Election 2024: What motivates Coachella Valley voters?
Election 2024: Talking to Coachella Valley voters to learn what motivated their vote in the presidential race.
It’s been less than two days since former President Donald Trump gained enough electoral votes to clinch the presidency, and California’s Democratic leadership is already mobilizing itself for a second round of resistance against a conservative, Trump-led administration.
But this time, the Golden State’s top public officials are positioning themselves for potentially larger clashes, especially with Republicans taking control of the U.S. Senate and making inroads to secure the House.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday called for a special session of the state legislature to prepare for the incoming administration, and the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference Thursday morning outlining the state’s legal strategy.
“You can be sure that as California Attorney General, if Trump attacks your rights, I’ll be there. If Trump comes after your freedoms, I’ll be there. If Trump jeopardizes your safety and your well being, I’ll be there,” Bonta said. “California DOJ did it before, and we will do it again.”
Bonta and Newsom say they have been preparing for a Trump Administration for months, and the governor pointed to a handful of policies they are especially concerned may be threatened, including possible moves to further limit reproductive and abortion rights, to reverse the state’s environmental protection policies, to repeal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, and the possibility that the administration would withhold disaster response funds.
The deep-blue state became the leader of the Democratic opposition during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2020, filing over 120 lawsuits against the administration, passing state measures rebuking its policies and becoming the political face of the “resistance” movement. With such quick mobilization by the state’s top leadership, California is preparing to once again take up the mantle.
Leading Trump adversary Rep. Adam Schiff, known for managing the first impeachment trial of the former president, is on his way to an even larger national platform after handily winning in a race for U.S. Senate. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi won her reelection to Congress as well this week, placing California representatives in a commanding position to confront Trump legislatively.
Other Democratic state leaders in New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington are similarly taking an offensive stance to news of Trump’s win, preparing to protect state policies that may come under fire from the Republican president-elect.
“We know what he’s capable of. We know what plans he has in store. The silver lining is just that we know,” Bonta said Thursday in San Francisco. “We know to take Trump at his word when he says he’ll roll back environmental protections, go after our immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, attack our civil rights and restrict access to essential reproductive care, which means we won’t be flat-footed come January.”
The special legislative session is expected to begin in Sacramento on Dec. 2, and will focus on focus on ways California can bolster legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action and immigrant families, according to the governor’s office. Specifically, lawmakers are expected to discuss providing additional funding to the California Department of Justice and other agencies to both challenge and prepare for legal implications of the incoming Trump Administration.
Though Newsom’s initial Wednesday statement on the outcome of the election took a measured tone, offering to “seek to work with the incoming president,” he obliquely hinted at possible fights to come, saying California intends to “stand with states across our nation to defend our Constitution and uphold the rule of law.”
Democratic legislative leaders, including the Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas and Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire have lent strong support to the governor’s special session, while early responses from the state’s minority GOP representatives assailed the move.
“This is immature and divisive,” state Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Redding, said in a post on X Thursday morning. “Our nation needs collaboration and unity, not politicians stunting for a headline.”
California is an overwhelmingly blue state, with registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans nearly two-to-one, and a legislature with a super majority in both houses. Early results from the Associated Press Wednesday evening have Vice President Kamala Harris in a strong lead across the state as widely expected, taking 57.3% of the vote over Trump’s 40.1%, with a little more than half of all votes counted.
Kathryn Palmer is an elections fellow for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @KathrynPlmr.
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Publish date : 2024-11-07 08:16:00
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