California
California Senate Candidates Discuss Representation in Forum with Ethnic Media
By California Black Media
On Feb. 8, the three leading Democratic California Senate candidates participated in a forum to discuss their campaign platforms and field questions from reporters about issues concerning California residents.
U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), Adam Schiff (D-CA-30), and Katie Porter (D-CA-47) – joined the virtual event that was hosted by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services.
An invitation was extended to former Major League Baseball player and Republican Steve Garvey to the participate but there was no response from his staff.
It is likely that one of the three candidates that took part in the forum will be California’s next junior senator, serving alongside senior Sen. Alex Padilla. That person will replace Sen. Laphonza Bulter, who is currently the only Black woman in the 100-member U.S. Senate.
One of the questions directed to all the candidates was about how they would ensure that Black women’s voices would continue to be considered in national debates and policymaking.
Lee said Black women legislators “fight for everyone.”
“It is important that they serve in the Senate to have that perspective or that lens that would be missing in the United States Senate,” Lee said, talking about the point of view of Black women, who are the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc.
“It is ‘not just on issues of racial justice, it’s also on issues of equity, economic equity. When you look at billionaires, we have to pass legislation which I’m championing with Senator Sanders, the oligarch Act, the CEO compensation act — bills that will force billionaires to pay their fair share,” said Lee. “A black woman’s perspective on every single issue is very important.”
Porter said she would “work tirelessly” to make sure that Butler would not be the last Black female Senator when she finishes the interim term. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Butler after longtime Senator Dianne Porter said California’s next senator needs to be “a champion for communities of color, particularly for Black Americans.
“Washington has long overlooked the needs of hard-working Americans, especially communities of color, including long standing racial gaps in homeownership and education and healthcare. We know that Black Americans have worse health outcomes. They’re less likely to graduate from college. They’re more likely to live in polluted neighborhoods. The question is what is Washington going to do about that?” asked Porter.
Schiff took a different approach to the question. He intends to appoint more Black women and people of color to the judiciary, cabinet positions, and intelligence community such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA).
“In every aspect of policy, and every appointment I have to make, I want to make sure that we’re elevating people that look like America, that will be representative of every community in America,” Schiff said. “And that very much means Black women and Black men, people from the Latino community and the AAPI community, people in the LGBTQ community as well.”
Reporters from CBM, EMS, India Currents, and La Opinion formulated the questions for the briefing.
The candidates also fielded questions about the border crisis, funding Ukraine funding, single-payer health insurance, the expansion of the Federal Child Tax Credit, sponsoring bills to protect local journalism, legal immigration relief to essential undocumented workers, legal immigration relief to essential undocumented workers, climate change, reparations for Black Californians, among other topics.
Rapper was stabbed 16 times by fellow inmate in May 2025 while 10-year sentence in Megan Thee Stallion shooting case
Tory Lanez has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections stemming from a May 2025 incident where the rapper was stabbed in prison.
Lanez — born Daystar Peterson and currently serving a 10-year sentence after being found guilty in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case — also sued the warden and guards at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, where the rapper was stabbed 16 times in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by another inmate, the lawsuit states.
Peterson was hospitalized following the May 2025 incident, suffering a collapsed lung among stab wounds to his back, torso, and head.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit criticized the Department of Corrections for housing Peterson with fellow inmate and alleged attacker Santino Casio, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. “The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the lawsuit said, adding that Tory Lanez’ “high-profile celebrity status” made him a target.
The lawsuit also said that prison guards were slow to respond to the shanking, and didn’t employ flash grenades or other measures to halt Casio’s attack.; Casio was not charged for stabbing Peterson, the Associated Press notes.
Lanez, who following his hospitalization was transferred to San Luis Obispo County’s California Men’s Colony, also alleges in the lawsuit that he never received his possessions from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, including songbooks filled with lyrics to his unreleased music.
