Essential Politics: One week until California’s primary

I’m Christina Bellantoni. This is Essential Politics, and we’re one week away from the big primary finale.

Over the weekend, the Golden State was the focus. Sen. Bernie Sanders kept up an aggressive schedule of rallies, closing out the holiday weekend watching the Golden State Warriors win Game 7. Hillary Clinton announced she will be back in California for most of the next week, even scrapping a planned New Jersey event.

And California Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday morning endorsed Clinton in an open letter, complimenting Sanders but saying he just can’t risk Donald Trump taking the oath of office next January.

Seema Mehta talked to some of Clinton’s top allies as it all comes down to this state and what Sanders dubbed the “big enchilada.”

ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL

“[I]f I were here in your state, I would vote yes on that issue,” Sanders said of California’s November ballot measure to legalize pot for recreational use.

Trump, meanwhile, waded into California’s perennial water wars, taking the side of agriculture and vowing to boost the state’s farmers even if it means cutting back environmental protections. After a private half-hour meeting with farmers, Trump said the group told him there was no drought in California, but rather a failure to preserve and wisely use the water the state has on tap.

But there are challenges to the strategy as well, as Cathleen Decker reported after trailing Sanders in the Central Valley over the weekend.

As Sanders found out over the course of two days in the place that feeds the nation a quarter of its food, there is a central complication of the region. The very industries that cause pollution, water and income issues here are the ones on which it relies for survival: agriculture and the oil and gas industry, Decker writes. Instead, in the days before the June 7 primary, the area’s struggles have been wedged neatly into the candidates’ preexisting ideologies.

In her Sunday column, Decker also examined two burning questions for elections officials: Will the hundreds of thousands of Californians who recently signed up to vote actually show up for the June 7 primary? And if they do, how do they keep those voters around?

For the latest on the campaign, keep an eye on Trail Guide and follow @latimespolitics.

TRUMP AS THE BOOGEYMAN

Javier Panzar reports on some of the down-ticket campaigns around California that are injecting Trump into local races with which he has nothing to do, in order to raise money and bring out voters. Unflattering images of Trump and his infamous comments about Mexican immigrants are being used in a variety of races, from one to fill a Los Angeles County supervisor seat all the way to the re-election campaign for a liberal East Bay state lawmaker in a safe blue seat.

Even in races with no meaningful Republican opposition, Democrats are turning to Trump, the boogeyman, to help their cause.

RECORD SPENDING IN LEGISLATIVE RACES

Campaign spending by outside groups like oil companies and education advocates has blown past the previous record ahead of Tuesday’s primary for state legislative candidates.

In 2014, there was $16.7 million spent on independent expenditures. This year, it’s already cracked $24 million, and there’s still a week to go, Chris Megerian and Patrick McGreevy report. In some races, the outside groups are spending far more money than the candidates themselves.

What’s an “independent expenditure?” Here’s our guide to the California equivalent of a super PAC.

We’ll keep tracking all of the interesting races this week on our Essential Politics news feed.

BACKING TWO HORSES IN ONE RACE

Well-heeled interest groups have spent thousands of dollars to back not just one, but two candidates in Assembly District 47. The California Realtors Assn., the California New Car Dealers Assn., and the California Chamber of Commerce have all supported Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown (D-San Bernardino) in her tough re-election bid against Colton attorney Eloise Reyes.

But they’ve also been quietly funneling money into committees to support the race’s only Republican, Aissa Sanchez, a 24-year-old with no previous political experience and who has raised no money of her own.

They could be trying to game California’s top-two primary system and edge Reyes, a formidable challenger who is positioning herself to the left of Brown, out of November’s election.

SENATE HOPEFULS TOOK DIFFERENT PATHS LEADING STATE GOP

Although they’ve been lagging behind the top Democrats in the polls, one of the Republicans in California’s U.S. Senate race still has a shot at finishing in the top two in next week’s primary election and earning a ticket to the November general election.

Phil Willon provides a political snapshot for two of those GOP contenders, Tom Del Beccaro and George “Duf” Sundheim, both of whom served as chairmen of the California Republican Party.

Del Beccaro offers a message that appeals to the the party’s right wing and to libertarians, but he faces criticism for leaving the party in debt after his two years at the top. Sundheim holds bedrock Republican views on foreign policy and the economy, but is more progressive on social issues. But he too has baggage from his year leading the state GOP.

THE LIBERTARIANS

Melanie Mason reported from Orlando on the steep climb ahead for newly chosen Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson.

The former New Mexico governor earned 1 million votes — about 1% of those cast in 2012 — the last time he was on the ballot. Can Johnson make it onto a debate stage? And can the party be about more than legalizing pot?

YOU’RE INVITED: POLITICS, THE PRIMARY AND PILSNER

Who will win the primary? What role does California play, and what’s the most important race you’re not paying attention to? Join me and other journalists from our political team for an informal chat about the primary and the state of the general election race against Trump.

Hope to see you Thursday night at the Redwood in downtown Los Angeles. RSVP here.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

— Noah Bierman examines what it means for the Democratic Party that Sanders has begun pushing Democrats toward a platform fight over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

— Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he isn’t ready to endorse Trump.

— Latino leaders in California working to mend the GOP’s relationship with their community were filled with dread, not joy, as Trump clinched their party’s nomination for the presidency and threatened to unravel the progress they’ve made to repair a schism created by Prop 187.

— After protests got out of hand outside Trump’s San Diego rally Friday, police arrested 35 people. At least 18 people received medical attention.

— Kate Linthicum details the RV tour that Hollywood stars Rosario Dawson, Shailene Woodley and Kendrick Sampson are making for Sanders across California.

— The Supreme Court is being asked to take up a bankruptcy dispute involving the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and to decide whether to restore the health and pension benefits of more than 1,000 casino workers.

— The White House likes Gov. Brown’s proposal to streamline affordable housing development. And a Brown-endorsed bill designed to make it easier for developers to add density to affordable housing projects cleared the Assembly. But Liam Dillon writes that cities could have an incentive to cheat under the housing plan.

— About 100 former foster children stormed the U.S. Capitol this week and shadowed their member of Congress at the invitation of Rep. Karen Bass, as part of an annual event to put a local face on needs within the foster care system.

— A high-profile bill to open up some internal records about police misconduct died in a Senate committee Friday. Miss any of the bills killed in the quiet procedure known as clearing of the suspense file? From driving while high to helping fight eating disorders among models, our team in Sacramento has you covered.

— Tom Steyer’s latest anti-Trump ads are in Spanish.

— What do you think of Trump? Readers can weigh in with our quick survey.

LOGISTICS

Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox daily. And keep an eye on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics?

Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com.