RandySF
RandySF's JournalLos Angeles Voters Are Moving Ever Leftward, Shifting Election Politics in America's Second-Largest City
How liberal is Los Angeles?
That question is very much on the minds of political insiders and observers these days as the city turns to its municipal elections and makes important decisions about its future: how much to invest in public safety, how much to tax its wealthiest residents, how to treat those who live here but without formal immigration documents.
One trend is clear: Los Angeles leans ever further to the left, a phenomenon that has implications for this year’s elections, which include a mayor’s race along with campaigns for two other citywide offices and eight seats on the 15-member council that governs America’s second-largest city.
Once the bulwark of conservative politics under the protection of a Republican business leadership and a Republican newspaper, LA has moved steadily leftward in recent decades. The days when Richard Riordan, a moderate Republican, could win the support of the electorate are far behind today’s Los Angeles.
https://www.kqed.org/news/12072603/los-angeles-voters-are-moving-ever-leftward-shifting-election-politics-in-americas-second-largest-city
Special election decides 3 seats in Louisiana Legislature; 2 need March runoffs
A special election was held Saturday in six parishes to fill five vacancies in the Louisiana Legislature, including three seats representing New Orleans.
Two of the contests will be decided in a runoff next month, but the outcomes won’t alter the overall party makeup of the state house where Republicans continue to hold a super majority in both chambers.
Senate District 3
The March 14 runoff in Senate District 3 will pit the son of a former New Orleans mayor (D) against an attorney (D) with a background in the public sector.
House District 100
Attorneys Kenya Rounds (D) and Dana Henry (D) also advanced to the March runoff for a seat representing eastern New Orleans. They earned 33% and 30% of the vote, respectively.
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/special-election-decides-3-seats-louisiana-legislature-2-need-march-runoffs
Falcons Star Rookie Arrested After Domestic Dispute Turns Into Police Chase
Atlanta Falcons linebacker James Pearce Jr. was arrested Saturday in South Florida on multiple felony charges, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated stalking. The 23-year-old rookie sensation crashed his vehicle while fleeing police after a domestic dispute involving his girlfriend, WNBA star Rickea Jackson.
The promising young defender, who finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, now faces serious legal troubles that could derail his budding NFL career. Police reports show Pearce fled the scene of the domestic incident before crashing at Northwest 103rd Avenue and 66th Street in Doral, where officers took him into custody.
According to Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez, Pearce faces four serious charges: two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking, and fleeing and eluding police. The incident began as a domestic dispute involving Jackson, a rising star in women’s basketball.
Details of what transpired during the alleged domestic dispute remain unclear. However, the situation escalated to the point where Pearce chose to flee rather than remain at the scene. His decision to run from police ultimately led to additional charges when his vehicle crashed during the pursuit.
https://www.crunchsports.com/nfl/falcons-star-rookie-arrested-after-domestic-dispute-turns-into-police-chase/
LA-HD60: Democrat Chasity Martinez keeps state House blue in special election
Called by Decision Desk HQ,
PA-HD18: Bensalem's Bryan Allen Wants to Help Democrats Expand Their Majority in the Pennsylvania State House
Bryan Allen, 47, of Bensalem wants to take his experience and “can do attitude” to Harrisburg.
Allen, a Democrat, will vie for a spot in May’s primary election for a chance to run in November and face Republican incumbent state Rep. Kathleen “K.C.” Tomlinson to represent House District 18, which includes Bensalem Township and Hulmeville Borough. Democrats have a single-seat majority in the state House and are looking to build on that, while eyeing potentially flipping the Republican controlled state Senate.
“As the only Democrat on the Bensalem Township Council for eight years, I had to work with my Republican colleagues in order to get things done for our community,” Allen said in an email.
Allen served on Bensalem Township Council and is the former chief of staff for Rep. Tina Davis (HD-141). While on Bensalem Council, Allen introduced the first casino tax rebate for residents and worked across the aisle to increase it; police officer staffing was increased and council took on developers to push back against urban sprawl. Allen was among those officials to support the construction and operation of Bucks County’s first fire and emergency training facility in Bensalem Township.
https://buckscountybeacon.com/2026/02/bensalems-bryan-allen-wants-to-help-democrats-expand-their-majority-in-the-pennsylvania-state-house/
PA-01: Could Progressive Lucia Simonelli Shock PA With a Victory in the May Democratic Primary?
