More than 500,000 Californians demand voting overhaul, back ‘straightforward’ ID law
FIRST ON FOX: More than 500,000 California voters have signed a petition to amend the state’s constitution to enforce voter ID laws for all elections, leaders of a coalition called Californians for Voter ID told Fox News Digital. “We had a dog that voted in the last couple elections in Costa Mesa,” Republican California state Sen. Tony Strickland told Fox News Digital in a Wednesday phone interview about California’s persistent voter integrity concerns. “We don’t clean up our voter rolls. There are so many times where people move, college kids go out of state, or people move and they don’t clean up the voter rolls. And we mail out to everybody, and so you have a lot of live ballots with ballot harvesting.” “Our initiative will now clean up the voter rolls throughout the state,” he added. Strickland, who represents a district that includes portions of Orange and Los Angeles counties along the Southern California coast, is helping lead the charge to collect more than one million petition signatures from California voters in order to force the issue on the ballot for the 2026 election. The signature collection kicked off Oct. 1, meaning the group collected support from more than half-a-million voters in a one-month span. CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS LAUNCH VOTER ID BALLOT PUSH, NEED 875K SIGNATURES BY DEADLINE The Californians for Voter ID initiative specifically would amend California’s constitution and require voters to present government-issued IDs before casting a ballot in all future elections in the state. California voters would be required to present a government-issued ID before voting in-person, or provide the last four-digits of a government ID if voting by mail. Election officials, under the initiative, would be required to verify a voter’s citizenship to ensure only legal residents register to vote or receive ballots. Democrats historically have opposed voter ID laws over claims it disenfranchises minority voters, while conservatives argue it will ensure only legal residents are able to cast ballots and further bolster voter integrity. Thirty-six states have voter ID laws already on the books, though such laws vary and have some exceptions. Californians for Voter ID leaders, however, say the issue is not a partisan one, but an effort to protect democracy for all Americans. The lead strategist for the effort, Ryan Erwin, told Fox News Digital that recent polling shows 70% of Californians across the political spectrum support elections requiring IDs to vote, while underscoring the outpouring of support that has led to more than 500,000 signatures already secured. “We are on pace to qualify for the ballot faster than any measure in the history of California,” Erwin said. “Voter ID is a commonsense way to build trust in the election process by requiring election officials to use government data to verify citizenship and voter eligibility, while also requiring identification for every vote counted.” OBAMA ENDORSES NEWSOM CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING PROP 50 “Californians of all political stripes are eager to improve trust in the system by eliminating abuse and errors while protecting every eligible vote,” he continued. “The volunteer effort is overperforming, we have signatures from all 58 counties, and are on pace to qualify well ahead of our goal.” The group needs a total of 874,641 in order to land the initiative on the 2026 ballot in the Golden State, but is aiming to secure 1.2 million signatures to ensure the support is certified by county officials who will go through the data before it is permitted to land on the ballot. Organizers have until March to secure the needed signatures before potentially getting on the ballot — with Strickland reporting he’s confident they will get the needed support. “You have to be a citizen in order to register to vote,” Strickland said of the nuts and bolts of the amendment itself, calling it “very straightforward.” “You have seven forms of documentation, you get to choose what form of documentation that you use in terms of the last four digits of whatever the documentation is,” he said. “When you go to the polls, you show your ID, and if you mail in your ballot, you show that proof of the documentation of the last four digits that you choose.” “The other part of this initiative is we have a mandatory audit (to) all 58 counties of their election rules after every election,” he added. Strickland is no stranger to voter ID efforts in the deep blue state, including championing a voter ID ballot initiative in Huntington Beach, California, in 2024, when he served on the city council. Voters approved the amendment forcing voters to show their ID when casting ballots in local elections, but the California Court of Appeals struck down the law in November. If the statewide voter ID effort is approved by voters on the ballot in 2026, local lawmakers will be compelled