Topline:
As of Thursday evening, June 18, L.A. County election officials reported that votes processed to date represented a turnout of 37.76% of registered voters.
Keep reading ... for the latest on votes returned to date and what to watch for in the days and weeks ahead.
Both L.A. and O.C. saw the most primary votes since the 2016 election.
For the primary election, Los Angeles County had more than 5.8 million registered voters. Here's how the vote broke down:
In all, 38% of registered voters in the county cast ballots.
For the primary election, Orange County had more than 1.9 million registered voters. Here's how the vote broke down:
Political Data Inc. is tracking ballot returns across California and in some high-profile races.
Turnout statewide was 40.8%, the highest percentage for a gubernatorial primary in the last five election cycles, according to the Secretary of State. Here's PDI's breakdown of the known vote by party lines:
Because of the increasing use of vote-by-mail ballots, the vote count has gotten longer, according to the California Voter Foundation. In an analysis, the organization found:
Election officials must physically open mail-in ballots and verify signatures.
Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, recently wrote about the ripple effect of turning in mail-in ballots by hand or in drop boxes on election day. She wrote for our partner newsroom CalMatters:
"We turn in ballots in envelopes on Election Day that take time and care to process and cannot be processed until after Election Day. Processing these ballots — which account for as much as a quarter of all ballots cast — creates a bottleneck I like to call 'the pig in the python effect'. It prevents counties from doing other tasks they need to do to certify the results."
Topline:
The state of California has agreed to accept $1.4 billion in federal funding to bring broadband internet access to 270,000 people while simultaneously challenging conditions attached to the funding.
About the federal broadband program: California is the last state to accept money from a broadband program created in 2021 as part of an infrastructure bill passed during the Biden administration. Under terms updated by the Trump administration one year ago, states that accept funding from the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program must stop enforcing net neutrality rules, which ensure equal connection speeds for every app and website, as well as any rules that influence broadband internet costs. California enjoys the strongest net neutrality laws in the nation.
Unresolved terms: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said it is both taking the federal money and maintaining its access rules. The president of the California Public Utilizes Commission, the agency chosen by Newsom to administer the program, provided the federal agency that administers the program with both a signed notice that California will accept the funding and a letter that calls the terms vague and outside of the commission’s legal authority. The letter sent Monday also acknowledges that the state will not distribute program funding to companies like Comcast, Pacific Bell, SpaceX, and Verizon until disagreements about the terms are resolved.
The state of California has agreed to accept $1.4 billion in federal funding to bring broadband internet access to 270,000 people while simultaneously challenging conditions attached to the funding.
Those conditions would stop the state from enforcing broadband laws that reduce costs and guarantee equal access for internet destinations.
California is the last state to accept money from a broadband program created in 2021 as part of an infrastructure bill passed during the Biden administration.
Under terms updated by the Trump administration one year ago, states that accept funding from the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program must stop enforcing net neutrality rules, which ensure equal connection speeds for every app and website, as well as any rules that influence broadband internet costs. California enjoys the strongest net neutrality laws in the nation.
In recent weeks, digital access advocates argued that if the state accepts the money without meaningfully challenging the terms, it could endanger communities reliant on internet access for emergency services and raise costs for low-income Californians who receive internet subsidies. Through 2040, accepting the terms could cost Californians up to $16 billion, according to an estimate from open internet advocacy group Public Knowledge.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said it is both taking the federal money and maintaining its access rules. In a written statement shared with CalMatters, Anthony Martinez, a spokesperson for the governor, said that “Connecting these communities is the goal, and so is protecting them. California's laws, including our net neutrality protections, still stand."
The president of the California Public Utilities Commission, the agency chosen by Newsom to administer the program, provided the federal agency that administers the program with both a signed notice that California will accept the funding and a letter that calls the terms vague and outside of the commission’s legal authority. The letter sent Monday also acknowledges that the state will not distribute program funding to companies like Comcast, Pacific Bell, SpaceX, and Verizon until disagreements about the terms are resolved.
“The CPUC cannot be bound by any terms or conditions that are unconstitutional or not authorized by law and it expressly does not waive or concede any arguments or challenges concerning the legality, interpretation, or applicability of any term or condition,” wrote CPUC president John Reynolds in the letter.
Stephen Yusko, a spokesperson for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration within the Department of Commerce, responded to the letter today by saying that the terms and conditions of the award constitute the entire agreement between his agency and the utilities commission.
“No part of the letter outlining CPUC’s concerns is incorporated into or made part of the award,” he said in a statement provided to CalMatters.
