Around 50 people currently in front of the courthouse are demanding that Shannon Miranda, alleged to have killed and buried at least eight dogs on his Fortuna property, be arrested and imprisoned. (Miranda has not been charged with any crime, and he has denied the accusations.)

Many of them are waving posters with dogs they claim Miranda once had at his shelter, altered to make the dogs look like they’re crying.

One woman, her two French bulldogs tattooed on her arm, told the Outpost she bought a pair of handcuffs for this protest, and would use them to arrest Miranda herself if she had the chance. 

“I swallowed the key,” she said. “So he’ll never get out.”

Others at the vigil, ostensibly being held to remember the dogs many of them accuse Miranda of killing, are taking a less hands-on approach, but still say they want justice — at minimum, a full search of his property carried out by the sheriff’s office. 

“Answers, I think, would help heal the community,” another woman told the Outpost, “and I think that’s what’s important. I need to know what happened to them.”

This story will be updated.

Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On June 2, 2026, at approximately 1:20 p.m., the Patrol Commander with the Eureka Police Department (EPD) had left the scene of an injury traffic collision at Sixth and H Streets when he observed a silver Mazda hatchback driving at a high rate of speed on the 1400 block of I Street. The Mazda made several unsafe lane changes and began traveling in the bicycle lane past vehicles for multiple blocks. The Mazda turned east on 7th Street and continued traveling at a high rate of speed while conducting unsafe lane changes.

The Commander and a Patrol Officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop; however, the driver was slow to yield and continued driving for several blocks before eventually stopping near the intersection of Fifth and S Streets.

The driver was identified as 41-year-old Liesel Norman of Eureka. Norman was taken into custody for reckless driving.

A record’s check revealed Norman is currently on probation. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers located suspected fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Norman was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges including reckless driving, possession of a controlled substance, possession of narcotics, and violation of probation.

EPD would like to remind motorists to drive safely and responsibly. Reckless driving behaviors, including unsafe lane changes, excessive speed, and failure to obey traffic laws, place everyone on the roadway at risk and will result in your arrest. Drivers are encouraged to remain attentive, follow all traffic regulations, and help keep Eureka’s streets safe for all road users.

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Up the Eel River, far from where Ferndale dairymen awake on dark mornings, beyond redwoods cloaked in fog, past abandoned train cars and the river canyon’s collapsed tunnels, and well into the chaparral hills of Mendocino and Lake counties, sits the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project.

It has diverted water from the Eel for over a century, and sits 160 miles from the river’s mouth.

To some, the project’s two dams, diversion infrastructure and defunct hydroelectric parts stapled onto a piece of the 200-mile Eel represents the promise of the next great dam removal project, something that will open up hundreds of miles of upstream habitat for fish and help restore decimated salmon runs the North Coast has historically relied on.

To others, the dam removal effort represents the meddling of NGOs and a massive utility in a scheme that will mean less water to rural farmers in Potter Valley when they need it most, and change the supply of thousands more downstream that have grown used to it.

In a flight hosted by environmental groups, the Outpost flew in a single-engine Cessna 210 Friday and saw the project with a birds-eye view.

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Myself and Outpost photographer Isabella Vanderheiden were nestled in the warm plane behind a candidate for state Senate and a Mendocino County supervisor hopeful.

We took selfies in green headsets. A voice told us the sky above Ukiah’s Municipal Airport was clear.

As the plane accelerated we watched parked pleasure crafts and FedEx vans whip past us. Ukiah’s buildings grew smaller as we lifted off. The little plane jolted and Isabella and I braced in our unfamiliarity with small aircraft.

We rose over a line of hills that march east of U.S. 101 in Mendocino County, with the waters of Lake County in the distance. We were told about a vision for the region environmental organizations have been dreaming of for thirty years.

Three groups who are pushing for dam removal — the Environmental Protection Information Center, Friends of the Eel River and CalTrout — put together the tour with EcoFlight.

As we flew over Potter Valley, where the headwaters of the east branch of the Russian River originate, I noticed the area is relatively small. It’s just about 12 square miles, peppered with a few ponds of water and a series of green fields.

The valley has been at the heart of a political movement opposing dam removal.

Alicia Hamann, executive director of Friends of the Eel River, told us the water there is mostly used to irrigate pasturelands.

“Even in drought years, they’re often able to take three cuttings of alfalfa, which is — for any of you who are familiar with the farming landscape — that’s relatively unheard of,” she said.

