Free Republic

California is one step closer to banning disposable nicotine vapes — with environmentalists arguing the gadgets’ metals would be better off in electric vehicle batteries. State lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 762 Wednesday, sending the measure to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for a signature or veto — with repeat violators facing civil fines of up to $2,000. The bill would permanently ban disposable, battery-embedded vapor inhalation devices containing tobacco products, prohibiting anyone from “importing or manufacturing” them for sale in California starting Jan. 1, 2027. It would also prevent the sale of those kinds of e-cigarettes starting on Jan. 1, 2028....

Some of California’s most notorious killers, rapists and child predators now get a shot at freedom decades before their sentences are up thanks to the controversial elderly parole law. Inmates previously had to reach 60 and serve at least 25 years before qualifying, but legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 lowered the threshold to 50 and 20 years, beginning in 2021, as California sought to ease prison overcrowding. But the change has since come under fire because criminals opening the door to parole for criminals handed sentences designed to keep them locked up for life. While inmates aren’t...

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed a controversial bill, officially titled “Privacy for immigration support services providers,” which expands the state’s current “Safe at Home” program. Critics have argued that the bill prevents journalists, such as the viral fraud reporting released by independent journalist Nick Shirley. The legislation builds on the Safe at Home program, which has operated since 1999. That program allows eligible individuals — including survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder abuse and certain “health care workers” providing abortions or sex change procedures — to use a substitute mailing address administered by the...

Delusional Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sought US political clout far beyond the dreams of any British royal since King George III, The Post has learned, with the Duchess of Sussex angling to take over the Senate seat held by Kamala Harris ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Weeks before Democrat Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump, a source says, Markle requested a sitdown with California Gov. Gavin Newsom because she “wanted to be considered to be appointed” to the seat held by Harris, which she vacated just before becoming vice president on Jan. 20, 2021. The source added...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio outperforms Vice President JD Vance in three hypothetical 2028 presidential match-ups against some of the top-polling Democrats, according to a survey released Thursday. Pitted against former Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rubio tops both by the same 48%-43%, the Emerson College National Poll showed. Meanwhile, Vance bests the “Squad” congresswoman 46%-44% but comes up short against the failed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee by 4 percentage points.

Gov. Gavin Newsom refused to take a position on a raging debate over standardized testing in University of California admissions — dismissing as “anecdotes” the alarming reports from college professors about students who can’t do basic math. The governor was asked at a Wednesday press conference in Hayward about an open letter from more than 1,200 UC professors, including Nobel prize winners and leading scientists, who warned of a “severe” crisis of incoming freshman who are unable to even do fractions, forcing educators to dumb down Calculus and other advanced courses. “Show me the data,” Newsom said. “I have feelings...

Prime Healthcare leaders cultivated ties to Biden, Obama, Harris, Newsom and other top Democrats while their hospitals marketed “Birth Packages in South Texas” to pregnant women abroad. Two Texas hospitals under investigation for allegedly marketing childbirth packages to foreign women belong to a politically connected healthcare empire led by a Biden-honored billionaire and a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s leadership network. Dr. Prem Reddy founded Prime Healthcare and created the nonprofit Prime Healthcare Foundation, which owns Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center, the two hospitals now under investigation. In 2024, Reddy received the Joseph R. Biden...

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has overtaken California Governor Gavin Newsom in prediction market odds for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination for the first time, according to data from Polymarket highlighted Wednesday by the political-tracking account InteractivePolls. The market showed Ocasio-Cortez at 18 percent, narrowly ahead of Newsom at 17 percent. Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff ranked third at 16 percent, while former Vice President Kamala Harris stood at 8 percent. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro each came in at 5 percent. The shift marks a notable moment in the still-early race to shape the Democratic field ahead...

WASHINGTON — Democratic bigwigs are rushing to embrace Michigan Senate hopeful Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and present a united front, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom expected to visit him Monday and former President Barack Obama giving him a call. The Dem powerbrokers are seemingly trying to soothe moderates in the Wolverine State who might have found El-Sayed too extreme during the bruising Senate primary and encourage them to back the progressive in November. Newsom, a long-speculated 2028 aspirant, hailed El-Sayed as a “fighter” and called for Dems to unite due to the “existential” moment the country faces. “House races are important,...

California's High-Speed Rail Authority repeatedly missed key deadlines to buy its trains, a failure federal officials cited when they pulled $4 billion in funding a year ago. More than a year and a half after the original deadline, the authority still cannot say when it expects to award the contract. The state says that the date remains "TBD." Approved by voters in 2008, the project was originally designed to link San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours with electric trains capable of reaching 220 mph. There's no direct line between the two major cities, and the ride now...