Lanez is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot during a confrontation in the summer of 2020. He was eventually convicted on several firearms charges, including assault with a firearm, in December 2022. In November 2025, his appeal was denied by a three-judge panel, and the 10-year sentence was upheld.
From one crackdown on hospice fraud to another.
A few weeks ago, the FBI arrested multiple people in Southern California that were accused of defrauding the government for millions of dollars.
In a more recent announcement last Thursday, California’s State Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference to announce a fraud bust of their own.
“Operation Skip Trace uncovered and ended a hospice fraud scheme that defrauded Medi-Cal of $267 million,” Bonta said. “So just to be clear, a quarter billion dollars over funds that are paid for by California taxpayers, funds that are meant to provide care to Californians in need. It is unacceptable. It is illegal and we will not stand for it.”
The operation saw a total of 21 suspects charged as a result and dismantled a major hospice fraud scheme, with two handguns and over $750 thousand in cash seized as well.
According to the state’s attorney general, this is just one of the many cases over the years the state has cracked down on.
“This is just the latest example of the California DOJ’s longstanding ongoing and successful efforts to combat hospice and medical fraud,” Bonta said. “We have been doing this work for years. We’ve been doing it successfully before certain people in this country decided to think about it for the first time. We will continue to do this work. Heads down, sleeves rolled up, important investigative work, prosecutorial work.”
He added to that by taking a shot at the Trump Administration’s latest fraud operations.
“While healthcare fraud might be President Trump’s shiny new political talking point, the California DOJ has been going after healthcare fraud since 1979,” Bonta said. “For decades, Trump is late to the party. Protecting taxpayer dollars and protecting programs sick and vulnerable Californians rely on have been our priority for nearly five decades.”
Governor Gavin Newsom also spoke out about this latest crackdown while taking a shot of his own at President Trump.
In a post to “X” the Governor’s Press Office wrote in part quote…
“California has been cracking down on hospice fraud long before Trump gutted oversight and pardoned the architect of the biggest health care fraud scheme in U.S. history.”
State Republicans have responded to this latest announcement from Attorney General Bonta, calling for a special session to demand accountability from the Governor on widespread fraud.
California
Xavier Becerra surges in poll after Eric Swalwell drops out of California governor’s race
A new poll shows a major shift in the California governor’s race after former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was once a frontrunner, dropped out of the election following several allegations of sexual misconduct.
“This definitely throws this race into even more volatility, creates a huge vacuum,” Pomona College politics professor Sara Sadhwani said.
According to the new numbers, Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general and Health and Human Services Secretary under President Biden, is surging in popularity.
In Emerson College’s Inside California Politics poll, Becerra is now polling at 10%, a seven-point jump since March.
Republican Steve Hilton remains in the lead with 17%, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 14%.
Among Democrats, billionaire Tom Steyer leads the pack with 14%, followed by Becerra and former Rep. Katie Porter at 10% each. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan sits at 5%.
The poll showed that 23% of voters remain undecided.
“Xavier Becerra should be the happiest of them all because he’s the biggest move in this survey,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Emerson College conducted the poll right after Swalwell dropped out of the race and President Trump endorsed Hilton.
“I believe over time, because Trump has endorsed Hilton for the governorship, that Hilton will continue to edge up and Bianco by definition will have to go down,” Yaroslavsky said.
Last weekend, the California GOP held its convention, and, similar to the Democrats, the party did not make an endorsement. However, Bianco received the most votes from the GOP delegates.
“We’re extremely happy with how it came out,” Bianco said. “There was a lot of effort put in by my opponent. Hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and win this election.
With the large number of undecided voters, Yaroslavky believes that the race is still in the air.
“It’s still early,” Yaroslavsky said. “It’s a little less than seven weeks before the election. The ballots go out at the beginning of next month. People, at least 30%, still haven’t made up their mind.”
In the state’s primary system, only the top two vote-getters in the June primary will advance to the November general election.
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