This agricultural area would still be getting water in a proposed two-basin solution, an agreement recently penned by involved groups across the state to allow for diversions to continue alongside PG&E’s plan for dam removal.

But the deal hinges these post-dam diversions on flows for fish, something new that environmental groups and Humboldt County representatives pushed for in the agreement signed last year. In the driest parts of the year, both fish and farmers need flows tapped from the Eel. Further south, people in Mendocino and Sonoma counties use the water diverted into the Russian River.

The project and water rights are owned by PG&E, but Potter Valley stopped producing electricity for the utility in July 2021.

Hamann pointed out the barn-like, broken powerhouse in the north part of the valley from above, surrounded by agricultural fields. PG&E previously estimated it would cost $10-15 million to rebuild the facility, she said.

“If anyone were to try to restart electrical generation there, they’re looking at a pretty sizeable price tag to get it even to a functional state,” she said.

We flew over where a tunnel through the mountain connects the Cape Horn dam to the Russian River, where an average of somewhere around 40,000 acre-feet of Eel River water is diverted annually.

Environmental groups have largely been concerned about the impacts of the dams on aquatic wildlife, and say 288 miles of potential salmon- and steelhead-rearing habitat is waiting for them above Scott Dam, which is presently impossible for fish to get past.

Hamann told us she’s been reflecting on how short, in an evolutionary timescale, the ecosystem of these waterways has existed.

Cape Horn Dam and the diversion tunnel were completed in 1908, while Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury were completed in 1922. The lengthy Eel River historically supported the third-largest runs of salmon and steelhead in California, according to CalTrout.

The 63-foot-tall Cape Horn dam, about 12 miles upriver of the larger Scott Dam, has a fish ladder.

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But the ladder “has had quite a few problems,” said Hamann. She said some fish issues have been addressed over the years, with an improved stream intake, a mechanism to stop clogs in the ladder and a tube for Pacific Lamprey (the namesake of the Eel, albeit erroneous).

Before the tube was installed, she watched lamprey try to migrate the fish ladder using their sucker mouths, before falling off again.

Unfortunately for fish, the ladder also serves as an “all you can eat buffet” for predators, she noted, who can wait at the spot to snatch dinner.

More so than feasting otters, the biggest problem for fish in the area, says Hamann, is the inter-dam reach, the 12-mile area of the mainstem Eel between the two dams.

“The habitat is pretty severely degraded,” she said.

Water temperatures affected by the dams are an issue, she says, particularly for juvenile salmon. Plus, there’s not a natural flow of sediment in this section and invasive pikeminnows thrive in the slow water and warm temperatures and eat native fish.

The pikeminnow was introduced into Lake Pillsbury (the reservoir made by Scott Dam) in the 1970s. The species is known to eat salmonids, and environmental groups say they’re a primary cause of the decline of salmon in the river.

But as we flew above a sharp rock on a hillside above the river, Bloody Rock, Hamann said the site represents the most hopeful part of the story for fish.

“What’s really, really cool is that Bloody Rock, that area is a partial barrier to migratory fish, and what they’ve found is that the trout that live up there in that part of the watershed actually maintain genetics to be anadromous fish, and in fact, to be summer steelhead,” she said.

Once these fish get back to the sea, says Hamann, their offspring could take on that life history in their genetics and become summer steelhead in practice. (The Eel River summer steelhead is listed as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act).

The area around the rock is “some of the best habitat in the entire watershed,” she said. Stream temperatures remain appropriate for salmonids, and the area is just right for spawning and rearing.

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Jane Pargiter, executive director of Colorado-based nonprofit EcoFlight, told the Outpost flights like these help provide an objective view of environmental issues, by showing off key landscapes in policy decisions.

After a successful landing I spoke with candidate for District 2 State Senate Damon Connolly, who wants to represent the North Coast including Lake, Mendocino and Humboldt counties. He said seeing the infrastructure and communities from above was helpful.

He spoke in support of the approach of the “two-basin solution,” an agreement that puts fish health and water diversion on equal footing.

“I appreciate the level of work that went into it — I think the task at hand now is how to effectuate the solution,” he said.

Under the two-basin solution, he pointed to benefits to habitat and environment, river flow, while also addressing issues that are part of the negotiated solution around maintaining water supply to communities to the south.

When asked about recent news that the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, which serves around 160,000 residential and commercial users in western Riverside County, is in talks about taking over the project, he said he found it unacceptable.