to comply with voter ID laws set forth in the initiative. TRUMP SAYS HE WILL REQUIRE VOTER ID WITH EXECUTIVE ORDER Strickland said the massive amount of support the initiative already has received is on par with a 1978 initiative, Proposition 13, “when the legislature was out of touch with the people, the people rose up” and passed the ballot measure that fundamentally changed how property taxes were assessed and limited in California. Strickland also compared it to the successful recall of former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 — California’s first and only successful recall of a governor. Strickland was the first legislator to endorse Davis’ recall as energy and economic woes rocked the state. “Speaking around the state of California, I would equate what’s going on today with voter ID and voter integrity to those two movements in California,” he said. The California state senator also praised California Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio and his group, Reform California, for their ongoing efforts championing voter ID laws in the state, describing DeMaio’s work as “relentless.” Strickland and DeMaio are joint authors of the voter ID push and have teamed up to meet with voters at various events
Nancy Pelosi will not seek re-election, ending decades-long House career
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will not be seeking re-election after completing her current term, she announced in a video Thursday morning. “There has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the House floor and say, ‘I speak for the people of San Francisco.’ I have truly loved serving as your voice in Congress, and I’ve always honored the soul of Saint Francisco — ‘Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.’ The anthem of our city,” Pelosi said in a voiceover. “That is why I want you, my fellow San Franciscans to be the first to know I will not be seeking re-election to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative as we go forward.” Pelosi has been a power player in U.S. politics for decades, having served as House speaker from 2007 to 2011 and then again from 2019 to 2023. OBAMA ENDORSES NEWSOM CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING PROP 50 Her most recent stint in power also saw Pelosi serve as a chief antagonist to President Donald Trump during his first term. Her constant clashes with the president, including tearing up his State of the Union speech while sitting behind him as he delivered it in 2020, earned her the nickname “Crazy Nancy” by the Republican commander-in-chief. Trump cheered Pelosi’s announcement in comments to Fox News, “The retirement of Nancy Pelosi is a great thing for America.” He called her “evil,” “corrupt,” and “only focused on bad things for our country.” OBAMA WAS ‘NOT HAPPY’ WITH QUICK PELOSI ENDORSEMENT OF HARRIS, BOOK SAYS “She was rapidly losing control of her party and it was never coming back. I’m very honored she impeached me twice and failed miserably twice,” Trump said. Pelosi first came to Congress in 1987 after winning a special election to replace the late Rep. Sala Burton, D-Calif. Rumors of her potential retirement had swirled for days ahead of the explosive news on Thursday, but Pelosi’s spokesperson said she would discuss her political future after California voted on a referendum allowing state Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map. “Speaker Pelosi is fully focused on her mission to win the Yes on 50 election in CA. Any discussion of her future plans beyond that mission is pure speculation. As she has said, Speaker Pelosi will not make any announcements about her future until after Prop 50 is settled,” spokesperson Ian Krager said Monday. That measure, Proposition 50, passed overwhelmingly on Tuesday night. The majority of Pelosi’s five-minute video announcement focused on her career achievements during her decades in Congress. She did not mention Trump or other adversaries, instead discussing reforms focused on San Francisco and some Democratic priorities like climate change. The 85-year-old lawmaker is the second House Democrat to announce they would not seek re-election next year in as many days. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, one of the most vulnerable Democrats of the 2026 election cycle, announced Wednesday that he would not run for another term. Golden blamed increased extremism by both Democrats and the GOP, as well as heightened political threats against his family and elected officials in general. While Golden’s seat is a prime pickup opportunity for Republicans, Pelosi’s seat is all but assured to stay within Democrats’ hands. And she has already garnered two high-profile primary challengers before announcing her plans. The most recent hopeful is state Sen. Scott Wiener, who announced his campaign late last month. Saikat Chakrabarti, a software engineer and left-wing activist who served as chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is also in the race.
