Southern California

Ohio voters choose a new secretary of state on Nov. 3, with Republican state Treasurer Robert Sprague, Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo, and Libertarian Tom Pruss on the ballot. The race has turned on two election-policy flashpoints: a proposed constitutional amendment (Issue 3) locking in photo ID requirements, which Sprague backs and Russo and Pruss oppose, and absentee ballot drop boxes, which Sprague wants eliminated while Russo and Pruss favor expanding. Sprague, the best-funded candidate, emphasizes election security and points to fraud cases in other states; Russo argues Ohio's drop boxes are already secure and accuses Republicans of suppressing access. A planned debate between Sprague and Russo never materialized.

The Department of Justice sent letters to election officials in every California county demanding they identify potential noncitizens on voter rolls within 48 hours, warning of "significant federal scrutiny" and possible prosecution for noncompliance. The letters, affecting roughly 20,000 voters statewide, requested sensitive data including Social Security numbers. Officials were told to segregate, not cancel, affected ballots. California's attorney general said the lists contain errors, including people living outside the counties named, and Los Angeles County found over 40% of a sampled group had already-canceled registrations, with most showing no voting history and nearly 4 in 10 born in the U.S.

The demand follows a DOJ lawsuit against California and a statewide sweep charging 28 people with illegal registration, coming days before the midterms as a 9th Circuit panel weighs the state's compliance obligations. The DOJ says it is not requesting a purge or cancellation of registrations, only collaboration, but federal prosecutors warned that clerks who process a noncitizen's ballot could face legal jeopardy. Governor Gavin Newsom accused the DOJ of sending lists containing people who never voted or who live in the wrong county, calling it fabricated evidence of fraud. County officials in Napa, Contra Costa, Inyo, Mendocino and elsewhere questioned the data's accuracy and said they are proceeding with ballot counting as usual despite the pressure.

A federal jury awarded $51.8 million to the mother of Antonio Garza Jr., a mentally ill man killed by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies in 2023, in what attorneys call the largest police-shooting verdict in California history. Deputies Nicholas Kridner and Bill Abernathy fired on Garza after a 35-minute chase from Yucca Valley into Palm Springs; an autopsy showed he was shot 14 times, including after he had fallen. Jurors found the department liable for excessive force, civil rights violations and wrongful death. Testimony detailed the family's failed efforts to secure mental health care and a conservatorship for Garza before the shooting, and the county has not yet commented.

Federal and state prosecutors charged 15 people in Southern California, with at least eight arrests, in a scheme allegedly siphoning nearly $2 billion from healthcare programs, mostly Medicaid and private insurers. At least six defendants are doctors, including chiropractor Hany Malek and surgeon Dr. Harold Tabaie, accused of making roughly $134 million performing unnecessary invasive artery procedures, plus a network of sham substance abuse treatment centers accounting for over $1.5 billion in false billing. Gov. Gavin Newsom disputed a federal official's framing of California as a fraud hotspot, noting most losses hit federal or private insurance. The case follows a broader Trump administration push against benefits fraud, including a new $25 million whistleblower program, SNAP fraud crackdowns in Ohio, and a new Missouri-DOJ partnership ahead of the midterms.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer is campaigning for reelection with the slogan "#NoLAinOC," framing Los Angeles — and its progressive district attorney George Gascón — as a cautionary example of what he says Orange County must avoid. Critics, including his opponent Pete Hardin, a former O.C. prosecutor, argue the messaging distracts from problems within Spitzer's own office, including harassment lawsuits filed by staff prosecutors. Spitzer denies the slogan is an attack on L.A., citing his UCLA education and police career there. The slogan revives a long pattern of O.C. politicians contrasting the county favorably against L.A., even as data shows homelessness, crime, and population loss trends in Orange County are comparable to or worse than those in L.A. County.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 2319, creating a standalone tax credit of 35% to 50% for post-production work—editing, color correction, scoring and sound mixing—done in the state, even if filming happened elsewhere. The law aims to curb the loss of TV and film work to other states and countries offering more generous incentives. Industry advocates, including the California Post Alliance and the Motion Picture Association, lobbied for the measure but note a key weakness: the funding pool was cut from a proposed $100 million to just $10 million, an amount expected to be exhausted quickly.

Meanwhile, a potentially bigger shift is moving through Congress: the Motion Picture, Television and Entertainment Revitalization Act, co-authored by Sens. Adam Schiff and Tim Scott and backed by President Trump, would offer a 20% federal, labor-based tax credit for productions shot mostly in the U.S., with added benefits for post-production and rural or disaster-affected areas. Supporters call it bipartisan because film and TV production now spans nearly every state, though the bill's cost to federal revenue has not been disclosed.