California attorney general warns Trump will try to undermine Prop. 50 election
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
BONTA ISSUES ELECTION WARNING
Attorney General Rob Bonta said he “100%” believes the election monitors sent by the federal Department of Justice to monitor the special statewide election Nov. 4 will make false accusations of wrongdoing.
“I think that’s the plan,” he said during a news conference Monday morning.
On Friday, the U.S. DOJ said it would send election monitors to oversee the voting in five California counties. The counties, Kern, Riverside, Fresno, Orange and Los Angeles, were flagged in an Oct. 20 letter sent by Corrin Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, as places where “irregularities” in previous elections could undermine faith in the process.
“As to this politically charged question, it is imperative to have robust voter participation and public confidence in the results regardless of the outcome,” Rankin’s letter read, referencing Proposition 50. The irregularities she listed included Kern County sending incorrect ballots, Riverside County sending duplicate ballots and questions about voter list maintenance in LA and Orange County.
Bonta said he doesn’t believe the counties need the monitors, and that the state shouldn’t be naive about the federal government’s motivations.
“Can some counties improve their communications? Can some counties improve their practices? Of course, everyone can, and they should,” he said. He added the registrar of voters in each county will be monitoring the DOJ monitors and ensuring that the laws are followed.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom told KQED’s Political Breakdown that the dispatching of federal monitors was a precursor to President Donald Trump questioning the outcome of the election.
“They are creating the pretext that after we’re successful with Prop. 50, after there is a Democratic governor in New Jersey — and will be one in Virginia, unquestionably — that they can suggest somehow these were fraudulent, these elections were rigged against them,” he said. “This is a preview of 2026. Wake up, everybody.”
NEWSOM’S CHANCES GET A CHECK-IN
Via David Lightman…
Newsom is second in the very early New Hampshire poll of potential 2028 presidential candidates.
New Hampshire has long been the nation’s first presidential primary, and for years has enjoyed a lofty status: From 1952 to 1988, candidates who won a contested primary went on to become president. President Donald Trump won the GOP primary in 2016, though President Joe Biden finished a distant fifth in 2020 before winning the nomination and the White House.
Newsom, who can’t seek re-election to a third California term, got 15% support for president among Democrats in the Granite State Poll Oct. 16-21 survey of the state’s likely Democratic primary voters. The governor told CBS Sunday he’ll consider running once the 2026 midterm elections are over.
He trailed only former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who had 19%. But close behind were Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 14%, former Vice President and 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris at 11%, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind.-Vt., at 8% and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, 6%. No one else got more than 5%.
Sanders won the 2020 Democratic primary and Buttigieg was a close second. Harris lost the White House to Trump last year, and told the BBC over the weekend she could run again.
In the new poll, Newsom fell to fourth in favorability among state Democrats, largely because the others are better known. Buttigieg and Sanders have sought the presidency before, and Ocasio-Cortez is an outspoken liberal frequently in the media.
Buttigieg was seen favorably by 81%. Sanders scored 72%, Ocasio-Cortez, 66% and Newsom, 58%. Sanders won the 2020 Democratic primary and Buttigieg was a close second.
TRANSPORTATION FUNDING AT RISK
Via Lia Russell…
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday he will withhold $160 million from California, the latest salvo in a White House campaign targeting liberal states over their immigration policies.
Duffy told Fox News that his agency will withhold federal highway funds as long as California continues to issue commercial drivers’ licenses to residents who are not U.S. citizens, state policy that has been in place for over a decade but was recently stopped after the DOT issued federal emergency rules suspending commercial licenses for asylum seekers and refugees.
Under Assembly Bill 60, which former Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in 2013, Californians can obtain general drivers’ licenses regardless of immigration status if they can prove their identity and residency and pass the required driving and written exams.
Duffy also promised “more consequences were on the way” and floated the idea of revoking the state’s ability to issue commercial drivers licenses entirely, which would violate the 10th Amendment allowing states to police their own roads, according to University of Maryland constitutional law expert Mark Graber.
California has previously sued the federal government, including DOT agencies, over its blocking funds to California including for electric vehicle infrastructure, revoking the state’s ability to set its own emission standards, and for conditioning funding on overhauling its immigration policies.
Duffy’s remarks came two days after the DOT issued a report claiming 25% of the non-citizen licenses California issued were “improper,” after issuing federal emergency regulations last month that halted allowing commercial drivers’ licenses for asylum seekers and refugees.
Duffy, along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, blamed California and Newsom for two recent high profile deadly car crashes in southern California and Florida caused by truck drivers whom they say were undocumented and illegally received commercial drivers licenses from the California DMV. Florida filed a lawsuit against California earlier this month.
Eva Spiegel, a California Department of Motor Vehicles spokesperson, said in a statement that California was following all federal laws, including the one suspending commercial drivers’ licenses for asylum seekers and refugees.
“California is in compliance with these regulations and will remain in compliance with federal law,” she said via email. “The U.S. Department of Transportation has no legitimate basis to withhold certain federal highway transportation funds from the state.”
Correction:Tuesday’s Capitol A.M. Alert was updated to correctly state which driver’s licenses can be obtained under Assembly Bill 60.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There’s plenty of work to do to make sure that they’re well informed and that they are mobilized, and even that we get that 62% number up even higher, since the stakes themselves are so high.”
– Julián Castro, 2020 presidential candidate and CEO of the Latino Community Foundation, speaking about the organization’s recent poll of 1,200 Latino voters in California, which found about 62% intended to vote on Nov. 4, 2025.
BEST OF THE BEE
- No paychecks. No food assistance. When will this government shutdown end? via David Lightman
- Gavin Newsom teases White House plans after 2026 via Lia Russell
- Sacramento County and its cities to talk homelessness in a new joint meeting via Emma Hall
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 4:55 AM with the headline "California attorney general warns Trump will try to undermine Prop. 50 election."
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated which licenses can be obtained under Assembly Bill 60.