“The notion that somehow a Southern California water district is going to inject itself into the situation in our communities is unacceptable, to me,” he said.

And federal cabinet members have spoken in support of this plan.

“One is left to wonder if it’s political theater from this administration, if it’s real. I believe we need to at least assume that we need to take it seriously and react accordingly,” he said, noting he’s been in conversation with Rep. Jared Huffman, who announced an investigation into the Trump Administration’s role in the district’s involvement.

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District 2 State Senate candidate Damon Connolly poses for a photo at the Ukiah Municipal Airport after an flight over the Potter Valley project. 

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These days, PG&E is knee-deep in the long, drawn out regulatory process required to decommission a dam. PG&E filed the paperwork to pursue relicensing of the project in 2019, citing high operational costs.

In 2025, after no other groups told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the agency in charge of approving the dam decommissioning plan) they wanted to take over the project, PG&E filed a final License Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan.

Meanwhile, for almost a decade, a group of various agencies have been hashing out the future of diversion under the two-basin solution, with help from Rep. Jared Huffman.

This includes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Trout, Eel-Russian Project Authority, Humboldt County, Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, Round Valley Indian Tribes, Sonoma County, Sonoma County Water Agency and Trout Unlimited, who signed onto a historic deal last year.

But a push against this agreement has picked up. Lake County leadership have been speaking out against the plan, alongside a spread of Potter Valley residents and those who own property around the reservoirs.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins filed a notice to intervene in the FERC process last year, and more recently has tweeted in support of talks with Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District.

Despite this push, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has recently indicated it would eliminate alternatives other than PG&E’s proposal, according to reporting from the Press Democrat.

Environmentalists are hopeful the Trump administration’s meddling won’t stop dam removal.

“Regardless of that tweet, this is all that’s officially on the table,” said CalTrout’s Charlie Schneider, who leads the environmental nonprofit’s effort to remove the dams. He gets the impression FERC largely stays out of the political thicket.

PG&E won’t be done with this latest phase in the process for the next few years. A first draft of a surrender order is expected in possibly 2028 or 2029.

Ultimately, enviros see dam removal as essential to restoring the Eel River.

It is estimated that less than 5% of the historical fish population remains in the Eel. A massive drop in salmon in Humboldt County and California at large have shaped the communities who’ve traditionally lived off the fish.

Schneider said in an email it’s difficult to tease out the impacts of the dams from other factors, like historic logging, overfishing or cannabis. But he said the issues compound.

“If a fish can’t spawn in the headwaters, and has to survive pikeminnow, and has a degraded estuary, it makes it really hard to survive. So we think about this issues in aggregate,” he said.

“But, we also know things are not going well, and the headwaters are really important for spawning chinook and for spawning and rearing steelhead, so dam removal is the most important single action we can take to recover fish,” he said.

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Mattole Road is a long, hard drive. Cars with lackluster engines and weak drivetrains struggle to clear the steep climbs — drivers who haven’t bothered to replace thinning brake pads could have the opposite problem on the way down. Riding it on a bicycle is hellish, but every fall, during the 100-mile Tour of the Unknown Coast, (once marketed as “California’s Toughest Century) hundreds of people would do it anyway, grinding up hills so steep they look vertical from the bottom, sailing down them at teeth-rattling speeds  — but after several years of struggling with tax issues, the race is no more. 

Founded in the late ‘70s, the TUC, as participants called it, ran until 2024, though some years the event wasn’t held. Racers started in Ferndale, and would ride down to the Avenue of the Giants, over to Petrolia and up Mattole Road back to Ferndale, riding over 9,000 feet of elevation gain in about 100 miles. In many years, there were also shorter events. 

Race organizers sent out an announcement on May 15, informing interested riders that the event wasn’t going to be held in 2026. The TUC wasn’t held in 2025 either, but the notice sent out last month made it clear that the event was gone for good. “At this time we will be closing the affairs of the non-profit and not hosting the Tour of the Unknown Coast event again,” it reads. “We truly hope the legacy lives on by people continuing to ride the legendary course and enjoying time on their bikes all along the North Coast.” 

The TUC was operated by a 501(c)(3) organization, called Tour of the Unknown Coast Inc. Every year, tax-exempt nonprofits have to file IRS Form 990, which details its expenses and revenues. If they don’t, the IRS can revoke its tax-exempt status. The IRS revokes it automatically after three years without filing, which appears to be the case for TUC Inc. The IRS posted a notice on the IRS’ webpage detailing TUC Inc.’s finances — which are public record — in March 2023, saying that the organization had failed to file Form 990 for three straight years and its tax-exempt status was rescinded.

