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Topline:
Want to know who’s who in Republican politics? Look no further than the megadonors bankrolling California’s voter ID initiative.
About Prop 39: California voters currently need a driver’s license and Social Security number to register to vote but not when they cast their ballots. If Prop. 39 passes, voters who mail their ballots would have to write the last four digits of their Social Security or other government-issued number on their ballots.
Prop 39 funders: Illinois billionaire packing supply magnate Richard Uihlein, who has poured tens of millions of dollars into conservative causes, has contributed $17 million to the campaign for Proposition 39, a GOP-backed ballot measure to require voters to show a driver’s license or other government ID to vote. Uihlein is joined by Southern California businessman Steven Bray, who loaned the campaign more than $3 million and gave $50,000 outright. The right-wing political group Reform California, tech entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presidential running mate Nicole Shanahan are also major donors. Combined, they have helped the campaign rake in more than $28 million — $11 million more than their opponents a month from Election Day.
Why it matters: Uihlein’s involvement and that of other deep-pocketed Republican donors is a signal that conservatives view Prop. 39 as a test of support for future battleground states in the broader push by President Donald Trump to tighten voter restrictions. Proponents point out that 36 states request or require voters to show some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Want to know who’s who in Republican politics? Look no further than the megadonors bankrolling California’s voter ID initiative.
Illinois billionaire packing supply magnate Richard Uihlein, who has poured tens of millions of dollars into conservative causes, has contributed $17 million to the campaign for Proposition 39, a GOP-backed ballot measure to require voters to show a driver’s license or other government ID to vote.
Uihlein’s involvement and that of other deep-pocketed Republican donors is a signal that conservatives view Prop. 39 as a test of support for future battleground states in the broader push by President Donald Trump to tighten voter restrictions.
Uihlein is joined by Southern California businessman Steven Bray, who loaned the campaign more than $3 million and gave $50,000 outright. The right-wing political group Reform California, tech entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presidential running mate Nicole Shanahan are also major donors. Combined, they have helped the campaign rake in more than $28 million — $11 million more than their opponents a month from Election Day.
Prop. 39’s supporters argue that requiring ID at polling places will ensure California’s elections are secure, and say the mandate is no different from needing an ID to fly on a plane or buy alcohol. Proponents also point out that 36 states request or require voters to show some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
California voters currently need a driver’s license and Social Security number to register to vote but not when they cast their ballots. If Prop. 39 passes, voters who mail their ballots would have to write the last four digits of their Social Security or other government-issued number on their ballots.
It’s a long-awaited moment for the state’s weak Republican Party which has fought for decades to put a voter ID measure on the ballot in deep blue California.
Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a Republican, created Reform California and is spearheading the initiative. The freshman San Diego lawmaker’s group funded the ballot operation that collected more than a million signatures to qualify the measure after similar proposals failed in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
Common Cause and other voting rights groups that oppose the measure fear Prop. 39 would unnecessarily block from voting citizens who can’t find or don’t have a government-issued ID. They argue that this would disproportionately impact, and unfairly penalize, people who recently moved, changed their last name or are low income — and other groups who historically have supported Democrats.
Civil rights advocates also argue the measure is unnecessary because voter fraud is rare.
“You are more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to commit voter fraud in a U.S. election,” California League of Women Voters executive director Jenny Farrell said. “There’s no need to add on these additional burdens and security checkpoints in California.”
Despite numerous studies showing there is no widespread evidence of voter fraud in U.S. elections, Claremont McKenna College political scientist John Pitney said such claims have circulated for decades in far-right circles.
Attempts to constrict voter laws through ballot measures have increased in some states ever since the expansion of voting rights to African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.
But fears about voter fraud accelerated during the first Trump administration when the president falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen. Shortly after, DeMaio and other GOP lawmakers introduced unsuccessful bills to tighten voter restrictions before he pivoted to orchestrating a citizen-led ballot initiative last year.
“Recently Trump has promoted the idea that large numbers of undocumented people are voting, for which there isn’t any evidence,” Pitney said.
