LonDen Scott is just one of the few Black women in the horse-riding industry who are trying to stake their claims in a male-dominated world. For her and other Black cowgirls, it feels like Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album came just in time.
Why it matters: The world of cowboys and the old west is often seen as predominantly white and male, but many historians note that back in the 1800s, 1 in 4 cowboys were Black. Black people were major part of the creation of the cattle industry of the West and Southwest.
Why now: Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter album has sparked conversations surrounding Black women's role in country music and in the cowboy lifestyle. Some feel like that history has been whitewashed in the mainstream. But, historians show that Black Angelenos' role in horsemanship dates back to the early Frontier days.
The backstory: LonDen Scott and a multiethnic crew of horse riders tend to their equines at a ranch they rent in the Lake View Terrace area. They are part of the newly established Cali Cowboy Company, which started out last October as a group of friends who all had a passion for horses and community.
Scott is the president and one of six founders. And they all keep busy. They have about a dozen horses they take care of, including Scott’s own gelding, 18-year-old Count on Me"
When LonDen Scott goes out in public in Los Angeles with her $380 Resistol cowboy hat and spurred boots, some people think it’s a costume. But she’s been riding and training horses way longer than Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album drop.
For her, it’s a lifestyle.
“I get it all the time even before her album dropped, but now it's like, people feel like they have a little more license, especially white people,” says Scott, who is the daughter of former Los Angeles Lakers and NBA coach Byron Scott. “They’d say, ‘Are you wearing that because Beyoncé is trying to be country’? I'm like, ‘No, sir. My knife is dirty in my pocket.’”
From Simone Biles to Beyoncé, there’s been a lot of conversation around the country and cowboy lifestyle, and the role of Black women in that space.
Scott, a cowgirl from Ladera Heights, is one of the few Black women in L.A. who is trying to stake her claim in a male-dominated world. For her and other Black cowgirls, it feels like Beyoncé’s album came just in time.
“Enough of our story gets whitewashed and erased,” Scott says. “So, if we need a little bit of something controversial, then let’s go. We're here. We've been here and it's about time we have people talking about it.”
LonDen Scott cleans her horse's hoof in preparation to ride.
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LonDen Scott wears a limited edition belt buckle from the National Finals Rodeo.
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Creating an inclusive space
Less than an hour north of the urban hustle and bustle of downtown L.A., is a quiet, rural agricultural region of Lake View Terrace, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley where visitors smell livestock instead of gas exhaustion.
Here, Scott and a multiethnic crew of horse riders tend to their equines at a ranch they rent in the area. They are part of the newly established Cali Cowboy Company, which started out last October as a group of friends who all had a passion for horses and community.
Scott is the president and one of six founders. And they all keep busy. They have about a dozen horses they take care of, including Scott’s own gelding, 18-year-old Count on Me.
Members of the Cali Cowboy Company ride their horses around an outdoor arena in Lake View Terrace.
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“I do have nicknames for him,” Scott says. “We call him ‘Count’ or ‘Baboy’ or ‘Stink’ or 'Mister Steal Your Mare’." Even the cowboys and cowgirls have nicknames. Scott’s nickname is “Legit 1."
One a recent Monday on the 2-acre ranch, a group that also includes Scott’s two daughters prepare the horses — including “Count on Me” — for their afternoon ride.
During a break, the rookie cowgirl on the scene, Ashley “Baby Fox” Johns, reminisced on her days growing up in Oakland and only associating horseback riding with being rich, white and structured, like many English-style riders.
Longtime friend and Cali Cowboy Company co-founder Rafael “Wicked Smaht” Casal introduced Johns to riding last year. She fell in love with the sport after meeting Scott and attending the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
LonDen Scott started riding horses when she was 5 years old.
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“You see Black cowgirls and you're like, ‘Yeah, we run this,’” Johns says. “It really does fit with the nature of Black women and who we are. We are incredibly resilient and strong. We will make it work. We will find a way. We’re going to do it.”
After ensuring the horses got a stretch and roll, the crew saddled them up. On a usual day, they take them up a mountain trail or ride them through the Hansen Dam trails. Every full moon, they go out on a “Moonlight Trail” in the San Gabriel mountains. They end up on a spot that Scott says the crew calls “horse heaven."
