Inside Golden State Politics
Bill Boyarsky and Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, two experienced California political experts, argue about politics from Los Angeles to Sacramento to Washington.
Bill Boyarsky is former city editor of the Los Angeles Times and was also a columnist, bureau chief and political reporter for the newspaper. Previously, he reported on politics for the Associated Press in Sacramento.
He is the winner of three Pulitzer Prizes for team reporting.
Bill is the author of two biographies of Ronald Reagan, a biography of Jesse M. Unruh; Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times, and, with co-author Nancy Boyarsky, Backroom Politics.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe is a retired professor of the practice of public policy communication at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.
Sherry has been political analyst for KCAL-TV, NBC4 Los Angeles NBC's "Today" show and the BBC, where she was an analyst on American politics for programs in London, Scotland and Wales. In 2006, she was a nominee for the Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for NBC4’s news feature, “Decision 2005: A Voter’s Guide.
She has also appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Spectrum News 1 and Al Jazeera English and on radio shows in the United States and internationally.
Sherry has a Ph.D in government from Claremont Graduate University and a master's in political science from Rutgers, where she was a fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics.
Inside Golden State Politics
Here Comes Round 2
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With our guest, Mike Bonin, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute For Public Affairs and a former Los Angeles City Council member, we take on the election results and discuss what they could mean for the future of Los Angeles.
Okay.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Welcome to another episode of Inside Golden State Politics. I'm Bill Boyarsky, former city editor and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and with me is our producer-director, Nancy Boyarsky
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931And I'm Sheri Bebitch Jeffe, political analyst and self-styled media maven, coming to you from the White House South Lawn, where I've been training for that epic UFC cage match
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931soon to the People's House in celebration of the incumbent president's 80th birthday and of the USA's 250th. it the other way around? Oh, obviously, I am not really in D.C., but have you ever heard any more Trumpian rhetoric than fighting championship or experienced anything like Freedom 250, Trump's week-long bread and circuses show, replete with octagon girls dressed in scanty red, white, and blue costumes, and at least a $60 million price tag. I am by the ravaging of the White House lawn unilaterally and for no good public purpose, to the growing list of national treasures mauled by Donald Trump. looks like a lame and trashy amusement park, and there's nothing amusing about where our country is heading. I'm angered by the use of our nation's symbolic home to show an AP reporter called a, quote, "celebration of bloody brute force that dovetails with Trump's brawling, approach to the highest office of the land," AKA cage match politics. Over to you, Bill.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930I usually waste a lot of my life watching sports, but this particular brutal, senseless low-class disgusting event is too much even for me to pay any attention to. It's very hard, however, because of what the president is, for us to ignore it, but we can. And
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Oh, yeah
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930that is why our guest today is Mike Bowen, who is the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA, and most importantly, was a distinguished and longtime member of the LA City Council and the Metro Board of Directors. In that capacity, especially when he was on the council and I was running around with my notepad being a reporter I had a lot to do with Mike, and I thought he was a terrific addition, and sadly missed now that he's not on the council. Mike, we've just finishing up a election that will be remembered, quite a municipal and a statewide election. What are your thoughts on the election for mayor, the primary, and also for governor? How do you see it?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930First thing I should say is I used to be a huge fan of the UFC until Donald Trump ruined that for me and turned it into MAGA rallies. So just to get that out there. The mayor's race and the governor's race, the thing that struck me about both of them how boring they both were. They were they were both not particularly inspiring they weren't, the, the big news out of the governor's race was Swalwell im- imploding in the way he did. But there wasn't a lot of excitement. There didn't seem to be, like, a lot of clash over o- over issues except in the governor's race about who may have been paying social media influencers.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Are you?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930And in the mayor's race, maybe largely because there's so little television advertising now the mayor's race just seemed quiet to me, particularly after that, that one debate
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Part of the problem was there was only one debate. Not everybody, of course, would've watched it, but the... You're right. After that, an article here and there until it became possible, or people thought it became possible, to have Spencer Pratt as the Republican in second place. Then the media liked
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930that second debate, that I... Brown Institute and League of Women Voters, we were the co-sponsors of it. We really wanted that to be like a serious discussion of some issues facing Los Angeles which I frankly didn't think they had on the NBC4 debate, and that I thought voters really deserve to hear, w-where do you want to put housing actually? Where would it actually go? What is the next unforeseen disaster that we need to be preparing for?
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931how much are you gonna get the mon- where are you gonna get the money? That was the one question nobody asked, and it drives me crazy.