Last month, a group of law professors who work on issues related to internet freedom and access urged the utilities commission and governor’s office not to accept the money without challenging the terms in court. Stanford University professor Barbara van Schewick told CalMatters that “only a court, or NTIA agreeing in writing, can take [the access terms] out of California’s award, and neither has happened.”
But she said she’s happy to see the letter makes clear that the state will not sign agreements with companies getting the federal broadband funding until the utilities commission and federal government resolve their disagreement over the terms. It also preserves a strong legal argument that the utilities commission lacks the authority to prevent other state entities from enforcing the law.
“The real test comes the first time a BEAD provider blocks a competitor’s app, throttles firefighters, or walks away from a price commitment,” she told CalMatters. “If the state enforces its laws when that happens, the letter will have protected Californians.”
She added: “If the state looks the other way, [the terms] will have worked exactly as the providers intended, without a single court ever ruling on it.”
Phil Grosse is a member of the California Democratic Party Rural Caucus. In recent weeks, Grosse and dozens of community leaders along the Russian River in Sonoma County urged the governor to challenge the broadband funding terms in court before accepting the money. He believes the terms would end phone service guarantees and backup battery power for cellular towers, endangering the lives of rural Californians.
“We can’t accept the money without all kinds of poisoned pills attached to it, and I’m glad the CPUC acknowledged that, and that they are bound to follow state laws and regulations,” he said, adding that he anticipates the whole ordeal will end up in court. “I’m hopeful the Trump administration will see the wisdom in the CPUC’s letter but I’m rather doubtful.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
Topline:
Millions of dollars of settlement money from the 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak, the largest known methane leak in the United States, are now available to affected residents to replace gas-powered appliances with electric ones.
Who qualifies for the settlement: Anyone in the affected area with a single-family home will be eligible for the incentives, and certain income-qualifying residents will be eligible for extra funding. Access for multi-property owners will come later. The announcement makes available the first $20 million in incentive funding from the Aliso Canyon settlement to help home and building owners impacted by the blowout. In total, the program will make $40 million available to help people install heat pumps that cool and heat homes, electric stoves, water heaters and other appliances.
The backstory: The Aliso Canyon gas leak took nearly four months to control, sickened thousands of families and forced them from their homes near the San Fernando Valley to escape a sulfurous stench and maladies including headaches, nausea and nose bleeds. The natural gas storage well failed and uncontrollably released nearly 100,000 tons of methane and other substances into the atmosphere for more than 100 days.
Millions of dollars of settlement money from the largest known methane leak in the United States are now available to affected residents to replace gas-powered appliances with electric ones. Organizations involved in distributing the money say it will help create safer and cleaner homes.
The announcement makes available the first $20 million in incentive funding from the Aliso Canyon settlement to help home and building owners impacted by the 2015 Los Angeles-area blowout. In total, the program will make $40 million available to help people install heat pumps that cool and heat homes, electric stoves, water heaters and other appliances.
Evan Kamei is the director of TECH Clean California, a state program helping distribute the settlement money. He said the incentives “will help create healthier homes, lower energy costs, deliver cooling, and create local jobs by replacing aging gas appliances with efficient electric appliances.”
Anyone in the affected area with a single-family home will be eligible for the incentives, and certain income-qualifying residents will be eligible for extra funding. Access for multi-property owners will come later.
The Aliso Canyon gas leak took nearly four months to control, sickened thousands of families and forced them from their homes near the San Fernando Valley to escape a sulfurous stench and maladies including headaches, nausea and nose bleeds.
The natural gas storage well failed and uncontrollably released nearly 100,000 tons of methane and other substances into the atmosphere for more than 100 days. Methane is a potent, heat-trapping gas that contributes to extreme weather events worldwide through climate change. The natural gas facility involved in the blowout temporarily closed and later reopened at reduced capacity after being deemed safe to operate.
In 2021, thousands of families reached a settlement of up to $1.8 billion with the Southern California Gas Co. and its parent company, Sempra Energy. Some 35,000 plaintiffs were compensated after complaining of personal injury and property damage to their homes. SoCalGas spent more than $1 billion on the blowout, with most of the money going to temporarily relocate 8,000 families.
Weldon Kennedy is the co-founder and chief marketing officer of Copper, a California startup that sells electric induction stoves and ovens. He said his company got involved with the program to distribute settlement money after the group Energy Solutions highlighted how hard it would be to get people to switch their cooking appliances from gas to electric.
