California’s 33rd District House Race 2026

Los Angeles is weighing whether to acquire Liberty Park, a privately owned green space on Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown, and convert it into public parkland. Councilmember Heather Hutt, who represents Council District 10, is pushing for a private sale with property owner Jamison Properties, which separately plans to convert the adjacent 11-story office building into apartments through adaptive reuse. The proposal goes before the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, which will decide whether to authorize acquisition efforts for Liberty Park and several other properties in the district.

Liberty Park and neighboring Beneficial Plaza were designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2018 after residents fought off a proposed high-rise tower on the site. Any future changes would need to preserve its historic features, including its lawn, pine grove, and Liberty Bell replica. The effort responds to a documented park shortage in Koreatown, where over a third of residents live more than a 10-minute walk from green space. Funding for the acquisitions remains unresolved, with officials citing Quimby fees as a possible source.

Raz Chowdhury, 45, died on July 2 in a hotel room at the Mayfair Hotel in Westlake, roughly a week after being moved off the streets of Koreatown into interim housing through Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe program. He was among 31 people relocated during a June 25 operation at Wilshire Boulevard and Manhattan Place. His cause of death remains deferred pending investigation by the LAPD's Rampart Division, and officials have not confirmed his enrollment status at the LAHSA-run facility, citing privacy rules.

Chowdhury was well known among Koreatown's homeless community and volunteers with the advocacy group Ktown for All, who described him as someone who consistently helped others access supplies and support. Friends held a memorial at his former encampment site. LAHSA data shows that as of July 31, more than 6,400 people had entered Inside Safe housing, with over a quarter returning to homelessness and about 2% recorded as deceased, underscoring ongoing scrutiny of the program's outcomes.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1349, a bipartisan measure targeting "ghost tickets" — listings for concert and sporting event access sold by people who don't yet own the underlying ticket. The law bans the sale of tickets not yet owned by the seller and prohibits software used to bypass venues' purchasing limits, requiring resellers to take "reasonable measures" against speculative sales. Violations can bring misdemeanor charges and penalties.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan introduced the bill after encountering inflated, pre-sale ticket listings for a Hollywood Bowl show. The bill's final version shifted late in the legislative session: Live Nation initially backed it, but StubHub, which spent heavily lobbying against earlier drafts, ended up supporting the final text after amendments appeared to exempt resale marketplaces like itself. Newsom flagged that carve-out as a concern in his signing statement, urging further negotiation. The National Independent Venue Association opposed the final bill, warning it burdens small venues while leaving resale platforms less accountable. A related bill capping resale markups at 10% stalled earlier in the Senate.

California's new AB 1349 law bans "ghost ticket" sales for concerts and events, though critics say it exempts platforms like StubHub.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 2599, the Truth in Disclosure Act, making California the first state to require large companies to disclose whether they or their corporate predecessors profited from chattel slavery. Authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan and backed by the California Legislative Black Caucus, the law applies to companies with more than $100 million in annual worldwide gross receipts that existed, or had a predecessor that existed, on or before December 1964. Sworn disclosures, subject to perjury penalties, must be filed by January 15, 2029, and will be posted in a searchable public database maintained by the state's Civil Rights Department.

Supporters say the measure, likely to affect banks, insurers, and agricultural firms, will help researchers and advocates trace links between modern corporate wealth and the slave economy. Some insurers opposed the bill, citing an existing 2000 disclosure law. The measure follows California's 2023 reparations task force report, which recommended over 100 remedies and estimated hundreds of billions owed to Black residents, though broader reparations legislation has stalled.

Records obtained by LAist show the L.A. Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) continued awarding contracts worth millions to the nonprofit Abundant Blessings even after its own compliance team labeled the group "High-Risk" in May 2024. The nonprofit's leader, Alex Soofer, was charged earlier this year with fraud; prosecutors allege he diverted at least $10 million in homelessness funds through the nonprofit and a related for-profit company, spending it on a Westwood house, a Range Rover, private jet travel and luxury goods. Soofer has pleaded not guilty and agreed to repay LAHSA $1.25 million without admitting wrongdoing.