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yep
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931are you going to finance all of these wonderful things? Tell us, Mike.
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930One of the things that happened on the LA City ballot is that there was a revenue measure on there to try to increase the the, what they call the transit occupancy tax, the hotel tax. And that was gonna help bolster city revenues, and that did not do well. Voters in LA
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931And fast
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930of that, even though it's a tax on visitors, right? So you think that's a little bit easier. Whereas
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931think people understood that?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah, I think people understand the hotel tax is not something that they pay for. But the city is gonna be in, in tough finances. Fortunately, the county's a little bit better off 'cause voters here countywide, looks to be, still some n-numbers to be counted, but it looks like the Measure ER, which was the sale, half-cent sales tax measure to fund the gap that was created in healthcare for low-income people here, that passed. So that was a big relief for a lot of folks.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Mike, I don't agree with you that the election was boring. I th- I think that especially as it neared an end and you saw that there was gonna be some fight over, contest over the number two spot in the mayoral and in the gubernatorial election, it became exciting because it was gonna be close. I think there was enough difference which hopefully will come out more as the campaign goes on between Ramón and and the mayor over their policies and all of that. Do you think that they were on the same page Ramón and the mayor?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930The way I describe and Karen or Council Member Raman and Mayor Bass is, they both view themselves as progressives, right? But they're very different progressives, right? They're from a different generation, a different coalitional background, and they have different priorities, and that leads them to, to have some splintering of views on issues particularly on how to provide public safety and on where and how much housing to build. And much of city policy is in a narrow margin of stuff that, yes they probably agreed 95% of the time. But the places where they disagree are actually pretty significant. I was hoping in the primary that we would have, and maybe we will in the runoff, really thoughtful discussion between two really smart, thoughtful people both the mayor and Nithya are very smart on housing policy, right? Housing affordability is probably the number one issue for most people in Los Angeles, and we always have this-- campaigns get reduced to I'm gonna expedite housing. I'm gonna remove the red tape." Great. Everybody has said they're gonna remove the red tape. They've removed some. There's probably more to cut. But my thing is: where is the housing gonna go? Are you going to continue to allow it to be concentrated in a couple areas? Are wealthier neighborhoods gonna have to carry their fair share of affordable housing?
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Sure
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930going to keep single-family neighborhoods sacrosanct, which has been a third rail in Los Angeles politics? I think voters need to have that discussion
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Why haven't they had it yet? And this so frustrates me. It's not only the fault of the candidates, I fear it's the fault of the people who ask the questions, be they reporters or voters
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930It is. The Times is, a far cry from what it was when Bill was there.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931I'll drink to
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930st-
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931that
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930it, it's still holding on with some great reporters trying to do great stuff, but there's, limited bandwidth. They're all covering so many different things. And we've had this emergence of smaller or newer media outlets independent ones, nonprofit newsrooms that are great, but they don't have the scope and the reach. So yeah, part of it's the media, but part of it's the candidates, right? We saw the mayor's opening salvo over the past couple days. If it's up to her, she's gonna make the entire campaign about police hiring and homeless encampments
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930And Rahman's gonna try to make it on homelessness and the mayor's inability to do anything about it. The mayor, on The other hand, is gonna try to paint Rahman as somebody who wants to have tent cities by every schoolhouse, and that's gonna be her campaign
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930And that, that's what's fascinating to me because I think that I'm more interested really in, in what's going to happen over the next few months with this campaign than what the dynamics were over the past few months. Because when it looked for a four or five days that it was going to be Mayor Bass versus Spencer Pratt, runoff election looked pretty familiar, the dynamics, right? Karen Bass was going to be the the steady establishment Democrat, representative of the governing coalition in Los Angeles for decades, and he was gonna be the crazy MAGA guy, right? It was liberal versus MAGA. In this race with Karen Bass versus Nithya Raman, you've got this, th- this weird dynamic where it's essentially a Democratic primary dynamic, which, as we all know, there's nothing less civil, productive, and more vile than a Democratic primary. What we're seeing is a- at least from the first days, from the way Mayor Bass and her staff are presenting things, the mayor talking about police hiring repeatedly talking about homeless encampments, is sounding the same themes in a far more civil way than Spencer Pratt was and is really to run this is amazing, from, the, an icon of the '90s multiracial progressive coalition politics of Los Angeles, is pivoting to run what's looking and feeling like a center-right campaign. And