“People have a cultural attachment to gas when it comes to cooking,” Kennedy said. The kind of appliances Copper sells may help mitigate that attachment because they can be plugged into a regular outlet without the expense of rewiring that is usually associated with switching from gas-powered appliances to electric ones.
Cooking with electricity comes with health benefits. Gas stoves, which 47 million Americans use, release pollutants like nitrogen dioxide that’s been linked to asthma and cancer-causing benzene.
Products like electric appliances are one way to address the significant amount of pollution driving climate change that comes from cooking, heating and cooling living spaces and providing hot water in buildings.
Income-qualified residents affected by the Aliso leak are eligible for up to $31,800 worth of incentives to cover the cost of electric installations in their homes.
Switching from gas to electricity can save energy and lower bills.
Carol Kamei, Evan Kamei’s 72-year-old mother, has lived for 46 years near the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Facility and was one of the plaintiffs in the case against SoCal Gas. She remembers smelling gas and getting nose bleeds. When she read in the news that the leak was also spewing cancer-causing benzene, she knew it was time to go.
Carol Kamei said her nose bleeds went away after moving in with her sister in Hollywood for three months. She recently participated in a health study by the University of California, Los Angeles and found out she has diminished lung capacity, one of the health impacts researchers look for, she said.
“I do know some people that have died from blood-borne illnesses, cancer since then,” Carol Kamei said.
Kamei hopes to use the incentive funding to replace her oven with an electric one. “I’d rather not use gas,” she said.
Heaux Church, Alanis rocks the YouTube, L.A Zine Fest and more of the best things to do this weekend and beyond.
The days are getting shorter, so it’s important to keep your spirits up, whether that’s by already starting to decorate for Christmas (too soon, if you ask me! I was just in London and all the department stores were decked out even before Halloween!) or just putting some fun things on the calendar for the weeks ahead. Like some of the events listed here!
Elsewhere on LAist, you can follow ongoing election results, find out if Cal State will take your music memorabilia for their archives and get your tickets for the LAist Moth Storyslam on Nov. 10.
If it’s music you’re looking for, Licorice Pizza has your picks, including:
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Saturday, Nov. 8, 5 p.m.
2100 Ocean Front Walk and 200 N. Venice Blvd., Venice Beach
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Luminex has lit up downtown with immersive projection work from a variety of artists, and now the innovative collective is heading to Venice, just in time to make the most of our shorter days.
Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7
Yost Parking Lot
307 Spurgeon St., Santa Ana
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Watch expert skaters show off their tricks, or register to compete yourself as the Blading Cup USA returns to downtown Santa Ana. Now an official World Skate Challenger competition — World Skate is the international governing body for roller sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee — the Blading Cup is a full weekend of ollies, flip tricks and more.
Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7, 8 p.m.
Occidental Studios
2821 Council St., Echo Park
COST: $57.55; MORE INFO
Dance troupe Jacob Jonas the Company will be at Occidental Studios in Echo Park for a two-night-only run of their latest show, SKY. The performance is free-form, and attendees are encouraged to move around the sound stage space like an art gallery. Jacob Jonas is always trying something new!
Sunday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Philosophical Research Society
3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Feliz
COST: $12.51; MORE INFO
This quirky one-minute film festival got its start back in 2021 and is a chance to see new work, plus test your own (entries are curated around a theme at each event). This one is the last of the year for the LA Loft crew, so don’t miss it. The cozy fall theme is "Foragisms," co-curated with animator and Loose Frames curator Kat Ball — more on the inspiration behind "Foragisms" here.
Friday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The Last Bookstore
453 S. Spring St., Downtown L.A.
COST: FROM $11:49; MORE INFO
Award-winning chef and restaurateur Adrianne Calvo is bringing her latest cookbook — and some tasty treats — to one of my favorite places, the Last Bookstore. The new recipes are from Maximum Flavor at Home, which came out Nov. 3. Chef Adrianne will demonstrate some of her favorite crostini recipes.
Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Angel City Derby Warehouse
785 E. 15th Place, Downtown L.A.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
The '90s are back, and if you ever doubted it, head to the 13th annual L.A. Zine Fest, a free all-ages event celebrating the best of the very much alive and well D.I.Y. publishing community. More than 350 vendors will be there, including a wide range of artists, small presses, independent booksellers and community organizers from across Southern California and zine creators from all over the country.
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.
Pepperdine's Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts
24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
What a treat to head up to Malibu for a free piano recital at Pepperdine, led by director Barry Tan. The student piano performance showcases talent on a regular basis, but what they will be playing remains a surprise.