Lucia Simonelli is an Italian-American whose upbringing instilled a great appreciation for public services such as public education, public transportation, public parks, and more. Born in Landsdale, she has lived, travelled and worked around the globe, before settling down in Quakertown. Politically, she has worked to make change both inside and outside of government, from serving as a scientific advisor in the United States Senate, working on energy and climate policy, to organizing with the Upper Bucks United Indivisible Chapter. Now, she is running in the Democratic congressional primary in May for a chance to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. Could Lucia be PA-01’s Analilia Mejia, or AOC?
I’ll be speaking to each of the candidates on this podcast to give listeners a chance to get to know them better.
https://buckscountybeacon.com/2026/02/interview-could-progressive-congressional-candidate-lucia-simonelli-shock-pa-01-with-a-victory-in-the-may-democratic-primary/
NJ-11: Mejia now leads Malinowski by 676 votes, with race still uncalled
Analilia Mejia’s lead in the special Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district now stands at 676 votes, giving her a 28.9% to 27.8% lead over her closest competition, former congressman Tom Malinowski.
The race remains uncalled for now, and will likely remain so through the weekend. Essex and Morris Counties released updated vote counts this afternoon, while Passaic County has not done so since last night.
Per periodic reports, Essex County still has at least 1,868 vote-by-mail ballots and 1,171 provisional ballots left outstanding, while Morris County has at least 440 vote-by-mail ballots and 694 provisional ballots; not all provisional ballots will ultimately be counted. It’s less clear what’s still left to count in Passaic County, as the county only lists 19 uncounted vote-by-mail ballots and has not yet published any data on provisional ballots.
Some of the uncounted ballots in each county are from GOP voters rather than Democrats, so the number of ballots left to be counted in the Democratic primary is lower than those numbers would imply, though the uncontested Republican primary naturally had much lower turnout.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/mejia-now-leads-malinowski-by-676-votes-with-race-still-uncalled/
Ocasio-Cortez hosts Astoria town hall, offers advice on how to respond to ICE raids
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a town hall in Astoria on Feb. 5, during which she advised residents in the 14th Congressional District (NY-14) about how to respond to ICE raids and offering legislative updates from Washington.
The town hall, which took place at I.S. 10 Horace Greeley on 31st Avenue, also featured appearances from Deputy Mayor for Health Helen Arteaga, Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry, Assemblymember Larinda Hooks and newly-elected Assemblymember Diana Moreno, who won the special election to succeed Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the 36th Assembly District.
Ocasio-Cortez spoke to constituents about a number of legislative updates during the event, noting that Congress has stalled funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
On Jan. 29, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate reached an agreement to remove funding for DHS from a package of six spending bills.
https://qns.com/2026/02/ocasio-cortez-town-hall-astoria/
Mail ballot application error adds to Chester County's woes
A Pennsylvania county election office that was already facing criticism for a 2025 election snafu and an alleged hostile work environment is dealing with another error.
Roughly 145,000 mail ballot applications sent out in Chester County this week for the 2026 elections were printed with the first and last names of voters reversed, according to the county. However, the applications can still be used as they are, the county and state said.
The error comes three months after the county misprinted its pollbooks for the 2025 municipal election and two months after The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote an article tying the county’s high staff turnover to what critics described as the election director’s heavy-handed management style.
On Monday, the county sent out mail-in ballot applications to voters on its annual mail voter list, sometimes referred to as the permanent list. The list comprises voters who, when applying for a mail ballot the prior year, indicated they wished to be sent an application the following year. Counties around the state mail out those applications around this time each winter.
https://www.votebeat.org/pennsylvania/2026/02/06/chester-county-mail-ballot-application-error-reverse-first-last-names/
Epstein's Secret Pic of 'Wild' Dinner With Tech Titans Exposed
A photograph of Jeffrey Epstein’s chummy 2015 dinner with tech magnates Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and others appears in the Epstein files.
On August 2, 2015, Epstein emailed his pal Peter Attia—now a “star” CBS News contributor—saying that he was having dinner that night with Musk, Zuckerberg, and Peter Thiel.
The following day, he sent himself a photo of Zuckerberg, Musk, and others gathered around a table......
The dinner was first reported by Vanity Fair in 2019. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman hosted the dinner in Palo Alto for MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden. Vanity Fair’s report claims that Musk introduced Epstein to Zuckerberg at the meeting.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/epsteins-secret-pic-of-wild-dinner-with-tech-titans-exposed/
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