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Really?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930yeah, with, with-- if you think about, the police hiring is a big issue with younger progressives. The homeless encampment stuff, the way she's talking about it sounds more some of the more conservative members of the council and more conservative, bloggers and social media influencers. And I've had people, progressives Los Angeles, supporters of the mayor over the past few days saying, "Oh God, I hope this isn't how she's gonna run this campaign." Because happens is, campaigns aren't just about who wins, right? What happens in a campaign reframes the narrative, and that defines what your governing bandwidth is. And the mayor, who spent a lot of time over the past few years courting moderates and Caruso voters has a tendency to try to shift that narrative and that's, th- that'll, that would be an interesting and awkward dynamic,
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930She wants to shift it where?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930She really, I interviewed her. I had a fireside chat with her at the Pat Brown Institute last fall, and, I posed the following question to her. I said, Bass, there's a lot of progressives in Los Angeles who, younger progressives, it's a real generational thing, who are frustrated, with your stances, particularly on, on housing and on on policing. When you were in Sacramento, Schwarzenegger was governor the fiscal situation was dire. You had to negotiate from a position not of strength. you were in Congress, you were in the minority. Trump was president, Tea Party was ascendant. You had to negotiate from a position not of strength. You get elected mayor by 10 points, and you have a city council that is to your left, with a big chunk of them to your left. Why aren't you governing more from the left?" And she looked at me quizzical, almost baffled, and said, "Why would I do that? I represent Sherman Oaks, too." Really, though she is, indisputably a progressive by nature, she is someone who as a centrist. And Antonio Villaraigosa alienated a lot of the left as well, and particularly on policing, was, governed more from the center as well.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930The mayor seems to me to be a prisoner of the bureaucracy. She she gives too great a deference to the bureaucrats of City Hall. You're a veteran of City Hall. You've had to face that whole thing. Do you think I'm off the beam when I say that?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930No, I don't. I don't think you're off the beam at all on that. I think part of it is, she came into the job not familiar with the city, right? Not really familiar with the role of mayor. In, in many ways, I think she has shifted considerably on this, but first couple years, she almost treated the job, like she did that of a congressperson, right? When you're in Congress, you can pick one or two issues that you focus on, and then you just just fall in line on the others. And she really on homelessness and and maybe on the Olympics. But when you're mayor, crap happens every day, as she's seen with a number of different things, and you have to you have to be more of a multitasker. And I think it took her a while to, I think, fully internalize that. And that when a mayor isn't giving heavy, persistent, consistent direction,
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Yeah
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930holds things in place
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931What then is the role of the staff? Can't they help her in that?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah. It's all about staff. Bure- the bureaucracy they sense what an elected official's real priorities are
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931got it
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930and what they aren't, right? They, they can tell. And bureaucracies often get mixed signals from a mayor's office because I've always said there's really not one mayor's office, right? The mayor's office is big and you may have a deputy mayor for economic development who may be saying different things to the department than the deputy mayor who's doing workforce development or that, that kind of dynamic. And it, it really, you need the visible constant pressure from the mayor to, to move the bureaucracy. And a it's a dance between charming and pressuring the bureaucracy. And it's a hard balance to strike. But, Mayor Bass is a very principled person and is-- can be very charming I think it's something she, she can do.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930We've got a we've got a fascinating race for governor
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930If I may, Bill, before we do that there's one thing I wanted to say about the mayor's race that I think is important, is if Nithya Raman wins, not a foregone conclusion at all, But if Nithya Raman wins, Los Angeles will have elected a progressive as mayor who was elected without the support of organized labor and largely without the support of the Black community. And that will be a first in Los Angeles, a progressive mayor who was elected with a coalition that, that, that was missing those two very big component parts. Like tha- those are defining elements of the progressive governance structure in Los Angeles since at least Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005. And what does that mean for progressive governance? How does labor participate in government? Are they embraced? Are they holding a resentment? How are relations with the Black community repaired? Those are gonna be some tough challenges, and it almost creates the potential for a of the of the governing, the p- the governing political process in LA.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930The the house of labor, I think somebody s- smarter than me said this, the house of labor has many rooms. And The biggest room is occupied by a union that is very left, and that's the Service Employees Union and its various components. Really a really liberal group, mu- much more liberal than the mayor,
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Oh, yeah. Yeah. SEIU a couple of the different SEIUs 2015 and USWW, very left, as is Unite Here, the Hotel Hospitality Workers Union. But then on the other hand, you've got building trades most of which most lean very conservative, right? So y-y-y Yvonne Wheeler, who's the head of the County Federation of Labor, she has a challenging job because she's got both very strong left and very strong conservative in her house
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931How did that happen in Los Angeles? That's really very interesting. Go ahead
