California Politics 360 Full Episode | Prop 50 court hearing, California Men’s Service Challenge
California leaders and Republicans will try to make their case in court as to whether the state should keep its new congressional maps.
The newly approved congressional maps in court. California leaders and Republicans making their case this week. We sit down with one of the people involved in the lawsuit, Assembly Member David Tongipa. Empowering young men through service and leadership, the initiative spearheaded by Governor Newsom, the progress the program has seen and the focus for the new year. Governor Newsom’s former chief of staff in court, the broader impact of the case against Dana Williamson. Thank you for joining us for California Politics 360. I’m Ashley Zavalla. Tomorrow California leaders and Republicans will try to make their case in court as to whether the state should keep its new congressional district maps. California voters approved those maps last month to give Democrats even more of an advantage. In future elections, this all comes as the United States Supreme Court allows Texas to keep its new maps that favor Republicans. Earlier this week I spoke with Republican Assembly Member David Tangipa, who was part of the group who sued the state because of the new maps. Here’s our conversation. Assembly Member Tangi Paul, welcome back to the show. It is always great to join you. So what prompted you to want to file this lawsuit and be *** part of it against Proposition 50? Well, really, what we saw through the legislative process when they put this on the ballot was in 4 days, we were able to move mountains for something that I believe nobody was ever asking for here in the state of California realistically. And when you’re moving and jamming through the process as fast as they did, they’re gonna make mistakes and we, I had actually warned them that if they were doing this and they were doing so as sloppily as they were. You know, they’re gonna have to face potential challenges, and we believe that they have violated the constitution. You know, they used race as *** justifiable means for what they really wanted, and that was *** political gerrymander. But there are very strict guidelines that if you are going to use race as *** justification for why you decided to redistrict, you have to follow the Voter Rights Act, you have to make sure that you’re taking into account all of the The uh, necessary problems and remedies and why it’s necessary to even race-based redistrict in the first place, and we don’t believe that they did any of that. I know they didn’t do *** lot of that, because even in the legislation itself, there’s *** portion where it says the assembly and the Senate Elections Committee prepared these maps. Well, that is *** lie. Because we know, as Paul Mitchell had stated himself, as you had him on your show, he said that he drew the maps. So if they were gonna lie both on who prepared the maps, if they lied on the fiscal impact that was given out to the voters, we were gonna make sure that we bring accountability back to California. And uh just to take *** step back here I mean as you just mentioned your lawsuit alleges California leaders violated the Voting Rights Act by giving Latinos specifically an advantage over other racial groups in those new maps, but the lawsuit against Texas’s maps also alleged Voting Rights Act violations but for suppressing. The vote of some racial groups, I mean, how confident are you with the Supreme Court allowing Texas to keep its maps and justices noting that states, including California, are basically just trying to give their dominant political party the upper hand here? I mean, how confident are you that this lawsuit really goes anywhere? Well, so this lawsuit is actually *** lot closer to the lawsuit that Texas faced in 2021 and that Louisiana had faced in 2021 as well. Talking about how these districts really do suppress other minority groups, and that’s exactly what we’re saying, is if the state of California and the people who drew the maps decided to use the Voter Rights Act to justify how they drew these districts, they need to make sure that they have all of the justifiable reasons. We do not believe they had that. If you look at the state of California, we have *** Latino and *** Hispanic larger population. They are actually the largest ethnic group in the state of California, and yet when Paul Mitchell put out these maps, he said the first thing he did was draw more racially drawn Latino districts. Well, if Latinos do make up the majority or the plurality in this state, then why do they need. More VRA style districts. And does that constitute *** barrier to other minority groups? We believe it does. But not only that, if you look at the Jingles case and the standard that was created under Jingles in 1986, there has to be an ethnic barrier too, that justifies the reason why you race-based redistrict. Well, and this is *** big reason why I decided to bring this lawsuit is I represent one of the whitest districts here in the state of California. I am Polynesian. I am the first Polynesian ever elected to the state legis legislature here in California. So it proves that even in white majority districts here, there is not an ethnic barrier for drawing VRA districts. So, when Paul Mitchell and the other groups in the legislature got together, said that they were gonna use race to justify their gerrymandering. Well, therefore, they violated the constitution. So again, Texas is um maps are significantly different, especially the new ones from 2025, because Texas never came out and said that we were drawing VRA districts. Texas came out entirely and said that we are drawing political districts. That is fundamentally different than what the words that came out of the people who supported Prop 50. My full conversation with Fresno Assembly Member David Tangipa