A California showdown with national implications: From the Politics Desk
Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.In today’s edition, we take a look at where the billionaire tax campaign in California stands and what it signals about the Democratic Party’s direction.Plus, Andrea Mitchell examines President Donald Trump’s efforts to reassure a skeptical public on AI.— Adam WollnerA California showdown with national implicationsBy Adam Wollner and Adam EdelmanCalifornia Democrats avoided what would have been a brutal and costly intraparty fight for governor when progressive activist Tom Steyer finished third in the all-party primary this summer, leaving former Health Secretary Xavier Becerra as the clear favorite in a one-on-one November matchup against Republican Steve Hilton.But there’s a battle brewing further down the ballot that could have even broader implications for the party, both in the state and nationally.Voters in California will decide this fall whether to implement a one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaires.
Listed as “Proposition 40,” the ballot measure is shaping up as one of the most expensive campaigns in the country this year, with roughly $100 million already spent or booked on ads through Election Day, according to AdImpact.Tech leaders in Silicon Valley, most notably Google co-founder Sergey Brin, have aggressively lined up against the billionaire tax, which was pushed by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West.
As we’ve reported, the proposal emerged as a major fault line for Democrats in the state’s race for governor and in the not-so-invisible 2028 presidential primary.Becerra and term-limited Gov.
Gavin Newsom are against it, while Steyer and Rep.Ro Khanna are for it.
Meanwhile, a slew of other prominent California Democrats — including former Vice President Kamala Harris, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sens.Adam Schiff and Alex Padill...