McCarthy heads for the congressional exit. What’s next for his district?

Good morning. It’s Thursday, Dec. 7. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• McCarthy heads for the congressional exit
• UNLV shooting: 3 killed, 1 critically injured, gunman also dead
• Where to order the best drinks in Los Angeles
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper
  

McCarthy heads for the congressional exit

Kevin McCarthy will begin the new year with the end of his career in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Bakersfield Republican announced Wednesday that he won’t seek reelection and he’ll retire by the end of 2023. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, he said he plans to “serve America in new ways.”

McCarthy had a stellar rise in state and national GOP politics over the last two decades. But it was his historic fall that he might become best known for. In October, a contingent of his fellow Republicans revolted, siding with Democrats to oust him from his position as “mayor of hell” — also known as speaker of the House.

“His departure opens the door for what could become a contested House race in California’s heavily Republican Central Valley,” Times reporter Erin B. Logan wrote, adding that his exit marks the latest downturn in the “steep decline of California’s political power in Washington.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein died in September and Rep. Nancy Pelosi stepped down from the House’s Democratic leadership at the start of 2023.

And as reporter Cameron Joseph noted in a recent story for The Times, McCarthy isn’t heading for the exit alone.

“With California’s Dec. 8 filing deadline to decide on running for reelection just days away, seven Golden State members of Congress have opted to leave — with four retiring outright rather than run for another office,” he wrote.

That group includes Tony Cárdenas (D-Pacoima), Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park) and Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk). Then there’s Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who are leaving the House in hopes of working on the other side of the Capitol, running for former Sen. Feinstein’s seat.

California’s notably conservative 20th Congressional District includes portions of Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties in the San Joaquin Valley, covering some of the state’s lucrative farmland and oil sites. So who might jump into the race to lead it?

The Times’ Phil Willon and Mackenzie Mays put together a list of potential Republican contenders, including state Assemblymember Vince Fong, state Sen. Shannon Grove and Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig. A couple of Democrats are considered “wild cards & long shots.”

McCarthy’s retirement could be felt in the GOP’s wallet. McCarthy helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Republican campaigns last election cycle, Erin noted.

He was also good at spending money too, as detailed in a Times investigation from Paul Pringle and Adam Elmahrek published Thursday morning.

Over roughly 10 years, McCarthy’s Majority Committee PAC “shelled out more than $1 million on hotels, private air travel and eateries, according to Federal Election Commission records.

“That’s more than double the combined total spent by the leadership PACs of the seven other lawmakers who’ve held the top House and Senate positions for their parties during all or part of that period, according to the Times analysis,” Paul and Adam noted.

You can read more here about McCarthy’s spending and the growing concerns by good government advocates that leadership PACs are being used as personal slush funds.

More about Kevin McCarthy:

• Read our 2022 profile: Ambition keeps him loyal to Donald Trump. But what does Kevin McCarthy stand for?
• McCarthy’s once formidable powers of persuasion couldn’t stop a humiliating, historic defeat

Today’s top stories

Law enforcement officers take up positions on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, campus after reports of an active shooter.

(Steve Marcus / Associated Press)

Crime and courts

• A mass shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, ended with multiple victims and the shooter dead, police said.
• As another mass shooting traumatizes a college campus, California universities have developed a set of tools to protect their students, faculty and staff.
• Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties has filed a formal complaint against Fontana, which is allegedly blocking abortion access, a right protected in the California Constitution.
• Just weeks after R&B singer Cassie accused Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexual assault, another woman says Combs and two other men “gang raped” her when she was 17.

Environment and climate change

• Scientists exploring the Northern California Coast have, for the first time, uncovered a treasure trove of carbon compacted on the seafloor.
• A federal agency wants sweeping changes in SoCal shipping to help prevent or minimize ruptures like the one that spilled 25,000 gallons of crude oil off Huntington Beach.
• California will mandate electric school buses. But rural districts say they don’t work.

War in the Middle East

• California cities tackle Israel-Hamas war: Taking a stand or inflaming divisions?
• Across the Los Angeles area, home to the second-largest Jewish community in the United States, Jews are unsure how they want to celebrate Hanukkah as the bloodshed continues in the Middle East.
• In an abrupt shift of plans, California’s annual holiday tree lighting at the Capitol was postponed a day and moved online, a change state officials attributed to potential protests.
• U.S. college campuses have embraced the Palestinian cause like never before. The story began six decades ago.

More big stories

• A city audit found that quality issues with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s interim housing data make it “nearly impossible” to find available shelter beds.
• Alarmed at the high rate of euthanasia at its two Antelope Valley shelters, L.A. County is moving to add kennels and revisit policies on putting dogs down.
• Santa Cruz leaders say their plan for downtown high-rises would ease out-of-control housing costs. Activists call the plan “out of character” for the laid-back beach town and are pushing a measure that would stymie new construction.
• Bird flu concerns grow in California as deadly virus infects more farms.
• Four takeaways from Wednesday night’s GOP presidential debate — one of the last major opportunities to change the dynamic in the 2024 primary.
  

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Commentary and opinions

• Dylan Hernández: If you are upset Dave Roberts commented on Shohei Ohtani, relax.
• Opinion: How are people changed by being taken hostage by Hamas? By fleeing Israeli bombs?
• Editorial: No evidence for Biden impeachment inquiry? No problem. The House GOP doesn’t seem to care.
• Editorial: Kevin McCarthy quits Congress. It’s poetic justice for the Trump apologist.
• LZ Granderson: Who cares about Billie Eilish’s sexual orientation?
• George Skelton: Hardscrabble trailblazer Toni Atkins would be an intriguing candidate for California governor.
• Jorge Castillo: MLB teams say they can’t talk about free agents. That’s not entirely true.
• Mark Z. Barabak: In two decades, much of the West has turned blue. Why hasn’t Texas?

Today’s great reads

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The last Chuck E. Cheese animatronic band in the world will exist in Northridge. The goal — or hope — for the company is to have at least one location that can serve both new generations as well as nostalgia hunters, especially fans of animatronic figures.

Other great reads

• Into the metal-verse: Why Avenged Sevenfold is doing virtual reality concerts.
• An auto engineer became a full-time potter in L.A. Thank her high school art teacher.
• Norman Lear, the legendary television producer who died Tuesday at 101, left behind a legacy that stretched beyond the dozens of television shows he developed during a seven-decade career.
  

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

Cocktails from Fable & Spirit in Newport Beach, from left: Beets By Drew, Late Night Conversations, Donnelly Visa, Chasing Perfection, A Millie Here, A Millie There.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• ☕ Coffee, tea, wine, sake and mezcal: Our critic’s favorite spots to drink in L.A.
• 🎁 15 Latinx-owned places to shop this holiday season in L.A.
• 💋No chemistry right away? Here’s why you should still go on that second date.

Staying in

• 📀 A two-disc 25th anniversary 4K Blu-ray and limited edition box set of “Titanic” has arrived.
• 📺 7 essential Norman Lear TV shows and where to watch them.
• 📚 From Madonna to Barbra Streisand, it was the year music took over books.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for Lupe and Cecilia Del Rivo’s pizzelle (southern Italian cookies)
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... from our archives

On Dec. 7 1941, Japanese bombers launched a surprise military strike on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

(Los Angeles Times)

On this day 82 years ago, Japanese bombers launched a surprise military strike on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, precipitating the United States’ entry into World War II.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Elvia Limón, multiplatform editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Laura Blasey, assistant editor

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