is on Calpolitics 360.com. I invited the map drawer that the assemblyman mentioned, Paul Mitchell, to join the show. He declined citing the court case. The hearing is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning in Los Angeles. Service, leadership, and connection, the state initiative working to empower young men. California leaders are trying to reach and empower young men through service, leadership, and connection. In September, Governor Gavin Newsom introduced the California Men’s Service Challenge. It’s *** statewide initiative calling on 10,000 men to foster the next generation as mentors, tutors, and coaches. The governor launched the program at *** Sacramento high school. The announcement came days after the assassination of Turning Point founder and conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. He was the first guest on Governor Gavin Newsom’s podcast in March. While the two have different ideologies, they agreed on the challenges young men are facing right now. They are the most alcohol. Most drug addicted, most suicidal, most depressed, most medicated generation in history. And the message that was largely being fed to *** lot of young people was lower your expectations, you’re not gonna have the same American dream that, that your parents would have. And we saw this as an opportunity, especially with young men. And again, this got ridiculed *** lot by the press that, oh, you know, they’re creating this manosphere thing. Look, they’re half of the population and necessary for any society and civilization to succeed, which is to have both strong men and strong women. The governor’s Office of Service and Community Engagement is driving the initiative for the men’s Service Challenge. Earlier this week, I spoke with Josh Friday, who is California’s Chief Service officer. Here’s our conversation. Josh, thank you so much for making time for us. Thank you, Ashley. Always fun to be here. It’s been 3 months since you and the governor announced the men’s service challenge. How many signups have you had so far? So far we’ve had almost 1000 men step up to meet the challenge that we put out, which is to call on men to serve in their community, to be mentors, to be coaches, and we set out *** goal of 10,000 men throughout the administration to help us meet this challenge that we have, this crisis that we’re facing with men in our society. We feel very good about where we are. We’ve had over 200 organizations come to us and say this is *** real need. We desperately need men to serve in their community, and so we’re also building partnerships throughout the state that we feel very good about. So we’re off to *** good start. Is 1000 within the first three months what you were expecting? Did you expect *** little bit more, *** little bit less? No, it’s exactly where we thought we would be, if not ahead. Here’s the reality, Ashley. The crisis that we’re in right now where young men are almost 4 times more likely to commit suicide, they’re less likely to be employed here in California, they’re more likely to be unemployed, they’re less likely to go to college, that reality, we didn’t get here overnight and it’s *** crisis and it’s going to take time for us to get out of this. So the men’s service challenge is *** start and we feel very good about where we are, but we have *** lot of work ahead of us. Certain parts of the state where you’re seeing more motivation to do this, to have these signups and to get more involved in this, it’s pretty uniform. We’ve launched this program and this challenge with partners like the, like the Boys and Girls Club, and Big Brothers Big Sisters and the San Francisco Giants Foundation. And so we’re working with our partners in all different parts of our state, but the crisis that we’re facing with young men especially. is throughout the entire state and we’re going to be working throughout the entire state. The men’s Service Challenge is one of several volunteer opportunities that you oversee as California’s Chief Service officer. I mean, you were also down in Stockton following the mass shooting there *** couple of weeks ago, and I just wonder, I mean, have you had any buy-in from that area either on this challenge or other volunteer opportunities since you’ve been down there? Yeah, I reached out to the mayor right after that tragic incident that happened in Stockton, and she asked me to come down and to really highlight the work that we’ve been doing to invest in our young people, and I think the community in Stockton and I and I think all of us are asking the question, where do we go? What do we do when we see this kind of violence? And the truth is we know that young people who are disconnected are 3 times more likely to be involved in violence. And we also know that when you have youth programs. Like the ones that we created that give young people the chance to serve in their community, be involved in their community, that violence reduces. So we’ve invested in the last 5 years over $25 million into Stockton, and we’re investing throughout the entire state. And what mayors have said to me up and down the state is that the youth programs we’ve created are some of the most important youth crime and homelessness prevention programs that they have. So we’ve seen the impact of them and we’re going to keep investing in them in *** big way and bringing it back to the men’s service challenge. Are young people already right now being connected with those who have signed up? Absolutely, yes, we’re doing. They’re signing up to be mentors, to be coaches, so they’re helping young people, and the reality is right now is organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters have huge waiting lists of boys that don’t have *** mentor because men aren’t stepping up in the way they need to. Our teaching, our teachers right now, 75% of our teachers are female, so we know that men