Reached by phone yesterday, Chris Johnson, co-owner of outdoor gear store Adventure’s Edge and a member of TUC Inc.’s board at the time of its demise, confirmed that was the case. Johnson, along with four others, took over the nonprofit’s board of directors early last year. They were unaware of the non-filing issues, he said, and they couldn’t manage to convince the IRS to give them a break. (The last 990 TUC Inc. filed was in 2017.) Johnson declined to say who the other four people were. 

Sean Tetrault, co-owner of Revolution Bicycles, who was on the board for about six years until 2019 or so, told the Outpost the responsibility probably just “fell through the cracks.” TUC Inc. had, at one point, as many as a dozen members responsible for keeping it running. They were paid, and the board’s treasurer was also a CPA. (The TUC stopped filing its 990s around the same time the CPA left the board.) By the late 2010s, there were about half as many board members, all volunteers. They didn’t always have a lot of time to dedicate to the TUC. 

Johnson didn’t place any blame on the previous members of the board, who he said had done a good job of keeping the race running and fun. (“The previous board, and everybody else, did a great job for a long time,” he said. “…I don’t want to put a bad word on anybody here in this situation.”) What really damaged the event’s long-term feasibility was simply a declining number of participants. The tour attracted as many as 3,000 riders every year during its heyday in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Johnson said, and even as late as 2010 there were often as many as 500 people riding the 100-miler. In 2024, there were only 70. Gravel and mountain biking races have surged in popularity since the Covid pandemic, siphoning riders away from more traditional road races. 

Many riders were from out-of-town, Johnson said, and the growing number of events elsewhere meant people weren’t forced to travel to Humboldt to compete. Many riders come north from the Bay Area, and a closer race in Napa or Mendocino shaves off a few hours of travel. The Grasshopper Adventure Series, a circuit of events around the North Coast, was forced to cancel another event in Humboldt, the Lost Coast Hopper, this year as well. Local interest dwindled too, and at the same time, the price to put on an event of the TUC’s size and complexity increased dramatically. 300 people paying even $100 to ride would barely break even. 

Tetrault also pointed out that when the board members earned a stipend, they could spend time nailing down sponsorships for the race and engaging with the community, something often beyond a volunteer’s capabilities. Less time available for getting sponsors meant less money invested in the event meant fewer riders. 

Tetrault said he’d miss it.

“Not every event can just go on forever, and unfortunately, lots of events fade away,” Johnson said. “People do different things over time, and events change, and, you know, boards can do what they can to try and keep events going, but eventually, those with low interest — they just fade away.”

Various past TUC board members did not respond to requests for comment. 

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Press release from Rumble Over the Redwoods:

Rumble Over the Redwoods returns to the California Redwood Coast–Humboldt County Airport (ACV) on August 8-9, 2026, bringing another weekend of world‑class aerial performances to Humboldt County.

Fans can look forward to another thrilling lineup of performers, including the Patriots Jet Team, Smoke ‘n Thunder Jet Truck, a special appearance by the Red Bull Air Force, several World War II-era fighters, aerobatic aircraft, skydivers and more.

“Airshows have always been a uniquely American tradition, and there’s no better time to celebrate that than during our nation’s 250th anniversary,” said Air Show Director Dennis Dunbar. “This milestone inspired us to raise the bar and create an unforgettable weekend that celebrates both our nation’s history and the community that makes this event possible.”

Along with aerial performances, the event will feature static aircraft displays, food trucks, novelty vendors and family-friendly activities for all ages to enjoy.

“This event wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support of our community,” said Dunbar. “From our volunteers and sponsors to the local businesses and families who support the show year after year, Rumble Over the Redwoods is truly a community effort, and we’re excited to welcome everyone back to the airport this August.”

Tickets are available now at www.rumbleovertheredwoods.com. For the latest performer announcements, exclusive offers, event news and behind-the-scenes updates, fans can subscribe to the show’s email list and follow Rumble Over the Redwoods on Facebook and Instagram @rumbleovertheredwoods.

