带走里克·克莱因
加利福尼亚召回具有特色一个奥运冠军变成现实的明星，一个房地产巨头谁与一只半吨重的科迪亚克熊，加上44名其他候选人，包括一名萨满瑜伽教练、一名社交媒体影响者和一个自称的“洛杉矶广告牌图标”
然而，召回州长加文·纽瑟姆的努力看起来几乎不像阿诺德·施瓦辛格上任时的做法。这与其说是因为缺少多彩的角色，不如说是因为更高的感知风险在选民的生活中——以及民主党人努力重演2020年而不是2003年。
随着投票在美国东部时间周二晚上11点结束，这场比赛将在开始时结束——这是对COVID时代治理的考验，民主党人的进攻接近尾声。纽森和全国民主党都为自己的领导地位辩护解释了替代方案意味着，有了某些前总统作为陪衬。
“投反对票将保护加州免受特朗普共和党人试图阻止我们战胜这场大流行病的影响，”美国总统乔·拜登周一晚上在加州长滩的纽森集会上说。“你要么让加文·纽瑟姆继续当你的州长，要么你就会得到唐纳德·特朗普。”
“特朗普主义仍在选票上，”纽森说。
这领先的共和党替代者候选人拉里·埃尔德(Larry Elder)一直扮演特朗普时代的角色，甚至暗示选举结果可能不可信。更经常和相关的是，他承诺撤销口罩和疫苗的授权，这是纽森大流行领导的标志。
一张纽瑟姆无视自己州的COVID限制的照片在网上疯传后，州长提前宣布了召回向大流行倾斜作为让他继续执政的理由。
对民主党人来说至关重要的是，他们似乎取得了这场比赛是一个选择而不是简单的公投。深蓝色的加利福尼亚将提供适用于其他地方的有限课程，但如果纽森获胜，这将被记住一段时间。
与...的关系阿维·哈珀
众议院外交事务委员会长达数小时的会议转移到了党派诽谤在国务卿安东尼·布林肯首次出现在国会期间自从美国撤军以来在阿富汗。
布林肯维持他的辩护拜登政府的撤军的决定并将前总统唐纳德·特朗普与塔利班的交易列为混乱撤军的一个因素。
“我们继承了一个期限。我们没有继承计划，”布林肯告诉委员会在他的虚拟证词中。
以戏剧的方式，一些共和党人委员会中的立法者指控布林肯撒谎和操纵情报。共和党众议员乔·威尔森告诉布林肯:“作为一名阿富汗老兵感激的父亲，我个人认为你的行为是站不住脚的”，然后说他应该辞职。共和党众议员斯科特·佩里。，甚至问布林肯有关亨特·拜登的问题，因为“国务卿通常拒绝回答有关阿富汗的问题。”
双方的立法者都批评了这次随意的撤军，包括杀害13名美国军人的袭击，并就特殊移民签证申请人和仍留在这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家的美国公民向布林肯提出了质疑。布林肯告诉委员会，政府正在致力于获得每一个美国人离开阿富汗，但是没有做出同样明确的承诺对所有阿富汗盟友来说。
布林肯会再次陷入困境周二，这一次是在参议院外交关系委员会作证。
小费亚里沙·维尔塞马
当加州人投票时另一场重要的选举将在波士顿的市长初选中展开。五名候选人的范围将缩小到最后两名候选人，他们将在11月进行角逐。
所有高层竞争者是有色人种女性在历史性的种族紧张局势中，由白人领导的城市遗产发生了重大变化。市议员吴弭是主要候选人，其他市议员安德里亚·坎布尔和安尼萨·艾萨比·乔治以及代理市长金·詹尼可能会争夺第二名。
珍妮的临时提升三月份对市长办公室的访问本身就是历史性的。尽管如此，现任市长对一系列政治争议的处理——包括解雇一名警察局长和波士顿地区学校委员会的种族紧张局势——不利于她保持明显领先的能力。上个月，珍妮还援引了疫苗护照和特朗普时代的生育主义或奴隶必须“出示证件”之间的比较，随后收回了这一比较
顶层的多样性反映了这座城市日益增长的人口统计数据的显著变化——根据人口普查数据，波士顿一半以上的人口现在由有色人种组成。在政治上，这座城市的大部分地区也属于众议员阿扬娜·普雷斯利的国会选区，她在2018年的胜利使她成为马萨诸塞州第一位黑人国会女议员。
COVID-era governance gets California test: The Note
The TAKE withRick Klein
The Californiarecall has featuredan Olympic-champion-turned-reality star, a real-estate magnatewho campaigns witha half-ton Kodiak bear, plus 44 other candidates who include a shaman yoga instructor, a social-media influencer and a self-described "LA billboard icon."