Assemblymember Carl DeMaio announces that supporters of the CA Voter ID Initiative will submit more than 1.3 million signatures to qualify the measure for the November 2026 ballot during a press conference at the west steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento on March 3, 2026. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersDemocrats bankrolling the opposition to Prop. 39 are also a who’s who of California politics.
The state Democratic Party is by far the largest contributor at nearly $5.5 million, followed by the Sonoma-area Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria with $2 million.
Longtime Democratic donors Patty Quillin, a film producer and wife of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and Quinn Delaney, a real estate investor and philanthropist, have each pitched in $1.5 million. Labor heavyweights such as the Service Employees International Union have contributed $1 million.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas have created a joint committee to raise money for the No campaign and U.S. Sen Alex Padilla is stumping at events.
Nearly 90% of Californians now vote by mail, according to the secretary of state’s office. That means the vast majority of voters would be required to write their Social Security or driver’s license number on their ballot should the initiative pass.
Many people aren’t going to be comfortable with that, No on 39 campaign spokesperson Tenoch Flores said.
“This is about creating new avenues to reject valid mail ballots,” Flores said.
“Yes on 39” spokesperson Meredith Shields told CalMatters that no one from the campaign could be made available for an interview. DeMaio declined an interview with CalMatters for this story. Uihlein did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting comment.
Megadonor Uihlein and his wife, founders of the Wisconsin-based packaging company Uline, have poured millions into the Restoration of America PAC, a super PAC that frequently bankrolls Republican candidates in Illinois and Wisconsin. The Uihleins have donated $35 million to the PAC this year alone, and Prop. 39 is the latest target in their effort to fund agenda-setting conservative causes.
Shanahan, an attorney and the former wife of Google executive Sergey Brin, has funneled $370,000 into the Yes campaign, while the Winklevoss brothers have each contributed $250,000.
The interest from the ultra-wealthy in Prop. 39 is a sign that the GOP could be looking to replicate a similar playbook in toss-up states, Sonoma State University political science Professor David McCuan said.
Republican proponents want to see how well or poorly voter ID does in Democratic-heavy California. If it does better than expected, that might mean a similar ballot measure could be fairly popular in more moderate battleground states, such as Michigan,Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.
“There is a spillover effect if you do better than expected, even if you lose,” McCuan said.
Several Republican states moved to expand voter restrictions after the 2020 election, including Wyoming, Kentucky and Oklahoma. And while voter sentiment toward Trump is at historic lows, the GOP was surprisingly successful at getting the voter ID measure on the California ballot.
The “Yes on 39” TV campaign has begun airing ads distancing the measure's supporters from Trump, while the No campaign released an ad airing in the Bay Area featuring images of Trump and characterizations of Prop. 39 as a “power grab."
It’ll likely still be a tough road ahead for the Yes campaign. The default position for most voters is “no” on ballot propositions, meaning supporters of the measure will have to persuade enough voters to agree with them.
An April poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed Californians broadly support requiring voters to present identification at the polls, but it found that support dipped below 50% when respondents were given specific details about the measure, such as that it’s meant to combat alleged voter fraud. A Public Policy Institute of California poll in September found support for Prop. 39 has dropped to 43%.
While this could be effective at turning out liberal voters, it’s unclear how even a hot-button issue will be enough to get Republicans out in a midterm election cycle with an unpopular president.
“It’s hard to pass a red-coded measure in a blue wave election,” Pitney said.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
In this edition:
Where to watch the Dodgers playoffs, Live Talks with David Byrne, CatCon and more of the best things to do this week.
Highlights:
It’s officially October, and even if the weather doesn’t feel the least bit fall-like, spooky season is very much upon us. Every year, my neighbor turns the front yard of our building into something rivaling Universal Studios. And every year, the display gets more elaborate than the last, so I’m well in the spirit, already living amongst a Mars Attacks alien, a bunch of mummies and a skeleton deep-sea diver. No shortage of costume ideas! I hope your neighborhood is also getting into the Halloween vibe — let us know your favorite blocks for decorations as we get closer to my favorite holiday of the year.