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930I'll use the example of the ILWU the longshoremen's union, right? I, my I married into an ILWU family. My, my late brother-in-law was president of the ILWU nationally and locally, and he was as left as you come, right? Harry Bridges, who founded ILWU, as left as you come. This is a union that has gone from, being largely Bernie Sanders people to largely Trump people. they backed Caruso last time. They endorsed briefly Kevin de León before it got reversed by Some dynamics. And part of it is and this is true of the building trades as well, I think, is they have succeeded so well as a union their employees are paid well, and they're in a different social strata than they were when they were an organizing union, right? A lot of the ILWU members, they used to all live in San Pedro, a lot of them live up on the hill now and in, in very expensive homes. And that's made them lean differently on a lot of issues
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930How's that going to influence the new mayor, whoever it is?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930It the it's funny, organized labor has really thrown themselves behind Mayor Bass, but organized labor, not huge fans if you hear them talk about it day to day. A lot of them feel like she hasn't been there on their, on her stuff or that she hasn't tended to the relationships. But Nithya Raman has never been a a very labor a- associated progressive, right? Hugo Soto-Martinez on the council, a former labor organizer the progressive labor guy on the council, but that's never been-- And Nit- Nithya votes with them most of the time, but that's never been her thing. So with either of them they, they have they have work to do.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Can I ask you something? Incredible to me that the punishment that Mayor Bass is receiving for her actions during and after the Palisades fire still that punishment is still as tough as it was. I thought she was... She stood up to Donald Trump, and she had good publicity over that standup. I don't see anything driving what is happening more than the fallout. Maybe Spencer Pratt not being a part of the runoff might lift some of that, but I don't know, and B, why? Am I... M- Let me throw this at you in relation to that. I get a sense that something seems mightily soured Los Angeles today, in the psyche of Los Angeles that lend itself to this. Y- What is it? Or can we even tell?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930It, I think it's a number of different things. It's, the large parts of the city have been rocked psychologically by, the immigration raids. A lot of folks, while there's fewer visible encampments, a lot of folks feel like homelessness still the progress has not been significant enough. People are really concerned about housing affordability, right? When I got elected in 2013, supporting additional housing on the west side was like a political death sentence. Now, even before I left, people started saying, "My grandkids are graduating from college and they can't afford to live here." So people really-- That's a that's a very personal thing and people want housing to be more affordable. The economy is crappy. It feels like democracy's collapsing all around us. It-- I think it's a collection of things, and, Mayor Bass is not responsible for most of those, but when
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Boy
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Los Angeles, you get blamed for stuff that, the Altadena fire she gets blamed for.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931That's true. are some geographical, not too bright geographically people around, we say
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930One of the predictable phenomenons of a mayor's race is the number of people posting on social media that they didn't realize they didn't live in the city of Los Angeles
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Oh my God.
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930when they can't vote for mayor
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930We, a- amid all this, we're going to pick a new governor, and that is really a fascinating race. You have Javier Becerra, who, if he wins, would be the first elected Latino governor in many years.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931In history
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930It would be an event that he was elected governor. Up against a guy who's r- really a very interesting fellow. He's a, kick-your-ass humorous goes his own way in life s- seems to be happy with what he's doing. And It's gonna be a very close race between Becerra and Steve Hilton, don't you think?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930No.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Even I
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931No.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930gotta say, Steve Hill
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930I don't. I think,
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930a really good
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930barring some unforeseen dynamic, I think voters in California overwhelmingly will vote for the Democrat over the Republican. I think y- Trump has nationalized pretty much every election at this point. I, now I will say, Hilton's probably the best candidate the Republicans have had since Schwarzenegger, right? He's he's charismatic. He's good at telling a story. Pithy comments. He's far better on, on television than Xavier Becerra is, but I still think most folks are gonna say, "I'm not voting for the Republican for governor." But he'll do, but he'll do better than recent Republicans have
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Don't you think that the Trump adminis-- endorsement, not in the primary, but in the primary, I assume in the general election well be a significant handicap for...
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930I would think so.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931I would think so
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930It's almost irrelevant. Everybody knows Trump likes him, right? He's a he's a Fox News guy. He's, You don't need Trump's endorsement to, to be branded with the stench of it
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Yeah, but it certainly would help your opponent, I would think.
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931can't wait to see the ads, explain Trump's thoughts about
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930it would make the ad, it would make the job easier for Xavier Becerra's advertising team, that's for sure
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Which is too bad. They might not make as much money as they would like. There's not too many jobs to do
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah. Hang on.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930I think that Steve will bring to the governor's office, a different outlook. He's gonna come at it he's gonna come at it from right field, not left field.
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930And and be really not es- especially influenced by those around him. That was his experience when he was the principal advisor to the prime minister of the UK. He definitely was a fellow who walked his own path.
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Noteworthy walking around 10 Downing Street barefoot
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931at, on hot coals
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930that, that works in California,
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931whatever. But you know what? When he was the advisor to the conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, is reported that Hilton pushed David Cameron to take a look at the playbook Use California as a model. Just like today, right? I don't see we're gonna hear that from him in the governor's race
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah. I do think there's something that that's good about h- him performing stronger than th- than other Republicans have or being a more compelling candidate is the Democrats need a challenge, right? They're-- The--
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Yeah, you're right
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Every constitutional office, having super majorities in both houses it makes the party kinda stale, and it makes it harder for interesting voices in, in the party to emerge. So the party being challenged, I think, is a good thing
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931And it might be good for the Republicans because without a Pratt or a Hilton on the ballot, turnout could be dismal. This would probably rev up turnout in order to vote
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931for Hilton
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Hil- Hilton being on the head of the ticket is probably, now that I think of it a boost to Republicans in some of the swing House districts
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931And in terms of some of the propositions that might appear, and there's a GOP-motivated proposition about voting and ID, voter ID, that is likely to be helped.
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931can because there is someone that Republicans can vote for on the ballot
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah. Now a statewide race that I think is that, that is usually not interesting that I think could be very interesting is the race for insurance commissioner, which
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Oh my
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930which is a Dem on Dem race. The person who came in first, Jane Kim, former San Francisco County supervisor was instrumental in Bernie's campaign in 2020 in California, and now runs the Working Families Party in California. She came in first and she is very tough on the insurance industry. And second was Ben Allen, a
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Yes
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930who you know, a liberal Democrat who represents Pacific Palisades. He's very familiar with what the insurance industry has failed to do for people there. But in an ordinary time, Ben Allen would not be, I think, somebody that the insurance industry was very fond of, but they're gonna be terrified as hell about Jane Kim, and you're gonna see the insurance industry putting a ton of money into that race, probably as independent expenditures for
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Money. No,
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Neither.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931with money
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930All of these candidates we've been talking about are well-financed actually. No one's gonna be really starving for funds. That's good or bad. Bad, I think. I don't know
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Who knows? It didn't help Tom Steyer, and it never really... as I've said before, way back when Arnold was running, I did a little cursory research on the number of millionaires, 'cause whoever thought anybody would be a billionaire, who ran for high office in California, and of, I think it was then 18, guess was-- who the only one who succeeded was? Guess.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Before we go, I'd like you to, Mike, I'd like you to talk a little bit about,
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931you didn't answer my question. Neither of you. I want an answer
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930I can't think of who was. I can think of, I can think of ones who ran,
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931I gave you a cool--
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930who didn't,
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931my-- Oh, and Gene Harmon and Bill Simon and on. All right, guys, you're gonna be embarrassed. It of course was, and it's not because she was a millionaire, I think. Arnold
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Oh, yeah. Yeah, you're right. Yep. Yep. Good point
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931Yeah. So m- money doesn't buy everything. can't even buy love. But,
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930gets you a seat at the table, but it doesn't give you a
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931exactly, and it-- you probably get a seat at the table, a better seat and faster, but then it comes down to the candidate, the media, and the message
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Yep
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Hey, Mike, before we go, what do your students out there at the Pat Brown Institute think of all this? What do you-- what's the feedback you're getting?
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930On the governor's race, students at Cal State LA are overwhelmingly Latino. Most of them are-- come from working class communities. they are largely, Becerra folks in this runoff. Although there's always, some, generational iconoclasts who will go for Hilton. the mayor's race, they tended to be more Raman supporters than Bass supporters. I did the fireside chats with all the major candidates except for Spencer Pratt, who said no, with the mayor, with Nithya, with Adam Miller and Ray Wong, and Nithya was the one that the younger voters seemed to, to relate to most
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Thank you very much. Appreciate
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930pleasure
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930you sharing your time with us and,
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930will do.
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930Yeah.
squadcaster-708b_5_06-10-2026_150931It's good to see you again. We'll be calling on you, so study up, okay? I have a feeling that's gonna be easy for you to do. everybody, cheers. Bye-bye
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Take care
host-4ha0_5_06-10-2026_150930See you next time. Bye-bye
mike-bonin_5_06-10-2026_150930Bye