Thursday and Friday, Nov. 5-6; Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 10-11
YouTube Theater
1011 S. Stadium Drive, Inglewood
COST: FROM $49.50; MORE INFO
You oughta know that Canadian rock icon Alanis Morissette will bring her Butterfly with a Machete residency to the YouTube Theater for four nights starting Thursday. I’ll be there, basking in teenage nostalgia.
Thursday, Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m.
Broad Stage
1310 11th St., Santa Monica
COST: FROM $75; MORE INFO
The always-popular Nat Geo Live series returns to the Broad Stage in Santa Monica with a trip to the Galapagos. I was just there with my family a couple of years ago, and while the real thing is an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime trip, the Nat Geo immersive version and live discussion
with disease ecologist Sarah Knute about the islands that fascinated Charles Darwin won’t disappoint, either.
Thursday to Sunday, Nov. 5-8, 7:30 p.m.
Elysian Theater
1944 Riverside Drive, Silver Lake
COST: FROM $42.53; MORE INFO
Following a run off-Broadway, Brandon Kyle Goodman’s Heaux Church is "part sermon, part confession, part dance party." Celebration Theatre and The Elysian, in association with Lena Waithe, produced the L.A. stint, which features former pastor’s kid Goodman giving "the sex talk you never got, but always deserved." Each performance features a free talkback after the show.
Topline:
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won the U.S. Senate election in Michigan, according to a race call by the Associated Press, a crucial victory in his party's quest to win back the Senate majority. One of the most closely watched elections in the U.S., the race in Michigan tested how an antiestablishment candidate on the left would fare in a perennial Midwest battleground.
Why now: Harnessing anger over the cost of living and corruption, El-Sayed galvanized young and infrequent voters by focusing on passing single-payer healthcare and curbing the influence of corporate money in politics. He is not a democratic socialist, unlike several candidates whose insurgent campaigns gained traction in primaries this cycle, though his campaign was backed by some of the biggest stars on the political left.
The backstory: El-Sayed, a Michigan native who ran the health departments in Wayne County and the city of Detroit, first arrived on the political stage in 2018 with an unsuccessful bid for governor.
What's next: Now as Democrats wrestle with their party's identity, El-Sayed has signaled that he intends to be a prominent voice, especially given Michigan's prime position in the presidential nominating process in 2028.
Midterms coverage: Live results | What to know | Stories around the country
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Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won the U.S. Senate election in Michigan, according to a race call by the Associated Press, a crucial victory in his party's quest to win back the Senate majority.
One of the most closely watched elections in the U.S., the race in Michigan tested how an antiestablishment candidate on the left would fare in a perennial Midwest battleground.
El-Sayed will be the first Muslim American to serve in the Senate.
The 42-year-old former public health official defeated former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers. Rogers lost his first bid for the Senate in 2024.
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Harnessing anger over the cost of living and corruption, El-Sayed galvanized young and infrequent voters by focusing on passing single-payer healthcare and curbing the influence of corporate money in politics.
He is not a democratic socialist, unlike several candidates whose insurgent campaigns gained traction in primaries this cycle, though his campaign was backed by some of the biggest stars on the political left.
His positions on Israel alienated some Jewish voters, including comments after a truck-ramming attack at a synagogue preschool in metro Detroit — for which he later offered an apology — and campaigning during the primary with controversial left-wing streamer Hasan Piker.
Those were among the dynamics during a heated primary contest that turned into a stand-in for many of the broader debates fueling the direction of the Democratic Party after two years in the political wilderness.
In the primary, El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens by about 1 percentage point, despite Michigan heavyweights like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retiring Sen. Gary Peters backing his opponent.
In the general election's closing days, Stevens reversed course and announced she was endorsing Rogers, after initially saying she would support the Democratic ticket, underscoring the rocky path to uniting the Democratic coalition in Michigan. After the primary, polls showed a tight race with Rogers, despite Democrats having held the Senate seat since 1979.
During the campaign, El-Sayed criticized his opponent and other Republicans, including President Trump, for targeting him with Islamophobic rhetoric.
Trump early on endorsed Rogers, who has embraced some of the president's false claims about widespread election fraud, despite previously condemning them, including after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. As November neared, Rogers tried to distance himself from some of the president's policies, including the war in Iran.
El-Sayed, a Michigan native who ran the health departments in Wayne County and the city of Detroit, first arrived on the political stage in 2018 with an unsuccessful bid for governor.
Now as Democrats wrestle with their party's identity, El-Sayed has signaled that he intends to be a prominent voice, especially given Michigan's prime position in the presidential nominating process in 2028.
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