Yet the push to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom has looked almost nothing like the one Arnold Schwarzenegger rode to office. That's not for lack of colorful characters so much as it is for thehigher perceived stakesin the lives of voters -- and Democrats' efforts to replay 2020 instead of 2003.
With voting concluding at 11 p.m. ET Tuesday, the race is ending as it started -- as a test of COVID-era governance, just with Democrats on offense toward the close. Newsom and national Democrats have both defended their leadership andexplained what the alternativewould mean, with acertain former presidentas a foil.
"Voting no will be protecting California from Trump Republicans trying to block us from defeating this pandemic," President Joe Biden said Monday night at Newsom's rally in Long Beach, California. "You either keep Gavin Newsom as your governor, or you'll get Donald Trump."
"Trumpism is still on the ballot," Newsom said.
Theleading Republican replacementcandidate, Larry Elder, has played to Trump-era type, right down to suggesting thatelectionresults may not be trusted. More regularly and relevantly, he has promised to reverse mask and vaccine mandates that have been hallmarks of Newsom's pandemic leadership.
After a viral photo of Newsom flouting his own state's COVID restrictions juiced the recall early on, the governorleaned in on the pandemicas the reason to keep him in office.
Critically for Democrats, they appear to have madethe race a choicerather than a simple referendum.Deep-blue Californiawill offer limited lessons applicable elsewhere, but that's one that, if Newsom prevails, will be remembered for a while.
The RUNDOWN withAveri Harper
An hours-long session of the House Foreign Affairs Committee devolved intopartisan mudslingingduring Secretary of State Antony Blinken's first appearance before Congresssince the U.S. troop withdrawalin Afghanistan.
Blinkenmaintained his defenseof the Biden administration'sdecision to pull troops outand cited former President Donald Trump's deal with the Taliban as a factor in the chaotic withdrawal.
"We inherited a deadline. We did not inherit a plan," Blinkentold the committeein his virtual testimony.
In theatrical fashion, some Republicanlawmakers on the committeeaccused Blinken of lying and manipulating intelligence. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., told Blinken: "As the grateful father of an Afghanistan veteran, I personally see your actions as indefensible" and then said he should resign. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., even asked Blinken about Hunter Biden because "the secretary generally refuses to answer questions about Afghanistan."
Lawmakers on both sides criticized the haphazard withdrawal, including the attack that killed 13 U.S. service members, and questioned Blinken on Special Immigrant Visa applicants and American citizens still left in the war-torn nation. Blinken told the committee the administration wascommitted to getting everyAmerican out of Afghanistan butdidn't make the same clear commitmentfor all Afghan allies.
Blinkenwill be in the hot seat againTuesday, this time testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The TIP withAlisa Wiersema
While Californians vote, another consequential election will be unfolding in Boston's preliminary mayoral race. The field of five hopefuls will be whittled to the final two candidates who will face off in November.
All of the topcontenders are women of color-- a significant change to the city's legacy of being led by white men amid historic racial tensions. City Councilor Michelle Wu is the leading candidate, potentially leaving fellow City Councilors Andrea Campbell and Annissa Essaibi George and acting Mayor Kim Janey vying for second place.
Janey'sinterim ascensionto the mayoral office in March was historic in its own right. Still, the current mayor's handling of a series of political controversies -- including the firing of a police commissioner and racial tensions in a Boston-area school committee -- worked against her ability to maintain a perceived lead. Last month, Janey also invoked -- and subsequently retracted -- a comparison between vaccine passports and Trump-era birtherism or slaves having to "show papers."
The diversity of the top tier reflects the notable change of the city's growing demographics -- according to census data, more than half of Boston's population now comprises of people of color. Politically, much of the city also falls into Rep. Ayanna Pressley's congressional district, whose 2018 victory made her Massachusetts' first Black congresswoman.