Elsewhere on LAist, you can get the latest on the planned Olympic torch path through all 50 states, relive LA’s first Dolly Parton Day, and meet documentarian John Wilson, whose new film History of Concrete explores the building blocks of New York City.
In music this week from our friends at Licorice Pizza:
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m.
The Orpheum
842 S. Broadway, Downtown L.A.
COST: $53; MORE INFO
Stay with me here. Yes, I still have the Rolling Stone cover with Jakob Dylan’s mesmerizing blue eyes from 1996 in a box somewhere. But honestly, I saw the Wallflowers at Jazzfest last year, and they’ve still got it. Make your way downtown with one headlight.
Saturday and Sunday, Oct 10-11
Pasadena Convention Center
300 E. Green St., Pasadena
COST: FROM $11.53; MORE INFO
It’s CatCon time again, but if you’re a cat lover, you probably already knew that. Cat fanciers head to Pasadena every year for this over-the-top ode to the furballs, from exotic breeds to Hello Kitty.
Through Sunday, Oct. 18
Pantages Theatre
6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
COST: FROM $57; MORE INFO
Finally! It feels like we’ve been waiting AGES for last year’s Tony winner for best musical to get here on tour! The Pantages hosts the adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s book and later movie (which starred every soon-to-be-Hollywood heartthrob from Matt Dillon to Tom Cruise to Rob Lowe when it came out back in 1983). The stage version has plenty of star power too, directed by Dayna Taymor and produced by none other than Angelina Jolie.
Thursday, Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m.
Muckenthaler Cultural Center
1201 W. Malvern Ave., Fullerton
COST: $40; MORE INFO
Seeing Indian classical singer Roopa Magadevan is a great excuse to take a ride to Fullerton for a show at the magical outdoor theater at Muckenthaler Cultural Center. Magadevan is a unique crossover artist and has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, led a choir show on New York’s High Line and performed at legendary venues like the Public Theater’s Joe’s Pub.
Friday, Oct. 9, 8 p.m.
Grove of Anaheim
2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim
COST: $59.40; MORE INFO
Part-time reality TV star, part-time gymnast, part-time comedian, full-time style icon Jonathan Van Ness is bringing their live show to Anaheim. The Queer Eye hair stylist makes the best air-dry cream (trust!) and is hilarious — a multihyphenate indeed.
Sunday, Oct. 11
700 Exposition Park Drive, Expo Park
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Celebrate Indigenous People’s Day and the intersecting LBGTQ+ community at a free family-friendly festival in Expo Park. Native Americans have a long history of recognizing two-spirit identities and the contributions of the Indigenous queer community. This party in the park includes native food vendors, health and wellness resources, and arts and crafts.
Various locations
COST: VARIES
The Dodgers are well into playoff land, and there’s plenty of places to catch the action beyond Chavez Ravine. Bars all over town are hosting watch parties for those who’ve cut the cord or just want to cheer with other fans. At Skyduster in the Arts District, the games are on indoors and outside on the patio. Tom’s Watch Bar downtown boasts a 23-foot “Megascreen,” and The Shortstop is always a classic stop before or after Dodger Stadium. Drink and food specials abound at all! There’s also a free FOX One baseball throwback experience October 11-12 at the Original Farmers Market with old-school screens and memorabilia. Attendees are invited to share memories of watching the sport’s most memorable games.
Thursday, Oct. 8, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Reserve Venice
1041 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice
COST: $38; MORE INFO
Psychedelics are having a moment. If you’re curious about the science behind the impact researchers say they could have on our inner lives, this talk and interactive evening with clinical psychologists and relationship researchers Dr. Chandra Khalifian and Dr. Kayla Knopp of Enamory might be for you. Higher Love will look at how psychedelic experiences may change the way we understand love, intimacy and connection.
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m.
(In-person & virtual)
Robert Frost Auditorium
4401 Elenda Street, Culver City
COST: $40 for general admission (book available for purchase at checkout); MORE INFO
Sometimes I’m not sure we deserve David Byrne. His Hollywood Bowl show in August blew me away, and his books have always sparked new ideas and ways of seeing, from observing cities by bike to reimagining how we value music. His latest, Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up, looks at “how breakthroughs across the arts and sciences get forgotten, and how they get rediscovered.” The talk will also be available as video-on-demand for five days.