Democrats see mandate after 2025 wins — Republicans say it’s a mirage
The battle for control of the House is set to kick into high gear with the 2025 elections in the rearview mirror, and both sides are optimistic about their chances after Tuesday night. Democrats are flying high after their victories in key elections in Virginia, California and New Jersey, celebrating those wins as a decisive rejection of President Donald Trump’s administration. But Republicans are still confident in their chances of keeping the House next year and are poised to use the far-left’s success in New York City as a nationwide political cudgel. “Yesterday was a big night for America and a big night for the Democratic Party, as candidates across the country, up and down the ballot, decisively defeated MAGA Republicans in an extraordinary rejection of the extremism that the American people have been experiencing since Day 1 of Donald Trump’s presidency,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a press conference Wednesday. A memo circulated by the Jeffries-aligned House Majority PAC and obtained by Fox News Digital exuded confidence: “With less than one year until Election Day, Democrats remain poised to take back the House in 2026 and elect Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker.” KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2025 ELECTIONS But Jeffries’ counterpart, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had a very different interpretation. “There’s no surprises. What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue. We all saw that coming, and no one should read too much into last night’s election results. Off-year elections are not indicative of what’s to come,” Johnson said at his own news conference. “I think that when we go into next year in the midterms, we’re very bullish about the outcome. We have an extraordinary record to run on.” A House GOP campaign operative who spoke with Fox News Digital was also confident about Republicans’ ability to keep the majority next November, arguing the key lies in voter turnout. THE RESULTS ARE IN: 2025’S BIGGEST WINNER AND LOSERS FROM THE OFF-YEAR ELECTIONS “I think we actually had a good turnout night. They just had a monster one,” the GOP operative said of New Jersey, where Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli. “They had midterm turnout in an off-year [governor] race. And so I think it comes down to us continuing to do the work to show that we need people to show up when the president is not on the ballot.” They also dismissed Democrats’ inroads with Hispanic and Latino voters in New Jersey as recoverable for the GOP. “I think it goes back to, across-the-board, getting our voters to show up,” the GOP operative said. “With Hispanic voters specifically, keep putting in the work, and we can’t take them for granted… it’s felt like, in some of those races, that they were not making the attempt to talk to them on our side.” On the other side, an operative familiar with House Democrat campaigns said they’re taking lessons from a renewed surge of enthusiasm by two groups — Hispanic voters and women. And while acknowledging the groups were not monolithic, the Democratic operative said most Americans were all focused on the same issue: cost of living. MARK PENN: DEMOCRATS WIN THE MOMENT, BUT LEFT-WING TILT THREATENS THEIR FUTURE “I think it’s just like a very helpful reminder to double down on the issues that people care about most. Poll after poll, public and private, is telling you that Americans in any district care most about the cost of living and rising costs and being able to afford things,” they said. “I think those are the solutions that people want to hear, and we should be proactive in speaking to them.” The Democratic operative argued that issue drove the successes of Sherrill and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who defeated GOP Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia and became a main facet of House Democrats’ most contentious campaigns. Another issue being viewed in opposing lights by both sides is the victory of socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race. “The biggest takeaway I have is that not a day should go by when a Republican candidate, a member on the trail, a member of leadership, whoever, whatever branch they’re in, whether state, local, federal, House, Senate, governors, whatever, should talk about Zohran Mamdani,” the GOP operative said. “I think he is the party now, frankly.” The Democratic source said, “We just kind of saw a proof point that it’s not effective, because they were trying this in races across the country here, and it didn’t work.” They pointed to Republicans’ attempts to tie Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to vulnerable Democrats nationally after her upset victory in 2018. “It just doesn’t work,” they said. “Somebody in the Virginia Beach area of the country does not give a s— about who the mayor of New York City is. They care about the cost of living.”