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that California’s statewide minimum wage will increase to $17.40 per hour beginning January 1, 2027. The rate is higher than any current statewide minimum wage in the nation and nearly two-and-a-half times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The increase is already automatic under California law, which adjusts the minimum wage annually to keep pace with inflation. Newsom, who is expected to run for president in 2028, contrasted himself against President Trump in announcing the increase. “For years, Donald Trump and Republicans have blocked efforts to raise the federal minimum wage while handing...

Dr. Anthony Fauci enjoyed a “relaxed” dinner at home with CNN star Jake Tapper and his wife, one week after suggesting Americans “sacrifice” getting together with family and friends at Thanksgiving, according to newly released 2020 diary entries. Fauci’s diary notes were published on Saturday by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). The man who spearheaded the U.S. Government’s response to COVID-19 wrote about having multiple dinners with Tapper in 2020, alongside notes on the rising death toll. He wrote about one of those shared suppers on October 23, 2020. Fauci Diaries Reveal He Enjoyed ‘Relaxed’ Dinner at Home With Jake Tapper,...

A Pentagon official has been placed on leave after he was filmed bashing President Donald Trump and promising he would "stay" until Trump leaves office so he can "undo whatever's been done."A report from Newsweek identified the man as Brandon Newsom, a senior official in the office of the Secretary of the Navy. He was filmed by reporter James O'Keefe, of O'Keefe Media Group, who conducts undercover investigations and interviews."In the footage, Newsom can be heard saying that he wanted to 'stay and stick it out' at the Pentagon, adding: 'So that way, when the time comes, I can undo...

No-bid contracts require justification to the Department of General Services and public posting Gavin Newsom has a $6.2 million diaper problem. His administration awarded a no-bid contract to Baby2Baby, a nonprofit with longstanding ties to the Newsom administration. One of its co-CEOs, Norah Weinstein, also serves on the board of the California Partners Project, the nonprofit co-founded by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Then Newsom told Californians the deal had gone through “a competitive bidding process.” It had not. California’s own contracting database labels the $6.2 million deal “NON-COMPETITIVELY BID.” Newsom’s administration now says the governor was referring to the...

Torrance police are investigating the discovery of hundreds of recall election ballots in a vehicle where a felon was found passed out with drugs, a loaded firearm and multiple driver’s licenses one week ago, authorities said Monday. Approximately 300 ballots were recovered from the vehicle, which was parked in the lot of a 7-Eleven convenience store on the night of Aug. 16, according to the Torrance Police Department. Officers also discovered a loaded firearm, methamphetamine, thousands of pieces of mail, a scale, and multiple California drivers licenses and credit cards that were in other people’s names, a police news release...

Ruby Rippey-Gibney — the former San Francisco City Hall aide whose affair with Gov. Gavin Newsom nearly upended his political career — will tell her side of the story for the first time in an upcoming Vanity Fair piece, The California Post has learned. Details of the piece remain unclear, but a source familiar with the matter said Rippey-Gibney intends to recount her perspective on the affair that rocked San Francisco politics in 2007 and has remained one of the most embarrassing moments in then-mayor of San Francisco Newsom’s life and career. The story comes as Newsom is widely expected...

alifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom said President Donald Trump is the “gravest threat to American democracy” as he addressed voters ahead of November's midterm elections. Newsom, viewed as a possible Democratic presidential candidate for 2028, has repeatedly clashed with Trump and his Administration over a range of political and legal disputes. "If you disagree with him, he tries to prosecute you. If you beat him, he calls you illegitimate. This is not normal in a democracy," Newsom said in a social media post Monday night. "From Georgia to California, we must stop him." Newsom hit the campaign trail in Nevada last...

Vance 45 to Newsom 38; also, Vance 45 AOC 38. Zogby Poll; July 1-4, 2026; 1,003 likely voters.

State workers have completed their first full work week since California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered them to return to the office four days a week starting July 1 — and in addition to parking complaints, workers now claim they’re being forced to work in disease-plagued state offices. Workers’ union Service Employees International Union Local 1000 claimed recently that “unsafe, or potentially unsafe working conditions” have been reported at government buildings, specifically at the Department of Industrial Relations Building in Lodi. The union said Legionella bacteria was detected in the building last month, contaminating a line that connects to an icemaker....

A sizable share of Democrats support the federal probe into California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife as the duo claims President Donald Trump is directing a politically motivated attack against them, a new survey shows. A Daily Mail/JL Partners poll found 27% of Democrats support the probe into California’s first couple, with 14% saying they “somewhat support” the investigation and 13% saying they “strongly support” it. Last month, Newsom announced he and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom were the targets of a federal investigation by the US Department of Justice. The investigation, which involves the FBI and IRS, has...