need to step up, which is why we’ve created. Challenge, and we know the impact that it has when young boys get to have *** male role model, and it may take some time for that to roll out, especially with that 10,000 sign up goal. It will take time and again, we didn’t get into this crisis overnight and it’s going to take *** lot of work for us as *** society to get out of it. Governor Newsom turns out in about *** year and he did help create this arm that you oversee of Cal volunteers and you yourself, we should acknowledge you’re running for lieutenant. Governor, and I just wonder how do you guarantee that this program and the others that you’re overseeing stay available in California and that these opportunities continue just with some of that uncertainty of how next year looks? Well, the California Service Corps that we created, now the largest service force in the entire country, bigger than the entire Peace Corps, has ongoing funding from the legislature. I think the legislature has seen the impact that these programs have, the impact to not only provide opportunities. for our young people to help pay for college, job pathways, the impact that they have as tutors and mentors to help people at our food banks and to help with our parks and taking climate action, but also the social benefit where we’re actually bringing people together to solve problems in their community again. So we’ve seen the legislatures step up in *** big way to make sure these programs are funded ongoing, and I’m very confident because of how impactful they are that they’re going to continue to have support. Director Josh Friday, we really appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Governor Newsom’s former chief of staff facing 23 federal charges. The impact her case could have on the upcoming year when it comes to lawmaking and campaigning. The case against Governor Gavin Newsom’s ex-top aide moved forward this week. Dana Williamson faces 23 charges stemming from 3 separate incidents involving stolen campaign funds from *** politician, tax fraud, and providing false information to investigators as she was being investigated for taking small business loans during the pandemic. Her alleged co-conspirators in the case, Sean McCluskey, an ex-top aide to now candidate for governor Javier Becerra, and lobbyist Greg Campbell have pleaded guilty. Joined. Me now to unpack the possible impacts of this, Sophia Blag with the San Francisco Chronicle and Blake Jones with Politico, thank you both for making time for us. Thank you. So first, Sophia, just from your perspective, how do you see this case impacting this year ahead, whether that’s lawmaking, governing, or campaigning? Yeah, well, it’s already been, I would say, *** huge shock to the political class here in California. I think *** lot of people were really, really surprised, and so I’ll be curious to see how this sort of shakes up the. The power dynamics among lobbyists here in Sacramento. Blake Dana has been involved in some way, shape or form, not just in Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration, but also his predecessor Jerry Brown. What could her absence mean, if anything, for the next governor? Well, it likely means that she’s not going to be the next chief of staff for the next governor or potentially have the same kind of access to the administration that she would have in the past because her roots are so deep in Sacramento. I think it means that we’re going to see some new power brokers start to fill some of the roles that she used to have, including negotiating ballot measures for the administration. Which was one of Dana’s top tasks, and you know, Governor Gavin Newsom again, who she has, she has not been with the governor’s office for more than *** year now, but he has largely stayed in the dark since her arrest and I mean so specifically to put *** point on it, has not put himself in front of California journalists specifically since this happened about *** month ago. Just what do you make of that, Sofia? Yeah, I mean, you’re right, he has been the news broke while he was in Brazil. And since then he has done *** trip to New York, he’s done *** trip to DC, he’s done *** lot of interviews but almost maybe not exclusively but largely with national political reporters and he’s been getting questions about his relationship with the president and you know the sort of dynamics in in Washington and it’s allowed him if you watch these interviews he’s been doing to really stick to his talking points and say essentially the same thing over and over again. Um, he’s been talking *** lot about Donald Trump, complaining about, uh, what the president has been doing, saying he’s *** threat to democracy. Uh, I think it’s harder for any governor to answer questions about their specific record, specific things going on in their state, and that’s really something that we have not had *** chance here in Sacramento. To ask him about because he hasn’t done *** big press conference in recent weeks. Blake, what do you make of that? Yeah, I mean the longest interview that I’ve seen him do is at the New York Times Deal Book summit in New York, which Sofia mentioned, and he sat for *** long time, but it’s also with *** national outlet and one of the East Coast reporters for that outlet, so he wasn’t asked about Dana Williamson. And that it’s not harmful if you are in *** shadow national campaign that appears to be happening. We know the governor has *** budget that’s due in the beginning of January, so he will be in front of journalists eventually, at least maybe by then. I mean, do you see the focus remaining on the budget at that point if we don’t hear from him on this or any other? Standing issues. I do think that the budget is always such *** huge thing. I mean, it’s really the biggest thing that state government in California does, um, and it, this is gonna be his final budget. It’s his final year as governor and so it is *** big deal and we’ll have *** lot of questions about the budget. So I am hoping that we get some time to talk to him before that about some of these other things that have come up toward the end of the. Year including the Williamson indictment because I think we all have *** lot of questions. 