Kansas mayor hit with criminal charges for allegedly voting as noncitizen in several elections
Kansas leaders brought criminal charges Wednesday against Joe Ceballos, the mayor of a small city in rural Kansas, alleging he voted in several elections but is not a U.S. citizen. Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, both elected Republicans, announced they filed six charges in Comanche County against Ceballos, a lawful permanent resident from Mexico, for voting in elections in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Ceballos is the mayor of Coldwater and previously served as a city councilman. MAINE VOTERS DEFEAT VOTER ID BALLOT INITIATIVE, APPROVE ‘RED FLAG’ GUN RESTRICTIONS States are required by law to have mechanisms in place to regularly clean voter registration lists, also known as voter rolls. The process includes using external databases to screen for noncitizens, which Kobach, a longtime immigration hawk and ally of President Donald Trump, said is not error-proof. “Noncitizen voting is a real problem. It is not something that happens once in a decade. It is something that happens fairly frequently,” Kobach said, echoing the broader sentiments of Republicans who say voter fraud is a pressing issue. Ceballos’ charges, which include perjury and voting without being qualified, according to the complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital, carry a maximum penalty of more than five years in prison. Ceballos did not respond to a request for comment. Kobach, who previously served as Kansas secretary of state, has a long history of pushing for tougher immigration enforcement and stricter voter ID laws. In 2018, he lost a high-profile federal lawsuit after attempting to enforce a state law that required voters to provide physical documentation of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. A court found it exceeded the necessary requirements to confirm citizenship, in violation of federal election laws. CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS LAUNCH VOTER ID BALLOT PUSH, NEED 875K SIGNATURES BY DEADLINE The court said at the time that the state law could not “be justified by the scant evidence of noncitizen voter fraud before and after the law was passed.” Kobach did not detail how state officials came to learn that the mayor and former city councilman is allegedly a noncitizen, but he said investigators had “unassailable evidence” against Ceballos. Kobach said city officials, such as mayors, are also required by law to be U.S. citizens, which the attorney general said was “worth noting” but not a criminal offense. Ceballos was on the ballot for re-election on Election Day, but the official results have not been certified yet. “In large part, our system right now is based on trust, trust that when the person signs the registration or signs the poll books saying that he is a qualified elector or that he is a United States citizen, that the person is telling the truth,” Kobach said. “In this case, we allege that Mr. Ceballos violated that trust.” Kobach and Schwab said they recently began taking advantage of a federal government database that helps cross-check voter rolls with immigration records that they expect will lead them to identify more voting violations. Ceballos’ first court appearance is Dec. 3.
Hakeem Jeffries dodges question on whether Mamdani is future of Democratic Party
Following Zohran Mamdani’s decisive mayoral victory in New York City Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., dodged a question on whether the self-proclaimed democratic socialist is the future of the Democratic Party. “You had record turnout in New York City for this election. Would you say that Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party?” a reporter asked Jeffries during Wednesday’s press conference on Capitol Hill. “Well, what Democrats have done all across the country is lean into the issue of affordability because of the fact that America’s too expensive costs are too high, and Donald Trump and Republicans, not only have they not done anything about it, they’ve made it worse as a result of the Trump tariffs as a result of them detonating the clean energy economy,” Jeffries responded. “That’s why electricity bills are skyrocketing. And now, of course, they’re forcing these dramatically increased health care premiums to be visited upon the American people.” SOCIALIST SHOCK WAVE: ZOHRAN MAMDANI STUNS NYC AS VOTERS HAND POWER TO DEMOCRATS’ FAR-LEFT FLANK Jeffries was also asked whether he is personally comfortable having the city he represents, the most populous city in America, run by a socialist. In response, Jeffries simply answered that Mamdani “is the mayor-elect of the City of New York. It’s incumbent upon everyone to make sure that he’s successful.” Although Mamdani was quickly endorsed by some of the country’s most progressive leaders, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the Democratic Party’s top leadership was slower to give its blessing. Jeffries did not answer whether he would be endorsing Mamdani until just before early voting began Oct. 24. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., never issued an endorsement of Mamdani. However, he called his electoral victory “historic.” Mamdani, a 34-year-old immigrant from Uganda, is the first Muslim mayor of New York City. WILL ELECTION DAY 2025 BE REMEMBERED AS THE RISE OF THE SOCIALISTS? Despite dodging these questions, Jeffries received an identical question earlier in the week about whether Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party, prompting him to say, “I think the future of the Democratic Party is going to fall, as far as we‘re concerned, relative to the House Democratic Caucus and members who are doing a great work all across the country as it relates to our need to both take back control of the House.” Jeffries called Tuesday night’s election a “big night for the American people” and a “big night for the Democratic Party.” Besides New York City, Democrats notched major victories in California, Virginia and New Jersey. Jeffries called the election results “a decisive repudiation of Donald Trump and failed Republican policies.” This comes as the government shutdown over expiring Obamacare subsidies and healthcare benefits enters day 36, becoming the longest closure in U.S. history. Senate Democrats have voted 14 times to reject a House-passed continuing resolution budget bill that would reopen the government. Despite this, Jeffries indicated he believes Tuesday’s election showed the country is blaming President Donald Trump and Republicans for the shutdown and that more Democratic victories are in store in 2026. VANCE DELIVERS POST-ELECTION REALITY CHECK, CONTENDS GOP MUST MAKE LIFE AFFORDABLE OR GET WALLOPED IN 2026 “We’re going to take back control of the United States House of Representatives. So, let’s be very clear about that,” he said. “Based on the environment that we know exists, which, as Democrats, we’ve been telling you for the last several months, is the reality. But now it’s been confirmed by the American people.” He also praised the passage of a California redistricting proposition, which was backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying it will further help Democrats retake the House. “Stay tuned because more is coming,” he said. “Republicans are going to be unable to gerrymander their way into rigging the midterm elections. That scheme is over. Buried dead in the ground. And, so, we’re going to take back control of the House and fight for every inch of territory.”
Mamdani taps party insiders to steer transition despite vowing to ‘turn the page’ on old-guard NYC Dems
Zohran Mamdani vowed Tuesday night during his victory address to “turn the page” on old-guard New York City Democrats. But within less than 24 hours, the mayor-elect of New York City announced a transition team comprised of folks with ties to the administrations of Bill de Blasio, Eric Adams, Michael Bloomberg and Joe Biden. “Let tonight be the final time I utter [Andrew Cuomo’s] name as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few,” Mamdani said Tuesday evening as he touted a new political order for New York City at his victory address at the Brooklyn Paramount theater. The next morning, Mamdani named an all-female transition team comprised of four co-chairs and an executive director. The co-chairs are Maria Torres-Springer, a former top aide under former mayors de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg and soon-to-be former Mayor Adams; Lina Khan, the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission chair; Melanie Hartzog, a former New York City budget director who served as the deputy mayor for Health and Human Services under de Blasio; and Grace Bonilla, a former Bloomberg and de Blasio aide appointed to lead the former’s task force on racial equity and Inclusion. Elana Leopold, a former senior aide to de Blasio, was tapped to be the transition team’s executive director. WILL ELECTION DAY 2025 BE REMEMBERED AS THE RISE OF THE SOCIALISTS? Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment but did not get a response in time for publication. “The polls have barely closed, and already the incoming mayor is breaking one of his core promises to shake up the status quo and usher in a new day. New York City started a downward spiral under the de Blasio administration, and now some of its main players are returning to the halls of power,” said Republican strategist Colin Reed. “And former FTC Chair Lina Khan became synonymous with her hostility toward businesses large and small during the Biden administration and one of the ringleaders of Bidenomics.” Khan, in particular, has been accused of sidelining career staff in favor of fresh blood from a cadre of dark money nonprofits, which coincided with a forceful antitrust strategy that mirrored the organizations’ goals. The FTC, under Khan’s leadership, credited individuals brought up from these nonprofits for help in crafting policy and messaging in posts on its website and in a report to Congress in 2022. FLASHBACK: WILDEST MOMENTS MAMDANI OVERCAME ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO BECOME NYC’S NEXT MAYOR Mamdani, a New York state assemblymember who ran as the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, defeated former Empire State Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the Big Apple’s mayoral contest. “My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said in his victory speech Tuesday night. “Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change. A mandate for a new kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.” During Mamdani’s victory speech Tuesday night, the mayor-elect also slammed corporate interests, telling his supporters New Yorkers have been betrayed by those elected officials who care more about their own enrichment. “We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore,” he said. “They can play by the same rules as the rest of us.” Mamdani’s election victory was being cheered by Alex Soros, the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who has helped fund left-wing campaigns stretching from district attorneys to federal elections. In 2022, the younger Soros succeeded his father as chair of the board of directors of the massive $25 billion Open Society Foundations he runs his activism through. Alex Soros’ support of Mamdani is not a surprise, with the Open Society Foundations reportedly donating $37 million in the last decade to left-wing groups that promoted Mamdani’s nomination this year, such as the Working Families Party, the New York Post reported in July.
Fox News Politics Newsletter: David Hogg calls on Dems to reignite ‘American Dream’ after Mamdani win
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Supreme Court to weigh Trump tariff powers in blockbuster case -NYC fire chief announces resignation after Mamdani wins mayoral race -Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey wins re-election after fending off socialist challenger As Zohran Mamdani declared victory in New York City, former DNC vice chair David Hogg told Fox News Digital that Democrats heading into the midterms should focus on restoring voters’ faith in the American Dream. After losing up and down the ballot in 2024, Democrats secured victories in the most-watched races of this off-year election cycle — from a socialist shockwave in New York City, Democratic-led redistricting success in California and gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia. “No other city is like New York City,” Hogg said Tuesday night. “No other state is like Virginia or New Jersey. The lesson that will be learned here tonight is not that every policy in New York should be replicated around the country. It’s that listening and telling voters what you are actually going to do to lower prices works.”…READ MORE. JUSTICES REVOLT: Barrett and Sotomayor tag-team interrogation of Trump lawyer on tariff powers ‘SO EASY TO WIN’: Trump appears to jab defeated Republicans, saying it’s ‘easy’ to win elections ‘when you talk about the facts’ MIDTERM MATH: Vance delivers post-election reality check, contends GOP must make life affordable or get walloped in 2026 FEELING BLUE: Vulnerable House Dem criticizes ‘extreme’ left in shocking 2026 announcement CAPITOL SCRUTINY: Pentagon faces bipartisan criticism over lack of communication with Congress BERNIE’S REVOLT: Bernie Sanders crashes Schumer news conference, criticizes Democratic Party leadership DEMS DIG DEEPER: Senate Dems emboldened in shutdown strategy after election sweep ELECTION PROTECTION: Texas passes constitutional amendment explicitly prohibiting noncitizen voting MISSING MARGINS: Inside Jay Jones and the Democrats’ late surge to upset wins across Virginia, from the suburbs to the shore CAMPUS RADICALS: Top university hit with scathing federal complaint calling for probe into ‘unsafe’ and ‘unlawful’ DEI agenda ACCOUNTABILITY CALL: Jewish groups issue post-election warning to Mamdani as he prepares to lead New York City ‘CONGRATS, MAYOR’: Heir to billionaire Soros fortune cheers Mamdani election with penthouse photo DOG WHISTLE: Mamdani victory speech draws concern as NYC mayor-elect vows ‘no problem too large for government to solve’ Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
UFC legend endorses pro-law enforcement pick for California governor: ‘We need his strength’
EXCLUSIVE: Ultimate Fighting Championship pioneer and legend Royce Gracie has endorsed a pro-law enforcement candidate who is running for governor in California. One of the biggest names in mixed martial arts and the first UFC champion, Gracie made a name for himself by taking down much larger opponents through precision and skill. Now he is weighing into the political sphere in the race to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and widely rumored to have 2028 presidential ambitions. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Gracie said he is endorsing sheriff Chad Bianco’s long-shot bid to replace Newsom in 2026. Gracie, a three-time UFC champion, called Bianco a “fighter” who is “exactly who we need.” KATIE PORTER SAYS SHE REGRETS VIRAL OUTBURSTS AT REPORTER, STAFFER “When Gavin Newsom closed businesses, schools, and churches, one person stood against him, Sheriff Chad Bianco,” Gracie told Fox News Digital. “Chad Bianco didn’t fold. He’s a fighter, and a fighter is exactly who we need as Governor of California,” he added, saying, “We need his strength to turn this state around after the mess Gavin Newsom has created.” Bianco, who is a vocal Trump supporter and the sheriff of Riverside County, just east of Los Angeles, announced his gubernatorial candidacy back in February, saying, “Californians deserve better.” He has framed his candidacy around restoring safety and a better quality of life to California. “This campaign will not be about the divide between Republicans and Democrats. It will be about the common goal we all have for a better California,” Bianco emphasized at his campaign launch. “As Californians, we want leadership that actually cares about the cost of living …and leaders who will do something about it,” Bianco said in his address. “We want homes we can afford. We want air conditioning when it’s hot, not rolling blackouts. We want water for the crops and animals that feed us. We want the opportunity to achieve the California Dream, not be prevented from it because of red tape and regulation from government. We want honesty and transparency from our elected officials. We want lower taxes and less government waste. We want sanity restored and common sense to prevail.” PELOSI SPOKESMAN SIDESTEPS RETIREMENT RUMORS AS DEM PRIMARY THREATS WAIT IN WINGS Bianco, who has worked in law enforcement for more than three decades, was first elected sheriff in 2018. A vocal critic of Newsom and soft on crime policies, Bianco was one of the leaders who helped push California’s Proposition 36 ballot measure to a landslide victory in last November’s elections. The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes. In response to Gracie’s endorsement, Bianco told Fox News Digital that “Californians are waking up, and we are going to clean up this state.” “Gavin Newsom has been chasing away Californians in record numbers,” he said, adding, “I’m grateful for the support of patriots like Royce Gracie.” Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but did not receive a statement by the time of publication. Bianco is facing a steep uphill battle to win as a Republican in deep blue California. It has been nearly two decades since a Republican won a statewide race. Though still early, the current frontrunner to be Newsom’s successor is former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, a progressive who has made resisting President Donald Trump a central theme of her campaign. CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTERS TOLD TO IGNORE SIGNS OF A FIRE: REPORT Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under the Biden administration and former California attorney general, is also running for the Democratic nomination. The Democratic and Republican primaries will be held on June 2 next year and the general election will be on Nov. 3.
