don’t have the funding to just get a bus and get here. I can’t say enough about Airbnb to Bank of America, all of our corporate sponsors, who are supporting all of the youth organizations.

Were there any unexpected challenges while preparing for this parade? 

This [The LA Sentinel office on Crenshaw Blvd.] is usually our command center during The Taste of Soul. It dawned on me last week that we’re going to be a mile away [from the parade route]. So, we made the decision to bring in a trailer to be our office at the corner of King and Crenshaw boulevards.

Any special guests this year besides the grand marshal?

I’m working on a surprise guest to be the singer for the national anthem. No matter what, we will give tribute to the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice” as loud as we can next Monday.

What’s the long-term vision for this parade, if Bakewell Media continues to produce it?

We see the MLK Day Parade, and we want the world to see and expect to see this parade, the same way they see the Macy’s Parade, the Hollywood Parade or the Rose Parade. BET has come in this year as a partner. So there’s an opportunity to possibly do a national broadcast on BET. Not that we would lose our local television, but we see this as a major parade in this community and in the national African American community, celebrating the great work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So, we are very excited.