10 seconds left, but what are your final thoughts? Yeah, I think the budget will still suck up *** lot of oxygen, especially because the nonpartisan legislative analysts Office has projected it’s not going to look good in Newsom’s last year. So I think that will still be *** big focus. All right, Blake Jones with Politico, Sofia Bulla with the San Francisco Chronicle, thank you both. Thanks for having us. Well, next we look at the first at the history of the first California state legislature, the issue that divided them, and why we know so much about the first session. This week marks 176 years since the first California state legislature met. At the time, the legislature had 16 state senators and 36 assemblymen. Records show they proposed to meet at this first state house in San Jose on December 15th, 1849, but recent storms muddied the roads so much that only 20 of the 52 members showed up. Enough representatives arrived two days later for *** quorum, and the deliberations began. One of the first issues they faced was deciding how to divide California into counties. Records show *** Senate committee recommended the state be divided into 18 counties, but many areas didn’t want to be included in the counties proposed, and they wanted to create their own. Two months later, the legislature passed *** bill dividing California into the 27 counties you see here on this map. We know so much history from that first legislature because of one of the first assemblymen. During the first session of the legislature, there was an assemblyman named Bradford, and he went around and he I guess you could say interviewed the other members of the legislature and said, hey, what’s your name? Where are you from? What’s your history? Uh, how did you come to California? he collected these handwritten notes. Uh, these were each biography was written by that legislator. That’s why we know so much about the legislators of the first session compared to some of the other early sessions is because one person went out of his way to capture history when it was easiest to do it while, while the members were all there and so, uh, this has been the basis for *** number of books, um, and it’s just, it’s. It’s amazing to just see the pages and think, yeah, this was just *** person taking time to document California history. Thank you for joining us for this week’s California Politics 360. See you next Sunday.
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Prop 50 court hearing, California Men’s Service Challenge
California leaders and Republicans will try to make their case in court as to whether the state should keep its new congressional maps.
Updated: 4:14 PM PST Dec 13, 2025
Voter-approved Congressional maps will be debated in court on Monday in Los Angeles.California leaders and Republicans will try to make their case in court as to whether the state should keep its new congressional maps. California voters approved those maps in November to give Democrats even more of an advantage in future elections. Republican and Fresno Assembly Member David Tangipa is part of the group that sued the state because of the new maps. California leaders are trying to reach and empower young men through service, leadership and connection. California Chief Service Officer and candidate for Lt. Governor Josh Fryday joins California Politics 360 to talk about the statewide initiative. Governor Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was in federal court this week. Federal prosecutors accuse Williamson of various crimes stemming from three separate incidents: organizing a scheme to steal $225,000 in funds from an inactive political campaign account belonging to former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, falsifying documents as she was being investigated for taking small business loans during the pandemic and tax fraud. Sophia Bollag with the San Francisco Chronicle and Blake Jones with Politico join Ashley Zavala for a reporter roundtable to talk about the potential impact the case could have on the upcoming legislative year.KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
Voter-approved Congressional maps will be debated in court on Monday in Los Angeles.
California leaders and Republicans will try to make their case in court as to whether the state should keep its new congressional maps. California voters approved those maps in November to give Democrats even more of an advantage in future elections.
Republican and Fresno Assembly Member David Tangipa is part of the group that sued the state because of the new maps.
California leaders are trying to reach and empower young men through service, leadership and connection. California Chief Service Officer and candidate for Lt. Governor Josh Fryday joins California Politics 360 to talk about the statewide initiative.
Governor Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was in federal court this week. Federal prosecutors accuse Williamson of various crimes stemming from three separate incidents: organizing a scheme to steal $225,000 in funds from an inactive political campaign account belonging to former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, falsifying documents as she was being investigated for taking small business loans during the pandemic and tax fraud.
Sophia Bollag with the San Francisco Chronicle and Blake Jones with Politico join Ashley Zavala for a reporter roundtable to talk about the potential impact the case could have on the upcoming legislative year.
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel