Will Republican Steve Hilton Succeed Newsom? Bass in Runoff. Time’s Up for Scott Pelley. Fear of Being Called a Racist: It Killed a Beloved Young Man. Doddering Elderly Man Crashes Jill’s Event. Oh, Wait. More
Brave New California?
A Golden State upset as a Republican (!) gubernatorial candidate appears to be heading to the November general election:
Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra were leading in unofficial early returns Wednesday morning and appeared positioned to advance to the November California gubernatorial election in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in steering the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies.
Hilton, a one-time British political strategist turned American conservative commentator and former Fox News Channel host who is backed by President Donald Trump, and Becerra, a former California attorney general who later served as a Cabinet secretary in former President Biden’s administration, were in the lead early Wednesday morning, with votes still being counted and results not yet certified.
“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue,” Hilton told supporters at his primary night watch party in Orange County.
Change may or may not be coming to Los Angeles. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, perhaps best known for her glam junket to Ghana as the devastating 2025 wildfires broke out, is projected to advance to a runoff. It is unclear whether she will be opposed by iconoclastic candidate Spencer Pratt, a reality star who ran one of the most creative campaigns in recent memory, or Democratic City Councilmember Nithya Raman. Politico comments:
The runoff, the first for a Los Angeles mayoral incumbent in more than two decades, comes amid widespread dissatisfaction with Bass’ performance, notably on the city’s still-deep homelessness crisis and the January 2025 wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
Nevertheless, the 72-year-old Democrat attracted the support of city councilmembers and key business and labor groups who’ve argued that the mayor is moving Los Angeles in the right direction. She’s received high marks for her opposition to federal immigration enforcement raids that swept across the region last summer.
In other words, Bass is the candidate of the establishment. candidate. “The Democratic establishment swung back in California on Tuesday,” Politico writes. Another interpretation is that Tuesday night was the first major strike against an establishment that has retreated to its mansions while regular folks hire U-Hauls and corporations flee high taxes and insane regulations.
The Associated Press’s takeaways from last night include the Dems being forced to defend California, heretofore unheard of, and making inroads in Iowa, where there is an open Senate seat. President Trump’s primary winning streak broke last night in Iowa, where Trump-backed Randy Feenstra narrowly lost the GOP gubernatorial nod to Zach Lahn.
But c’mon. The most fascinating recent political phenomenon is the Nazi tattoo guy who likes sexting women and expressing himself in a solitary manner in porta-potties, and who is challenging Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins. Yes, Graham Platner, who came to DC to meet with Democratic Senators yesterday. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is sticking by his endorsement of Planer, but would only repeat, like a broken record, his mantra: “We are going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” Not an Indian Giver: Senator Elizabeth Warren also appears to be sticking with her endorsement of Platner. Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York addresses “The Democratic Mess in Maine.” But why stop now? Platner’s latest:
“Senator Collins is bought and paid for by Benjamin Netanyahu, and she votes accordingly,” Mr. Platner’s campaign account posted on X.com on Monday.
President Trump has tapped Bill Pulte to succeed DNI head Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte’s nickname in numerous news outlets this morning is “Little Trump.” An editorial in the Wall Street Journal is not sold on Mr. Pulte:
The leader of the agency that oversees the country’s mortgage market approached President Trump with a seemingly audacious proposal: succeeding Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
Pulte has no known national security experience, but he has something Trump values above all else: loyalty. In conversations with the president, Pulte made the case that he would be an unyielding advocate for the president’s foreign policy agenda and he signaled support for the war in Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump, who has in recent days expressed mounting frustration with his Republican critics, was sold. On Tuesday, he stunned many of his advisers when he announced on social media that he was installing Pulte as his top intelligence adviser.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization” fund appears to be dead. This is hailed in a Wall Street Journal “Free Expression” piece as the result of Senate Republicans finding their spine. The Federalist disagrees, saying in a headline that “The Senate GOP’s Legacy Will Be Killing Accountability for Dem Lawfare.”
Tick Tock. CBS has fired “60 Minutes” Correspondent Scott Pelley after he unwisely accused CBS boss Bari Weiss of “murdering” the show:
Veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley was fired by CBS News a day after taking aim at Editor in Chief Bari Weiss’s leadership, the latest turmoil at one of America’s most storied news shows.
Pelley interrupted new executive producer Nick Bilton during introductory remarks at a “60 Minutes” staff meeting Monday, according to people in attendance. The correspondent accused Weiss, who wasn’t present, of “murdering” the show and questioned Bilton’s qualifications for the executive producer role. Bilton hasn’t led a weekly TV news show before.
Enjoy Ben Demenech’s farewell to Mr. Pelley:
Pelley, infamously the most anti-Trump anchor in television history (quite the accomplishment, considering George Stephanopoulos exists), went on a loud, unprofessional rant during a meeting. This memorable moment, sure to be enshrined with a shiny plaque, was reported with glee by reporters at The New York Times, The Guardian, and Puck – who had to work hard to get audio Pelley clearly wanted leaked. Pelley’s spittle-flecked invective against CBS boss Bari Weiss and new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton included referring to a list of recent firings as “Black Thursday,” as if letting go a list of hacks on a show that survives only based on the fact that it follows the National Football League was a date to be noted in the annals of history.
Racism Kills. We’ve all heard that. What is really deadly is the fear of being called a racist. It killed Henry Nowak. Henry Nowak, according to UK Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, was a “beloved, blameless teenager [who] died in custody because there’s nothing officers in 2026 fear more than allegations of ‘racism’”:
“I have been stabbed,” Henry told police officers. Four times, he told them he was stabbed. And then, “I can’t breathe.” Nine times, he told police he couldn’t breathe. We can imagine, I think, how the lad’s fear eased a little when he knew the police had arrived. “Help is here,” Henry must have thought.
Somehow, the coppers missed the bloody slash on Henry’s face and the four other stab wounds inflicted on his body by Vickrum Digwa’s eight-inch knife…. [The officers] were doing exactly as they had been programmed to do by all those DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) seminars. Digwa had brown skin, was a Sikh man carrying a traditional knife and had told police he had been attacked “racially” – and the lad on the ground claiming to be wounded was white. … And so Digwa, who knew he held the race trump card, became the “victim”.
“Henry Nowak’s death reveals a police force corrupted by wokeness,” a 24-year veteran of a UK police force writes in Spiked Online. Racial identity, he says, trumps public safety. Powerline has a good item. The Powerline item features this X post from conservative media personality Matt Walsh, who describes himself as a DEI consultant:
I stand with the indigenous people of the UK.
What’s your favorite moment of Jill Biden’s book tour? Mine is when she blurted out, “I’m not a doctor.” Others might prefer Joe Biden crashing Jill’s “The View” appearance to ask her, “Who do you love most in the whole world?” Was Macbeth as dumb about his missus?
Two for the road. “AI Is the Most Dangerous Arms Race in History,” by Nial Ferguson in The Free Press, “Energy Markets Limit the Hormuz Shock,” by Daniel Yergin at the WSJ.
