Two races with different polling pictures
An election commentary item, accompanied by photographs of gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, cautioned that some close contests might not be decided until weeks after polls close.
With a week remaining before the election, CalMatters reported that Democrat Becerra led Republican Hilton by 27 percentage points in an Emerson College poll. The survey, conducted Oct. 17-19, 2026, put support among likely voters at 60% for Becerra and 33% for Hilton. Becerra had raised about $40 million, compared with Hilton's $33.6 million.
The Los Angeles mayoral race presented a different picture. A Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll conducted Oct. 19-25, 2026, found incumbent Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman tied at 40% among likely voters, with about 19% undecided, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Press-Telegram's commentary page included a blunt assessment of Bass, arguing that her poor performance as mayor would not improve.
The winner will lead Los Angeles during the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. The Los Angeles Times reported that the city would be responsible for the first $270 million in losses if the Games lose money.
Driverless service and the push for local authority
A commentary item illustrated with a Nuro vehicle in San Diego urged California leaders to support further progress in autonomous driving rather than reverse it. In San Diego, driverless passenger service has begun while city officials seek a greater role in regulating deployment.
According to The UCSD Guardian, Waymo began commercial driverless passenger service in the city on Sept. 1, 2026, following about a year of testing. The California Public Utilities Commission had authorized the company on Aug. 14 to expand autonomous passenger services into parts of Northern and Southern California, including San Diego.
On Sept. 14, the San Diego City Council unanimously adopted a resolution asking the California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom to give cities more authority over autonomous vehicle deployment, including robotaxis such as Waymo. The resolution is nonbinding; regulatory jurisdiction remains solely with the CPUC and the California Department of Motor Vehicles, The UCSD Guardian reported.
Zoox and Nuro are also testing vehicles in San Diego, according to The UCSD Guardian. Separately, Nuro announced on its blog on May 8, 2026, that it had obtained a CPUC permit to test robotaxi passenger service in California.
The renewable energy targets behind the debate
The commentary page also featured an argument for changing California's Renewables Portfolio Standard mandates to give utilities greater control over spending. The excerpt ends before completing its description of the potential energy-related benefit.
The CPUC says California established the standard in 2002 and expanded it through SB 100 in 2018. Retail electricity sellers must procure 60% renewable energy by 2030, while the state has a goal of making all retail electricity sales renewable or zero-carbon by 2045.
According to the CPUC, every retail seller met the interim 46.67% target for Dec. 31, 2025. The commission also reported that renewables accounted for 45% of the three large investor-owned utilities' combined retail electricity sales in 2025.
Social Security, housing and government scrutiny
Other commentary excerpts warned that delaying action on Social Security would leave politicians with worse choices and connected California's housing needs with its prospects as a place of opportunity.
An item about government secrecy recalled disclosures by two whistleblowers 30 years earlier. Another questioned the basis for policy decisions by politicians including Newsom; it appeared alongside a photograph of the governor at an event marking the 20th anniversary of California's AB 32 climate law.