Despite red flags, LAHSA finalized new contracts totaling over $3 million in mid-2024, and Mayor Karen Bass's office directed additional funding for a homeless services program a month after the warning. Auditors found LAHSA took eight months to report the suspected fraud to federal officials as required by law. County supervisors have since pulled funding from LAHSA, and federal officials briefly suspended funds to the agency, citing the case among broader oversight failures. Separately, records show Bass has skipped more than half of LAHSA Commission meetings since appointing herself to the board in 2023, raising further questions about oversight of the agency. Soofer's trial is scheduled for November 10.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom capped a multi-state "take it back tour" with eight public events across South Carolina, plus stops in Alabama and North Carolina, intensifying speculation about a 2028 Democratic presidential run. In North Carolina, Newsom campaigned for U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper in Charlotte and rallied Labor Day weekend crowds in Monroe, urging Democrats to focus on the 2026 midterms rather than 2028. He accused Trump of ruthlessness, corruption and attempting to "nationalize" elections through mail-in voting restrictions, telling supporters it's time to "fight fire with fire." Newsom told the Associated Press a 2028 decision could come before year's end.

Voters and strategists increasingly frame California itself as Newsom's central liability, with critics warning his state's liberal image could hurt him against rivals like Josh Shapiro and Pete Buttigieg. Republicans, including North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley and local officials, mocked the visits with "Wrong Coast" signs and accused him of trying to "California" their states. Newsom's team counters that his progressive record on health care, wages and climate could be an asset in a Democratic primary. South Carolina, hosting Democrats' first 2028 primary, remains a key early proving ground alongside hopefuls like Cory Booker.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman, her challenger in the mayoral race, appeared separately at a South L.A. candidate forum, agreeing that the city's homelessness response needs an overhaul but diverging sharply on housing policy. Both candidates said the city should exit the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which has faced repeated audits over poor accounting despite spending nearly $830 million last fiscal year, and back a new city-run agency, mirroring a move the county already made. Both also support expanding unarmed crisis-response teams for non-emergency calls currently handled by police.

The candidates split on housing density and renter protections. Raman accused Bass of blocking denser development in wealthier neighborhoods, pushing new construction into poorer districts, and criticized Bass's temporary loosening of short-term rental rules ahead of the 2028 Olympics, warning it could displace long-term tenants. Bass defended development restrictions as necessary to prevent gentrification of Black and Latino communities. The two also differed on LAPD's handling of ICE-related protests and enforcement of a state law on federal agents masking during operations.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces a tough reelection fight against city council member Nithya Raman, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Bass, who won just 34% in the June primary, is seeking a second term after a rough first stint marked by the Palisades Fire and rising homelessness. Raman, 45, represents a generational and ideological shift, echoing New York's election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, though she lacks major local endorsements compared to Bass's establishment backing from Newsom, Harris, and Pelosi. The candidates differ sharply on policing and homelessness, with turnout so far low amid broad voter disillusionment.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman faced off in a debate ahead of their runoff, sparring over homelessness and policing. Raman argued Bass has failed to make sufficient progress on homelessness despite her Inside Safe program, while Bass noted Raman recently chaired the council's housing committee. Bass also resurfaced Raman's 2020 "defund the police" social media post; Raman countered by criticizing Bass's support for a 2023 police pay raise. Bass led the June primary with 34% to Raman's 29%, but is viewed as a vulnerable incumbent heading into the runoff.

Separately, the LA City Council voted 10-3, with two abstentions, to repeal its anti-camping ordinance, amid debate over whether enforcement near schools helped or simply displaced unhoused residents and hindered outreach services. A new UC Berkeley poll also found California voters, especially younger ones, increasingly favorable toward progressive and democratic socialist candidates.

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.