Saturday, Oct. 10
Million Dollar Theater
307 S. Broadway, Downtown L.A.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
The Million Dollar Theater is hosting a screening of two films, Nurse Unseen and Food Roots, to celebrate Filipino American History Month, followed by a panel featuring Filipino American women in film, including director Michele Josue.
Topline:
Magic is in the air in "Practical Magic 2," which celebrates the original film's boisterous margarita scene. And as Halloween looms, why not meet up with friends for your own witch-inspired midnight margaritas in L.A.'s atmospheric bars?
Why it matters: We all need an excuse to let rip after 10 p.m., and margaritas just taste better after the stroke of midnight.
Where are we heading? From Sherman Oak's Daisy, offering a baja slaw margarita, to Footsies' rustic charm and spicy kumquat tamarindo version, there are excellent late-night haunts across the city.
At the center of the 1998 film Practical Magic is a story of sisterhood — and, well, a healthy round of margaritas. In the newly released sequel, Practical Magic 2, the cocktails make their celebrated return.
For anyone who watched the original midnight margarita scene — with Aunt Franny, Aunt Jet and their nieces, Sally and Gillian Owens, gathering around their warm New England kitchen dancing to the tune of Harry Nilson's "Coconut" — the joyous boisterousness is likely seared well into memory.
As we turn toward Halloween, we figured the ghouls, witches and warlocks of Los Angeles may well be inspired to roam under the cloak of darkness seeking their own midnight margaritas.
Here are the best places to visit across the city that will be open to host your own shenanigans — at midnight and beyond. So go out past 10 p.m., live a little.
The hibiscus-infused Flores margarita at Bar Flores delights with its pink hue and wonderfully balanced profile. Enjoy it with your choice of agave spirit, share a pitcher with friends, or have a Tommy or Cadillac margarita by request. Owner Karla Flores highlights their humpday special, Margarita Wednesday, where the margaritas are $9.
Location: 1542 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles
Hours: Monday through Friday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday and Sunday 12 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Daisy, the bar in Sherman Oaks dedicated to margaritas, is fashioned as an Angeleno take on the norteño cantinas of Baja California that birthed the drink. Unique versions of the cocktail, like mangoneada margarita and baja slaw margarita, invigorate the experience, but salient standards like the Cadillac and Tommy margaritas make for a well-rounded menu.
Location: 14633 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks
Hours: Monday 5-11 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m., Friday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Footsies welcomes you with its black U-shaped tufted booths, wide dance floor, rustic charm and some quality midnight margaritas. Theirs are off-menu, but consist of watermelon, classic lime and spicy kumquat tamarindo. Beverage director Raul Morales says to look for the rotating chalkboard, which changes once a month, for his seasonally-inspired drinks.
Location: 2640 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles
Hours: Monday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Count on this lively horseshoe bar, with their idiosyncratic whole dill pickle martini, to give you your midnight margarita fix. Shim Sham's is as classic as it can get, with just tequila, lime juice and sugar on ice. Pay them a visit during their nightly happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for an $8 margarita.
Location: 3123 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles
Hours: Monday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Divey and glowing in blue light with an underwater motif, Mermaid in Little Tokyo is the place to go for a seaside take on the margarita. Their cocktail, tropical margarita, offers a sweet and boozy drink that is carried by the tangy, tropical tide of guava and pineapple for a refreshing sip.
Location: 428 E. 2nd St, Los Angeles
Hours: Monday through Sunday, 6 p.m. to 1:40 a.m.
Topline:
Describing an urgent need for the public to be informed about potential health risks, community and environmental advocacy groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Los Angeles in an effort to obtain data and other records about possible toxic emissions from the Lineage warehouse fire.
Why now: California Communities Against Toxics filed a suit Monday against the EPA seeking the United States District Court for the Central District of California to order the release of records they requested under the Freedom of Information Act. That advocacy group claims that large amounts of ammonia have been released from the Lineage facility since the fire destroyed its refrigeration system and argues that the EPA has failed its duty to release public records about it.
The backstory: The lawsuit comes after months of calls from residents and community advocacy groups for more transparency about the fire and the environmental testing that followed. Last week, Mayor Karen Bass claimed that she asked the City Attorney’s Office to investigate Lineage months ago but was met with inaction. The city attorney’s team responded that the mayor had misspoken, and that they had opened an investigation of the fire in early July. Both statements were the first public admissions that such an investigation was requested and is ongoing.
Describing an urgent need for the public to be informed about potential health risks, community and environmental advocacy groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Los Angeles in an effort to obtain data and other records about possible toxic emissions from the Lineage warehouse fire.
California Communities Against Toxics filed a suit Monday against the EPA seeking the United States District Court for the Central District of California to order the release of records they requested under the Freedom of Information Act. That advocacy group claims that large amounts of ammonia have been released from the Lineage facility since the fire destroyed its refrigeration system and argues that the EPA has failed its duty to release public records about it.
“The Facility’s ammonia and other emissions are presently contaminating the surrounding neighborhoods, creating severe health impacts including bloody noses, difficulty breathing, blurred vision, eye swelling, irritation, and running, upper respiratory irritation, persistent coughs pneumonia, skin rashes and irritation,” the group claims in a civil complaint.
The lawsuit comes after months of calls from residents and community advocacy groups for more transparency about the fire and the environmental testing that followed.
California Communities Against Toxics said it asked in August for various records related to the monitoring of the fire, including data on air pollution, smoke plume movement, occupational health monitoring data and the federal agency’s communications with officials from the city and other local departments.
They claim the federal agency has not adequately addressed their request, failed to conduct a thorough search and, ultimately, withheld records that should be released to the public.
The same advocacy group, along with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and Protect LA Now, filed a similar suit on Tuesday against the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Fire Department. They say records related to the fire department’s response to the fire and its subsequent investigation have also been withheld. They are seeking data collected on possible ammonia release from the facility and communications about the fire to the offices of the mayor and city council members.
They claim the city closed the records request about 24 hours after it was filed, saying there were no responsive records.
“We have been routinely asking the agencies to divulge the results of the monitoring that was done by first responders…We need to see what happened,” said Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics, during a press conference over Zoom Tuesday.
Williams, whose organization has been monitoring chemical and environmental disasters since 1991, called the Lineage fire “the largest chemical disaster in the state of California’s history.”
What was most alarming about the Lineage fire, Williams said, is that evacuations were not ordered for residents.
“That’s why now you see 40,000 people who sought medical care from the releases from Lineage,” Williams said, pointing to health data released by AltaMed that reported elevated levels of depression and anxiety as well as increases in eye and throat irritation, among other conditions, in residents who were exposed to the fire and its aftermath.
Last week, another community group, Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización, called on the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to open a criminal investigation of the warehouse fire after the LAFD reported that the cause of the fire could not be determined.
In a surprise move, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control’s Criminal Investigations Bureau served a search warrant at the Lineage facility Tuesday. Police officers from the LA County DA’s office were also on site assisting with the criminal investigation.
Lineage released a statement soon after, repeating its stance that no ammonia had been released from its facility and that the company maintained records that it was safely transported off site when the fire broke out. Still, testing by Lineage as well as community scientists and the South Coast Air Quality Management District found elevated levels of ammonia near the warehouse after the fire, though they did not meet the threshold requiring action to protect public health.
Tuesday’s raid is yet another rapid development among investigations that have so far remained hidden from the public.
Last week, Mayor Karen Bass claimed that she asked the City Attorney’s Office to investigate Lineage months ago but was met with inaction. The city attorney’s team responded that the mayor had misspoken, and that they had opened an investigation of the fire in early July. Both statements were the first public admissions that such an investigation was requested and is ongoing.
The post What was in the air after the Lineage fire? New lawsuits are demanding information appeared first on LA Local.