“It's really, really pretty. It oversees everything. And you feel like you're right underneath the stars,” Scott says. To bond, the group travels to bars — sometimes on horseback — to drink and listen to country music. One favorite is Desert 5 Spot in Hollywood.
Eric Cepeda, Bechir Sylvain, Rafael Casal, Samantha Wehlauch, and LonDen Scott are all members of Cali Cowboy Company, a riding club based out of Lake View Terrace.
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“The trails are beautiful,” Scott says. “With L.A., you get kind of the best of everything. You just kind of got to know where to look.”
Outside of tending to horses and trail riding, the group has been training horses and teaching people how to ride. They’ve helped clients with Parkinson’s disease engage in equine therapy and they soon plan to host community events. The group is had their first equestrian event Saturday, April 20th in partnership with the well-known Compton Cowboys.
Kyla Aklilu with her mother's horse, Count On Me.
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LonDen Scott's spurs.
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Showing the next generation how to get back on the saddle
Scott says she’s been riding horses ever since she was 5 years old. And throughout her time, she’s had to face people telling her that she’s not a “real cowgirl” because she doesn’t push cattle, or because she’s Black.
“Being a Black cowgirl, just being a woman, there’s a lot of mansplaining,” Scott says. “When you add in women and then women of color, who can hang with the boys and sometimes even do better, there's a lot of bruised egos that come with it. So I think even more so than Black cowboys, Black cowgirls have their own set of struggles and obstacles and things that we have to prove.”
She’s instilling the tradition — and her strength — in the next generation: her 10-and 11-year-old daughters Kyla and Laila Aklilu, who help tend to the horses when they’re not in school. They both say that their mother has inspired them.
LonDen Scott instructs her daughter, Laila Aklilu, as she circles a riding ring in Lake View Terrace.
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“She’s had so many different forces and so many different injuries, that to see her still doing this is really inspiring to me,” Laila Aklilu says. “Being a cowgirl means you, no matter how many times you get hurt, you have to get back up and go on the saddle.”
Scott often gives the girls reminders so that they ride with a good, upright posture. “Don’t T-Rex … keep down and keep your hands low,” she calmly says to one of her daughters.
One of the riders on the trail is Samantha “Sissy” Wehlauch. She’s from Illinois with a mixed heritage of German and Korean. She owns a horse with braids down its mane named Scarlett and says she feels like she’s found her “tribe” with the group.
When asked about all the attention Beyoncé’s album has shined on Black cowboy culture, she says it’s about time.
“There's so much influence that Black culture has given to us in terms of different music styles, instruments like the banjo were brought over by the slaves, and that became their instrument,” Wehlauch says. “It’s great to see the homage paid back, because the original cowboys were Black and native and Mexican.”
LonDen Scott taught her two daughters, Laila and Kyla Aklilu, how to ride horses.
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History of Black cowboys and cowgirls
The world of cowboys and the Old West is often seen as predominantly white and male, but many historians note that back in the 1800s, 1 in 4 cowboys were Black.
In William Loren Katz’s book The Black West, he writes that Africans, Native Mexicans and Europeans were all a part of creating the cattle industry of the West and Southwest. Katz writes that an average trail crew of 11 might include two or three Black men. Some crews were all Black.
In The Black West, Katz writes that cattle crews started after the Civil War in Texas where millions of cattle roamed free and needed to be fenced in. Black men were able to get jobs managing the cattle and, as historians have noted, the term “cowboy” was first used as a derogatory word to describe them.
Eventually, the word was embraced as a universal term.
As cowboys, Black men protected and tended to cattle. Although Black people, Mexicans and Europeans often worked together, it was rare that Black cowboys could become foreman, trail boss or the ranch owner, Katz writes. The cowboys were often given the hardest jobs, and many fought to resist the positions they were in.
Scott of the Cali Cowboys says that racism persisted over the generations. "Western culture — it has not always been inclusive," she says. "You know, [white people] tried to erase us from it in the first place when we are a part of the originators of this. They weren't calling each other 'cowboy.'"
Samantha Wehlauch's horse, Scarlett, with a braided mane.
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Horse decor at the ranch where LonDen Scott and members of the Cali Cowboy Company keep their horses.
