Who Will Win California’s 29th Congressional District House Race?

A Los Angeles-area state Senate race between labor-backed West Hollywood City Councilmember John Erickson and business-supported media consultant Brian Goldsmith has become California's most expensive state Senate general election contest this cycle, driven by heavy outside spending. The district, covering Malibu, Santa Monica, the Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, carries a 12-year term limit as both seek to succeed termed-out Sen. Ben Allen.

Business groups have targeted Erickson with attack spending, while tech-linked donors and Goldsmith's own personal funds have boosted his campaign; labor groups opposing Goldsmith have spent far less. Nancy Pelosi recently endorsed Goldsmith. Ads focus on affordability, housing, public safety and partisan loyalty, reflecting a broader business-labor struggle over California Democratic Party direction.

The U.S. Department of Justice sent letters to 57 of California's 58 counties demanding officials help verify the citizenship status of voters flagged on a federal list of roughly 20,000 names, threatening potential criminal prosecution for tabulating ballots from noncitizens. San Diego County, given 48 hours to respond regarding 1,709 flagged voters, said it is "evaluating next steps" rather than committing to the request. The move follows a DOJ lawsuit against Los Angeles County and the Secretary of State after they declined to set aside the flagged ballots. California officials call the list error-ridden and the effort election interference, while critics say it may violate a federal "quiet period" rule barring systematic voter list reviews before elections.

With polls showing a tight contest days before the Nov. 3 election, LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman has detailed plans to challenge incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Her platform includes moving the city's homelessness budget away from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, giving the city controller broad audit power, and cutting encampments by half before the 2028 Olympics. On housing, she pledges a "shot clock" for permits, self-certification for simple projects, new high-rise zones, and a Office of Tenant Protections. On public safety, Raman would expand unarmed crisis response teams and has signaled she would replace LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell.

Bass, in office since 2022, has faced scrutiny over wildfire response, federal immigration enforcement, and homelessness policy, issues likely to shape how voters weigh the race's outcome.

The Department of Justice has escalated its investigation into alleged noncitizen voting in California, issuing three grand jury subpoenas to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder employees ordering them to appear in court Nov. 4. The subpoenas seek documents and communications tied to DOJ letters sent in July and October alleging noncitizens on the state's voter rolls, plus any efforts to keep such votes from being counted.

Earlier, the DOJ sued California after giving officials 48 hours to match 20,000 DHS-flagged names against state data; a federal preliminary review found about 118,000 matches nationwide, below Trump's earlier claim of 250,000. A judge already rejected a DOJ bid to force removal of over 20,000 mail-in ballots, and the department has appealed while Los Angeles says it is complying with the law.

The Department of Justice escalated its dispute with California over a list of voters flagged as possible noncitizens, filing an emergency lawsuit Oct. 15 in federal court in the Central District of California after state officials missed a roughly 48-hour deadline set by Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter to review the names. DOJ had sent Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan and Secretary of State Shirley Weber a password-protected thumb drive naming more than 20,000 "likely noncitizens," identified through a multiagency USCIS and Homeland Security Investigations review of state voter and federal citizenship data. The 15-page complaint accuses California of violating the Constitution's supremacy clause by knowingly sending and counting mail ballots from likely noncitizens, and asks the court to order the state to set aside such ballots until citizenship is verified. Attorney General Todd Blanche called the alleged practice "state-facilitated voter fraud."

Logan's office declined to open the drive, citing data privacy protocols, while Weber argued federal officials provided insufficient evidence. Governor Gavin Newsom called the lawsuit a "sad, desperate attempt" by President Trump to suppress California voters weeks before Election Day. The suit is the administration's first direct attempt to block vote-counting, following a broader push including a blocked citizenship-verification mandate, a mail-voting executive order partly struck down by the Supreme Court, and roughly 30 similar voter-roll suits against other states with limited success. Senate Democrats have demanded oversight briefings on the administration's election-interference efforts.

The Trump administration has warned California election officials that processing ballots cast by suspected noncitizen voters could expose them to criminal investigation and prosecution. A letter from acting deputy attorney general Trent McCotter called noncitizen voting a federal crime and said officials who knowingly facilitate it risk being treated as aiders and abettors. The DOJ sued California after it missed a 48-hour deadline to cross-check a federal list of roughly 20,000 flagged names; federal prosecutors have since charged 28 green-card holders across California, 11 arrested, saying all appeared on that list. Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the demand unprecedented and said officials provided too little information to verify names. Governor Newsom calls the suit voter suppression; the dispute looms over competitive California House races in the midterms.

Fewer than 20% of eligible public school students in Los Angeles County have claimed money from CalKIDS, California's statewide college savings program. Launched in 2022, the California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program created investment accounts for more than 6 million children to help pay for higher education. Babies born on or after July 1, 2022, can receive up to $175 in their accounts, while low-income public school students can claim as much as $1,500.

In LA County, about 1.1 million public school students qualify, but claim rates remain low, and even lower among newborns, at roughly 11%, according to Cassandra DiBenedetto of California's ScholarShare Investment Board. There is no deadline to claim the funds, which continue to grow once activated, though recipients must use the money by age 26. Officials say having the accounts can encourage younger students to see college as attainable. The state is partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District and other districts to boost enrollment and awareness.