Virginia slammed for ‘truly demonic’ election that excused political violence to spite Trump, critics say
Many political observers nationwide equated an upset win by Virginia Attorney General-elect Jay Jones and the Democratic ticket as a “demonic” example of the left putting politics ahead of decency. A majority of Virginia voters ignored scandals that roiled Jones’ campaign, including his envision of murdering a top Republican lawmaker and their children, to put him in office and unseat more than a dozen GOP state delegates. “They overlooked it because they hate Trump more than they care about what … the Virginia attorney general[-elect] said,” Outkick founder Clay Travis told Fox News on Wednesday. “Miyares did an incredible job. This is an example of outrage at Trump motivating the turnout,” Travis said on “America’s Newsroom.” LIBERAL MEDIA DOWNPLAYS SCANDAL OF DEM VIRGINIA AG HOPEFUL JAY JONES’ TEXTS FANTASIZING MURDER OF GOP LAWMAKER Travis said Trump was clearly a driving force and that there were some Spanberger voters who split tickets in favor of outgoing Attorney General Jason Miyares, but that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ losing margin was too much in an era of rare ticket-splitting. He said one key observation is that Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger received 600,000 fewer total votes than Trump himself did in the president’s losing battle in Virginia one year prior. When Trump is off the ballot, Republicans also don’t appear to turn out to vote, he said – as figures from heavily conservative southwestern Virginia bore that out Tuesday night. JAY JONES INVOKES TRUMP NEARLY 50 TIMES DURING VIRGINIA AG DEBATE, TIES MIYARES TO ‘MAGA’ WTAR radio host Kerry Dougherty, who co-hosts an AM dial show in Hampton, wrote on X that Virginia needs to “buckle up.” “Democrats last night installed a deranged sociopath in the attorney general’s office. A man who may find his law license suspended over chicanery with community service hours. Yep, they preferred him to a moderate, smart and successful Republican. We’re in deep trouble.” Elsewhere, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, argued that the political left shows little concern for victims of political violence, calling Jones’ victory the latest proof. “A deranged lib murders Charlie Kirk, and Democrats respond by electing a sociopath who – in his own words – wants his political opponents and their children dead. Truly demonic,” Gill, wrote on X. “Truly evil,” added Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS HAVE A VIOLENCE PROBLEM Uthmeier tried to help Miyares in the closing days of the race, appearing with him, Earle-Sears and now-outgoing Dels. Geary Higgins, R-Lovettsville, and Ian Lovejoy, R-Warrenton, at a closing-days rally in New Baltimore. Virginia Republican voters were also vocal the morning after – as one wrote that it’s clear his neighbors would be alright if he was dead. “At least I now know that all of my neighbors with Jay Jones signs up are okay with political violence,” the voter wrote on X. SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AFTER DISGRACED DEM NOMINEE LEANS ON TRUMP ATTACKS IN VIRGINIA AG DEBATE “I can no longer in good conscience be associated with them. They obviously want me dead too.” Conservative commentator Benny Johnson played out the scenario such Jones voters may have thought through before voting: “Democrats in Virginia saw these texts from Jay Jones and decided ‘yup, he has my vote’,” Johnson said. JAY JONES’ ‘TWO BULLETS’ SCANDAL OVER VIOLENT TEXTS EXPECTED TO DOMINATE VIRGINIA AG DEBATE “Truly evil. You can’t live in a country with people that want you dead.” Jack Posobiec, a conservative commentator and editor at Human Events, responded to Jones’ post-scandal win with his own recollection of political violence: “I saw a leftist murder Charlie Kirk and I saw them celebrate it,” Posobiec said. “While conservatives have spent the last few weeks arguing with each other, Democrats just elected an Attorney General who openly fantasizes about murdering us and watching our children die in our arms,” added commentator Matt Walsh. “These people are the enemy. What more do you need to see? Seriously. What more do you need to see?” “Ruthless” podcast producer Leigh Wolf wrote on X that the election results in Virginia are the “first empirical evidence” in the public sphere that proves Democrats writ-large support political violence