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About Rumble Over the Redwoods

Established in 2024, Rumble Over the Redwoods is Humboldt County’s hometown air show. The two-day event features an incredible lineup of performers, thrilling aerobatic displays and engaging activities for the whole family to enjoy. Its mission is to honor the sacrifices of those who have served and inspire the next generation. Join us as we take to the skies above California’s Redwood Coast on August 8-9, 2026 at California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport (ACV). For more information or to learn how to get involved, visit www.rumbleovertheredwoods.com.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

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Even after all the ballots have been cast on Tuesday, it might be a while before Californians know the results of some significant races this election, given the state’s notoriously slow counting.

California has made headlines for trailing other states when it comes to tallying its votes. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter last month to all 52 county elections officials urging them to “accurately count every lawfully cast ballot as quickly as possible,” saying that “mis- and dis-information” can spread in the time between Election Day and when the results are certified as official.

The delay is due in part to ways California has endeavored to make it easier to vote since the COVID-19 pandemic: Every registered voter gets a mail-in ballot, and ballots are valid as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county elections offices within seven days of the election. California’s one of eight states that allow all elections to be conducted by mail, with varying grace periods for ballots that are postmarked by Election Day. Those grace periods are at risk with the U.S. Supreme Court currently weighing a change that would require ballots to arrive by Election Day.

For mail-in ballots that arrive before Tuesday, elections officials can begin certifying signatures and preparing the ballots for counting; for those that come in later, elections clerks must do this work later, delaying results.

According to voter data firm Political Data Inc., nearly 17% of registered California voters had cast their ballots as of Monday afternoon, a similar return rate as in 2022.

Paul Mitchell, the founder of Political Data Inc., said he expects a higher turnout than in 2022, since early returns already have shown a higher Republican turnout, and some of the Democrats hanging onto their ballots are “high-propensity voters.”

“There’s a lot of evidence here that we’re probably headed towards 38%, 40% turnout in total, rather than 33% which was the turnout in 2022,” he said.

Elections experts say California’s high proportion of competitive districts and generous windows to fix errors have also added to the longer wait time for results.

Changes aim to speed up counting

Several recent changes could make a dent in when Californians know the outcome of certain races.

The first is a change to how long elections officials have to count: Due to Assembly Bill 5, which was signed into law last year, counties now have 13 days to finish counting most ballots, down from 30 days. Newsom pointed to the change during a news conference last week as a move toward “timely ballot counting.” County officials still have 30 days to finalize their official results.

However, Jesse Salinas, Yolo County’s top elections official and the president of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials, said the new law doesn’t apply to the ballots that take the most time to count, including those filed by voters who registered on election day and those where a signature doesn’t match what’s on file. State law provides a weeks-long window for those questions to be addressed.

“I’m hearing these comments about ‘We should be done by the 13th day,’ — that’s legally not possible by state law,” he said.

Another is trying to pare down the glut of mail-in ballots that come into ballot boxes on Election Day, which slows down vote counting, according to Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation.

A survey conducted by the foundation found that 26 of the state’s 58 counties will give voters the option of bringing their mail-in ballot to the elections office Tuesday and having it scanned and counted that day as an “in-person” ballot. The change was made possible by Assembly Bill 626, passed in 2023.

In Placer County, where the system debuted in 2024 as “sign, scan and go,” officials said it cut post-election processing time by about three to four days.

Some have issues with the assertion that the long tabulation process makes it easy for people to sow distrust in election results.

Mindy Romero, a political sociologist and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California, said the argument is based on repeatedly discredited claims of voter fraud. She said the narrative that anyone is tampering in elections has been “artificially generated” by politicians like President Donald Trump to undermine the electoral process.

“I think the focus should not be on fixing something that is flawed or wrong, because that long count is a product of making sure that every ballot is verified — indeed, just the opposite of the claims around fraud,” she said.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

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California voters will advance two candidates for governor to the November election in the most unsettled gubernatorial race in recent memory, concluding a long and winding primary campaign in which Democrats struggled to pick a new leader for the nation’s most populous blue state.

The decision comes at a particularly consequential time for California. Residents face a crushing cost of living, nation-topping gas prices made worse by the war in Iran, wildfire risks that have driven insurance companies out of state, an unstable state budget, impending federal cuts to the state’s expansive health system and an economy dampened by immigration enforcement.

Democratic former state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has promised to fight Trump and freeze insurance and utility rates, is the leading Democrat in opinion polls and is favored by much of the state’s Democratic establishment. He appeared in contention to secure one of the top two spots for November heading into Election Day.

Republican Steve Hilton, a Donald Trump-endorsed former Fox News host who has vowed to cut income taxes and slash environmental regulations, was polling in second place ahead of Election Day, having consolidated support from many of the state’s conservatives.

But billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer, a progressive Democrat who has self-funded his campaign to the tune of $213 million, was still fighting for one of the top spots. A series of polls released in the final days of the race showed Becerra in the lead with roughly a quarter of likely voters’ support, and Steyer and Hilton locked in a tight battle for second.

Votes could take days or weeks to tally. Pollsters and strategists noted that lingering Democratic uncertainty led some voters to wait so they could back whoever appears to be ahead.

“Those polls could become self-fulfilling,” said Paul Mitchell, a Democratic strategist whose company tracks ballot return data.

The race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will leave office at the end of the year due to term limits, is the marquee contest on the ballot Tuesday. The seat is considered a shoo-in in November for Democrats, who have nearly twice as many registered voters as Republicans, and holds national importance for the Democratic Party’s pushback to the Trump administration.

It’s also been one of the most unusually open races in recent state history.

No Democratic stars in the race

In contrast to decades of California politics dominated by movie stars, family dynasties and larger-than-life personalities, none of the most recognizable Democratic names jumped into the race.

That led to a crowded field on the left, briefly causing liberals to panic that Hilton and a fellow Republican, the bombastic Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, could each garner more votes than any Democrat, locking the party out of the general election. The state Democratic Party began a public pressure campaign asking lower-polling candidates to drop out. Nearly all stayed in the race.

But when Democratic then-Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out over multiple sexual assault allegations, Becerra was the clear beneficiary, raking in many of Swalwell’s donors and supporters. He’s been surging ever since, successfully dodging criticism of his record. Steyer, who spent $200 million boosting his name recognition through campaign ads, consolidated much of the party’s left flank. Former Rep. Katie Porter, a progressive dogged by allegations about her temperament, fell behind. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a moderate backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, rose from single digits in the polls, but not enough.

Trump’s endorsement of Hilton quickly helped him pull away from Bianco, making it unlikely both Republicans would come in first and second. If Hilton advances to the November election, he faces long odds of being elected against a Democrat.

Both he and Steyer have spent the final weeks of the campaign portraying Becerra as a symbol of the status quo and themselves as agents of systemic change amid multiple state crises, with affordability dominating the race.

For Hilton, that would mean ending 16 years of “one-party rule” under Democrats, slashing spending and reversing many liberal policies such as greenhouse gas reduction mandates, the progressive tax system and parts of the social safety net.

“After 16 years of everything being in one direction, that’s left a lot of people dissatisfied,” he said last week. “Anybody who wants change or balance in our politics, the only choice is for me.”

His name recognition as a former Fox host helped him start the race with a fan base. Nancy LeVesque, a retired Roseville store clerk, already admired him and said he was an easy choice as she dropped off her ballot at a Placer County vote center on Monday. She liked that he would bring an outsider’s perspective to the governor’s office and a change for those leaving California because of its liberal politics.

“We have lost so many good people,” to other states, she said.

Steyer styled himself as a populist “class traitor” who would force lower costs for Californians by taking on monied special interests like investor-owned utilities, the real estate industry and health insurance corporations. He made a litany of progressive promises on climate change, single-payer health care and raising taxes on the wealthy.

Undecided voter Tina Varnado attended a rally last week for Steyer hosted by her union, which represents home health aides. The South Sacramento resident is a full-time caretaker for her elderly mother and her adult daughter who had open-heart surgery. Between her mother’s social security checks and her pay as her daughter’s health aide, “we do have to spend everything we have every single month” to stay afloat, she said.

“Everything he touched on really touched home for me,” she said after hearing Steyer speak. “If we can lower prices, maybe we can start putting money down on a home for my future.”

Becerra has emphasized his long experience in government, including his lawsuits against the first Trump administration and his time as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary during the pandemic.

That appealed to Evan Cragin, of the California Young Democrats, which endorsed Becerra weeks before his sudden surge. Cragin said he wants the next governor to have government experience to push back on federal “abuses” from the Trump administration.

“Secretary Becerra has done that before,” Cragin said.

Surrounded by supporters at the offices of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California on Monday, Becerra dismissed his opponents’ promises, pointing to past accomplishments including passing the Affordable Care Act and defending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program.

“You can have all these great inflated promises,” he said. “Getting things done is not easy.”

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Ryan Sabalow contributed reporting.