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There were also fierce frontier women like “Stagecoach Mary” Fields who tended to horses and carried a rifle in the late 1800s. She became the first Black woman — and second woman — to drive a U.S. mail route.
There were others who were pioneers in settling the West — Black women in California who secured and protected their land and property like Laura Pearson, Mary Pleasant and Biddy Mason.
As more Black Americans moved west during The Great Migration, they found pockets of communities in places like Compton’s Richland Farms.
Fast forward to the early ‘80’s, real-estate agent Mayisha Akbar started the Compton Jr. Posse in Richland Farms, an urban agricultural hub for Black Angelenos since the 1950s and '60s, to keep young Black boys and men out of street gang life. Akbar’s organization is recognized as the predecessor to the Compton Cowboys riding club.
Kyla Aklilu learned how to ride horses at a young age and is part of the riding club her mother helped found.
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Making it accessible for all
As the urban sprawl spreads and technology continues to develop, gone are the days where cowboys are seen as pioneering, rural and rough like in the early American West era. Now the leisure and competitive sport of equestrianism — which includes Western, English and Charro horse-riding styles — are known to be expensive, and for the privileged.
Scott, the daughter of a former NBA player, said she thinks it’s a misconception that horsemanship is solely for the privileged.
“I think that’s a misconception that’s kind of already been floating around, that you have to look a certain way, have a certain status, a certain amount in the bank to really get out and do this and that’s not the case,” Scott says. “I think the only access it gave me above anybody else was just being able to travel and do different things in different places. I would say in terms of just finding where the horses were everywhere I went, that was on me.”
LonDen Scott, her daughter Kyla Aklilu, and Cali Cowboy Company member Samantha Wehlauch ride their horses in Lake View Terrace.
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Long Beach cowgirl Chanel Rhodes also emphasized that horseback riding is not just for the rich. But she says she has to pass up on some things — like getting her nails done and even a few doctor’s appointments — to upkeep her horse.
“We are just trying to hold on to our lifestyle that we love,” Rhodes says. ““I understand that golf is cheaper. Playing basketball is cheaper. But I have made certain sacrifices to be able to live this life.”
Rhodes manages horses at Disneyland and is the founder of a horse wig company called Mane Tresses, but her long-term goal is to start the first Black-owned ranch in Orange County and make it affordable for people who may not otherwise have access to a stable.
Rhodes says she’s faced multiple instances of misogyny in the industry. She’s been in spaces where people would stare at her, question her knowledge of horses or avoid clapping for her during English riding competitions, her preferred style of riding.
“I just felt that sinking feeling of ‘This is why I don't belong here. What am I doing here?’ But you have to choose to conquer that,” Rhodes says.
For Scott, she feels responsibility as president of Cali Cowboy Company and its crew of 20-30 people, but she enjoys what she does.
“Horses are my passion,” Scott says. “So just being able to be a part of something allows me to lend that to a group of like-minded individuals who all have the same desire and goals in mind. It's really special. So I feel very honored.”
Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published October 20, 2026 3:48 PM
The sun sets behind power lines near homes during a heat wave in Los Angeles.
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Topline:
For the rest of the year, Los Angeles residents won't get their water and power shut off if they can’t pay their bills.
The details: Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday that she asked the L.A. Department of Water and Power’s board to pause any residential shutoffs for nonpayment through the end of 2026. The request comes after a series of record-breaking heatwaves this summer and fall. A spokesperson for LADWP said the changes will be implemented immediately. The board is expected to formally vote to approve the ask at its next meeting, set for Oct. 27 at 10 a.m., according to a spokesperson for Bass. According to the LADWP spokesperson, customers who need assistance will get extra time to pay their bill by entering into a payment arrangement without any interest or late fees.
Bill breakdown: DWP bills two months at a time, and right now, many customers are being hit with one of their highest bills of the year — from August and September. In those months, 2% of DWP's 1.6 million customers received a bill of over $3,000, the DWP said; 3% were between $2,000 and $3,000; 12% were between $1,000 and $2,000; and 18% were between $500 and $1,000. The rest were under $500. LADWP says customers can call 800-DIAL-DWP (342-5397) if they have questions about their bills.
The backstory: As atmospheric pollution drives hotter, longer heat waves, utility bills are soaring too. That's why, in 2023, LADWP's board voted to end power shutoffs for all customers during extreme weather. Under that policy, LADWP will not shut a customer’s water and power off if they are delinquent on their bill when the National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat or cold weather advisory or warning. Outside of such weather advisories, however, customers can still face shutoffs. Under Bass’ request, shutoffs won’t occur through the rest of the year regardless of weather advisories.
Other resources: Bass encouraged customers to sign up for LADWP’s Level Pay program, which allows customers to pay off past-due bills over time or even out the peaks of high-energy-use seasons across a longer term. You can sign up and find other bill assistance programs on the DWP website.
District staff are clearing drains, trimming trees and checking roofs, windows and doors, in preparation for El Niño.
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Topline:
The Los Angeles Unified School District is preparing for possible “Super El Niño” storms that could damage schools and lead to closures, the district announced in a media release Tuesday.
What's being done: District staff are clearing drains, trimming trees and checking roofs, windows and doors. LAUSD is also testing emergency equipment, including pumps and emergency lighting systems, and stocking supplies such as flashlights and drinking water.
Guidance for families during this year's El Niño season: LAUSD encouraged families to update their contact information to ensure they receive district calls, texts and emails. Families should also monitor weather alerts, follow emergency officials’ instructions, avoid flooded roads and review safe routes to and from school, according to the release.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is preparing for possible “Super El Niño” storms that could damage schools and lead to closures, the district announced in a media release Tuesday.
District staff are clearing drains, trimming trees and checking roofs, windows and doors. LAUSD is also testing emergency equipment, including pumps and emergency lighting systems, and stocking supplies such as flashlights and drinking water.
“Preparing for severe weather starts well before the first raindrop,” Superintendent Andrés Chait said in a statement. “We can’t control the weather, but we can take steps now to protect our students and employees and help our schools stay ready.”
The district will monitor weather patterns using information from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials, it said.
LAUSD encouraged families to update their contact information to ensure they receive district calls, texts and emails. Families should also monitor weather alerts, follow emergency officials’ instructions, avoid flooded roads and review safe routes to and from school, according to the release.
“Preparing for a storm is a shared effort — from the crews maintaining school buildings to the principals reviewing emergency plans and the families making sure they can receive critical updates,” LAUSD said in the release. “By taking these steps before the rain begins, Los Angeles Unified is working to help students and employees stay safe and keep school communities as prepared as possible for the winter ahead.”
EdSource is an independent nonprofit organization that provides analysis on key education issues facing California and the nation. LAist republishes articles from EdSource with permission.
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Lucas Brady Woods
covers the weather and disasters, among other climate and science topics.
Published October 20, 2026 3:08 PM
Rain is expected Wednesday night and Thursday morning across Southern California. It will be the first cold storm of the rainy season.
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Topline:
Significant rain is in the forecast this week, just days after heat and Santa Ana winds fueled wildfires across Southern California
The rain: The bulk of the rain is expected on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Most of L.A. and Orange counties could get around an inch, with more expected in the hills and mountains. There is also a chance of thunderstorms and hail.
Flood risk: A National Weather Service flood watch is in effect for the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding communities. The area includes burn scars from last week’s Bryson Fire and last year’s Palisades Fire. Wildfire burn scars are susceptible to landslides and flooding during heavy rain.
Cooldown: Forecasters say the storm will bring cool air into southern California. Highs on Wednesday and Thursday will peak in the 60s and low 70s in most places. High elevations will likely be even cooler.
Read on … for more on this week’s forecast.
Southern California is likely in for a solid dose of rain this week, just days after heat and Santa Ana winds helped fuelseveralwildfiresacross the region.
Forecasters expect the bulk of the rain to roll into the Los Angeles basin Wednesday night and continue into Thursday morning, with a small chance of thunderstorms and hail.
The San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and coastal areas across L.A. and Orange counties could get around an inch over the next few days. Hills and mountains could get up to 3 inches.
“We could see some pretty high rain rates,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford. “It's a good storm for this time of year — it's a little stronger than what we would see normally.”
The possibility of significant rain in the mountains raises concerns about flooding in areas recently burned in wildfires, particularly around the Bryson Fire burn scar near Malibu, which is only a few days old. Burn scars can’t absorb heavy rainfall and are susceptible to landslides.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding communities from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday. That means heavy rain there could flood streets, creeks and rivers. The flood watch area includes both the Bryson Fire and Palisades Fire burn scars.
This will also be the first nontropical storm of the season, meaning it’s moving into the region from the north. Most storms that hit Southern California follow a similar path, especially during the winter, unlike the tropical storms that formed off the coast of Mexico and brought muggy weather to the region this summer.
Nontropical storms also bring cold air to the region. On Wednesday and Thursday, forecasters expect highs in the 60s and 70s. High elevations will be even cooler.
Courtyard view of the UCLA Research Park under construction in the former Westside Pavilion shopping center in West Los Angeles on Aug. 19, 2024
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The science research institute that would likely receive $4.2 billion in public taxpayer money if voters approve Proposition 38 this November had only three employees as of last month — far fewer than the 51 staffers it planned to have hired by last year. Public statements and public records CalMatters obtained raise questions about how well prepared the institute is to shepherd so much money if the bond measure passes.
Why it matters: Prop. 38 would allocate up to $8.4 billion in bonds for scientific research on diseases and cures concerning the immune system, with an emphasis on finding treatments for Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease. The ballot language stipulates that a single, unnamed research institute would receive half the bond’s money to conduct research and partner with other researchers if it meets highly specific criteria. Bonds are a type of debt that must be repaid. Previous reporting by CalMatters found only one institute in California currently meets those criteria: the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy. The institute’s principal funder is billionaire Gary K. Michelson, who wrote Prop. 38 and is by far the largest donor to its political campaign.
What opponents say: The measure’s critics say Prop. 38 is well-intentioned but poorly designed because it overlooks the many established public and nonprofit university and hospital research labs in California. They also say California should not subsidize subsets of scientific research and instead should support research more broadly.
The science research institute that would likely receive $4.2 billion in public taxpayer money if voters approve Proposition 38 this November had only three employees as of last month — far fewer than the 51 staffers it planned to have hired by last year.
Public statements and public records CalMatters obtained raise questions about how well prepared the institute is to shepherd so much money if the bond measure passes.
Prop. 38 would allocate up to $8.4 billion in bonds for scientific research on diseases and cures concerning the immune system, with an emphasis on finding treatments for Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease. The ballot language stipulates that a single, unnamed research institute would receive half the bond’s money to conduct research and partner with other researchers if it meets highly specific criteria. Bonds are a type of debt that must be repaid.
Previous reporting by CalMatters found only one institute in California currently meets those criteria: the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy. The institute’s principal funder is billionaire Gary K. Michelson, who wrote Prop. 38 and is by far the largest donor to its political campaign.
Backers of the proposition said state bond money is needed to stabilize research funding after President Donald Trump repeatedly attempted to cut existing and future federal science grants.
The measure’s critics say Prop. 38 is well-intentioned but poorly designed because it overlooks the many established public and nonprofit university and hospital research labs in California. They also say California should not subsidize subsets of scientific research and instead should support research more broadly.
CalMatters obtained documents that included the five-year business plan of the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy. The plan was part of the formal affiliation agreement between UCLA and the institute, which the two parties signed in August 2024. Among other details, the agreement requires the institute to pay UCLA 7.5% of the net revenue of any drugs and technologies developed by the institute’s staff. The institute is one of the founding tenants at a UCLA-owned research park in West Los Angeles, where the institute is leasing 235,000 square feet of research space, the institute says.
Far fewer employees than plan called for
Between summer 2024 and summer 2025, the institute committed to hiring “approximately” 51 employees, including six executives, five “world-class” scientists who can lead research labs, and 40 other employees, such as data scientists, lab technicians, biologists and administrative personnel. Between 2025 and 2027, the institute would hire roughly 90 more workers, including 10 research lab leaders, according to the agreement.
But John Mazziotta, a senior UCLA official who also serves as a board member of the immunology institute, last month said the institute has hired just three employees: a chief operating officer, a general counsel, and a scientific advisor, and “they're well into the search” for a director. Mazziotta, the CEO of UCLA Health and vice chancellor for health sciences at UCLA, made his comments during the Sept. 16 UC Regents meeting.
The Yes on Prop. 38 campaign has repeatedly refused to comment on whether the bond was written specifically for the immunology institute. Claudia Briggs, a spokesperson for the campaign, told CalMatters in July that whichever nonprofit receives the $4.2 billion portion of the bond fund should be a sophisticated one that “is prepared to accelerate lifesaving research immediately while maintaining the highest standards of scientific quality, accountability, and stewardship of public funds.”
At a September press conference, a Yes on Prop. 38 spokesperson appeared to confirm CalMatters’ findings that only one institute currently qualifies to be the one to receive half the bond money. “It is very likely that CIII, which is a research institute affiliated with UCLA, will qualify for half of the funds under the current criteria,” said Robin Swanson. CIII is the initialism for the immunology institute.
According to the five-year plan, the institute was supposed to spend $25 million on personnel between 2024-25 and 2025-26 and $45 million total on operating expenses in that time, including maintenance, utilities and rent. It was also supposed to spend an additional $167 million in that time on capital expenses, such as construction and demolition. However, Mazziotta told UC regents that the institute had so far spent a total of $20 million on “operating expenses, hires” and other expenses.
The Yes on 38 campaign refused CalMatters’ request to interview Michelson for this story, as did Michelson himself in a separate email. A spokesperson for the institute, Becky Warren, sent a written statement that didn't answer CalMatters' questions about employing far fewer people than the five-year plan laid out. Instead, she highlighted the promise of the institute and a few of its milestones, including signing the affiliation agreement with UCLA and clearing a state environmental review of its forthcoming research facility.
The institute won’t get state bond money if it isn’t ready to begin work, “plain and simple,” wrote Swanson, the Yes on 38 spokesperson, in an email. She stressed that though the institute very likely qualifies, the ultimate decision to award half the bond funding is up to the California Department of Public Health.
Institute facility will be built by 2028
The UCLA research park that houses the institute isn’t slated to be fully built until at least late 2028, according to the agenda item of the September UC regents meeting. The research park is a former mall UCLA acquired in late 2023 that’s now undergoing major retrofitting.
But the 2024 affiliation agreement between UCLA and the institute anticipated this. The agreement permitted the institute to use UCLA health research space on another campus property on an interim basis. Mazziotta told regents that research is underway there.
Mazziotta also told the regents the institute's construction costs are not fully funded — it still needs roughly $100 million. He said UCLA was in serious talks with a donor to provide about $50 million to the institute.
If Prop. 38 passes, the bond funding would be provided in increments based on how often the institute requests new money that senior state officials approve. If all the funds are depleted, Californians would repay the bond at a rate of $500 million to $600 million annually for about 20 years.
Institute would be exempt from public records act
CalMatters submitted the public records request to UCLA, which must comply with the California Public Records Act. The institute, as a private nonprofit, does not have to comply. And while Prop. 38 would channel billions of dollars in taxpayer money to the institute, the proposition’s language specifically exempts the nonprofit that will receive the $4.2 billion from state public meetings laws, political reform laws and the public records act. The other half of the funds would go to a council that’ll pick projects led by researchers from a limited pool of universities and nonprofits. The council would generally be governed by the state’s political reform act, which prohibits financial self-dealing.
Briggs defended the institute’s exemption in Prop. 38, writing that applying state transparency laws to existing private organizations would “not fit well with how private entities are organized and operate.” Instead, she noted the selected nonprofit institute would be required to publish annual reports on its research progress and financial plans plus commit to annual state audits, among other disclosures written into the ballot measure.
Still unclear to the UC regents is the relationship between UCLA and the institute on matters of public disclosure. Four senior UCLA officials sit on the institute’s board. So is a document held by those UCLA officials public because it’s related to UCLA affairs or private because it’s related to the institute’s affairs? UC’s general counsel couldn’t explain where that dividing line is after a regent member asked him. The regent member, Michael Cohen, said he wants more clarity when the regents meet again in November.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Democratic Party endorsed Prop. 38, as have dozens of patient and research advocacy groups, plus the state GOP. The union of graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, whose pay often relies on science research funding, has also endorsed the proposition. The union doesn’t represent faculty.
Money raised in support of Prop. 38 now exceeds $66 million, including at least $61.2 million in contributions from Michelson and his policy institute. Roughly $14 million of that includes loans from Michelson. The no camp has raised about $8,800