as a tool to achieve power. “They saw with their own eyes this absolute psycho go into graphic detail about the need to murder children as a means of achieving political outcomes, and they voted yes,” Wolf said. “You can’t hand wave away violence as the actions of a few fringe radicals when you affirmatively vote in favor of those tactics.” In their responses to Jones’ victory, voices on the left steered clear of the question of condoning violence, including one of the attorney general-elect’s top backers, Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth. Lucas posted a clip drawn from Fox News video of Jones greeting voters in Norfolk, which an official at the Republican Attorney General’s Assocation trimmed down to show the Democrat appearing to try to kick a dog in a potentially playful manner. Lucas re-envisioned that clip as a GIF of Jones making the kicking motion toward the dog – but instead hitting Attorney General Jason Miyares, whose avatar went flying upward toward the sky. Elsewhere, Democratic state Sen. Mamie Locke of Hampton commented that Democrats wins instead showed that her party won because “Republicans cannot govern, do their jobs and would rather shut the government down than feed people or provide them health care.” “And, Trump, you were on the ballot. Maybe not literally, but your failed policies were,” Locke said. “Voters told you how they felt about those failures. Your efforts to distract, distort, discourage, discredit, and destroy this country has Virginians and citizens all over America fighting back. This is just the beginning.” Anti-Trump commentator Tim Miller also commented on X about those observers expressing fears as some conservatives have. After conservative commentator Megyn Kelly said that “God save Republicans and their children in VA,” Miller called it “the first known case of Spanberger Derangement Syndrome.” Fox News Digital also reached out to Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi
Trump torches NYC’s new ‘communist’ mayor Mamdani, says he’ll ‘help them a little bit’
President Donald Trump on Wednesday cast New York City’s mayoral result for democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as a hard left turn, telling a business audience in Miami that Democrats had “installed a communist” to lead the nation’s largest city and adding that he still wants the Big Apple to succeed. “But the communists, Marxists, socialists and globalists had their chance, and they delivered nothing but disaster. And now let’s see how a communist does in New York. We’re going to see how that works out,” Trump said. Trump’s comments came during a wide-ranging speech marking the one-year anniversary of what he called the “single most consequential election victory,” referring to his 2024 presidential win. He used Tuesday’s outcome in New York to sharpen a broader contrast with his administration’s agenda, saying voters face a choice “between communism and common sense.” At one point, he quipped that Miami could become a refuge for “those fleeing communism in New York City.” DESANTIS BLASTS NYC’S ‘BALLISTIC PODIATRY’ AFTER ZOHRAN MAMDANI WINS MAYOR’S RACE AND FLORIDA EXPECTS EXODUS In his remarks, Trump touted what he described as strong economic momentum, renewed manufacturing investment and tighter border enforcement. He argued that America is entering a “golden age,” saying his administration has “the strongest economy, the strongest borders, the strongest military” and claiming “trillions and trillions of dollars” are flowing back to the country. Trump, a native New Yorker who rose to prominence through his real estate and branding ventures across Manhattan, built and managed landmarks, including Trump Tower and the Wollman Ice Rink renovation in Central Park. MAMDANI SAYS HE WON’T BE INTIMIDATED BY ANY TRUMP THREATS ABOUT DEPLOYING NATIONAL GUARD He moved his primary residence to Florida in 2019 but has frequently pointed to his decades in the city to show what he calls its decline under Democrat leadership. Trump also praised Miami’s growth and acknowledged local officials and guests in attendance during his remarks Wednesday. Returning to New York near the close of his remarks, Trump repeated that he wants the city to do well despite its new direction. “We’ll help them a little bit,” he said. “Every day my administration will fight, fight, fight, and America will win, win, win.” The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment.