Essential Politics: General election begins in aftermath of Orlando massacre

I’m Christina Bellantoni. This is Essential Politics, beginning with the aftermath of a horrific tragedy in Orlando.

The mass casualty shooting, deemed an act of terror and an act of hate by President Obama, will no doubt dominate the week in politics.

The ripple effects on the campaign trail haven’t yet been revealed, beyond Hillary Clinton postponing Wednesday’s planned Wisconsin rally with President Obama, although she will still campaign in Ohio and offer her first extended remarks on the massacre.

Donald Trump shifted a planned anti-Clinton speech Monday to be a national security address instead and also postponed a rally scheduled in New Hampshire.

In statements issued Sunday, the presumptive presidential nominees expressed grief and condolences. Trump pointedly said he has predicted such attacks would happen.

We will be covering the speeches and watching any further reaction. Track that on Trail Guide and follow @latimespolitics.

COUNTING, COUNTING, COUNTING

Elections officials across California begin the new week with more than 2 million ballots left to count from last week’s statewide primary. And one key question is how many arrived in the three days after election day. By law, those can now also be counted.

Keep an eye on our Essential Politics news feed for updates on races and check out the detailed results of every race.

IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR

More than 6 in 10 Bernie Sanders voters in California already have decided to side with Clinton in the fall — albeit most of them with reservations — and many of the rest said they might support her if she adopted some of his policies and received his endorsement, according to a new statewide poll.

The findings from a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times post-election survey suggest a path to unity, however fraught, for Democrats nationally as the party attempts to bind the wounds of the lengthy primary battle.

Cathleen Decker outlines the lessons learned from California’s primary now that the party is over.

Poll workers told Matt Pearce that Tuesday saw poll sites flooded by first-time voters and occasionally plagued by malfunctioning vote-scanning machines and incomplete voter rolls. Some of the issues that emerged: Voters showed up at polling sites and were told they weren’t listed on the voter rolls even though they had registered. Some were told they were registered for the wrong party, or that they had registered to vote by mail when they hadn’t.

POWERHOUSES JOIN EFFORT TO RECALL STANFORD RAPE CASE JUDGE

The case of the Stanford student found guilty of a 2015 campus rape has become one of the most talked-about stories around the nation the past few days. Now, some California political pros have joined the effort to launch a recall campaign against Judge Aaron Persky.

The Santa Clara County judge’s sentence of six months in jail for the perpetrator has struck many as too lenient. Late last week, political consultants Joe Trippi and John Shallman signed on to a pro bono effort to help. Trippi, you’ll remember, gained national prominence as the campaign manager for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential bid.

Meantime, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) also announced she’ll help raise campaign money for the effort to remove the judge from office.

DETAILS OF THE STATE BUDGET DEAL

Legislators in Sacramento will vote this week on a new state budget after reaching a deal with Gov. Jerry Brown last week. The spending plan increases money for child care and removes a controversial rule that limited welfare for families who have another child while receiving benefits.

There have also been steps taken toward a new housing plan, which has been a key issue in the Capitol this year. Brown agreed to set aside $400 million for affordable housing, but that will only be spent if lawmakers agree to regulatory changes that would make it easier to build new homes. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed the governor’s effort, calling it “a market solution to the state’s severe housing shortage.”

POLL: CALIFORNIANS STRONGLY APPROVE OF MINIMUM WAGE HIKE

Californians across almost all demographics showed broad support for the state’s recent decision to gradually boost the minimum wage to $15 an hour, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Support is particularly strong among black voters as well as state’s youngest and poorest adults.

But there’s also a twist, Liam Dillon reports. By a wide margin, those surveyed also believe that the wage hike will cause prices to rise and hurt the state’s economy.

ATTITUDES SHIFTING TOWARD TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

Californians’ support for transgender students being able to use bathrooms that match their gender identities is growing, especially among young people, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found.

MINIMIZING AWKWARDNESS IN THE U.S. SENATE RACE

Democrats in California’s Congressional delegation are doing their best to minimize the awkwardness that comes with two Democrats on the ballot for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Barbara Boxer — and one of them is a colleague.

Sarah Wire reports that Rep. Loretta Sanchez has support from 17 of her 39 fellow House Democrats. Nine House members have publicly backed Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris. A dozen lawmakers, plus Boxer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, are staying on the sidelines.

CALIFORNIA’S ‘MOST ENDANGERED’ MEMBER OF CONGRESS

Democrats have targeted Republican Rep. Steve Knight’s 25th Congressional District as a pick-up opportunity, and now the nonpartisan Cook Political Report agrees. The publication moved Knight’s seat into the “toss up” category thanks to Trump’s candidacy and the growth in Democratic voter registration in the district, which includes Lancaster and Santa Clarita.

A cushion of several thousand Republican voters has eroded and Democrats now have the edge in registration by 3,000 voters. Knight will face off against Democratic attorney Bryan Caforio, a political newcomer who has been lavished with endorsements and contributions from Democrats and their political action committees.

HUERTA TRAILS IN RACE FOR SECOND PLACE

Emilio Huerta, an attorney and the son of labor icon Dolores Huerta, was favored by establishment Democrats as the candidate best suited to take on Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) in the general election. Democratic power brokers even managed to successfully block Huerta’s primary opponent, Fowler City Councilman Daniel Parra, from getting the party’s endorsement through some dramatic maneuvers on the floor of the party’s convention earlier this spring.

Despite that support, Parra leads Huerta by about 600 votes in the race for second place as officials continue to count mail-in ballots in the Central Valley district.

“I’m feeling pretty damn good to have done what I’ve done,” Parra told The Times. “I’ve had the machine come at me and I’m still here.”

ANOTHER BATTLE AT THE CAPITOL ABOUT POLICE TAKING PEOPLE’S STUFF WITHOUT A CRIMINAL CONVICTION

After failing last year, state Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) is trying again to pass a bill that would limit California law enforcement from taking people’s assets without a criminal conviction. Law enforcement opposition killed the bill the first time, and police groups argue it would remove a key strategy for taking down high-level drug dealers. Dillon reports that if Mitchell’s bill passes, California would join a host of states that have reined in similar rules in recent years.

REMATCHES AND DEMOCRATIC BATTLES SET IN NOVEMBER’S LEGISLATIVE RACES

One thing was strikingly clear after Tuesday’s legislative contests were set for November: Early signs of depressed GOP votes in the presidential primary did not bode well for the fortunes of some Republicans vying for seats in the Legislature. Thanks to California’s top-two primary system, which allows the top two vote-getters to advance from a primary regardless of party, 14 contests will shut out Republicans altogether, leaving voters to choose between two Democrats. And for some Republican incumbents who did advance, their performance showed they might have reason to worry.

A BAN ON BOXING?

As fans the world over continue to mourn Muhammad Ali’s death at 74 on June 3, columnist George Skelton turns his focus this week to the sport that made the “Louisville Lip” famous. Boxing, Skelton writes, was once the target of former Gov. Pat Brown, who in 1963 tried unsuccessfully to convince the California Legislature to outlaw it. Now, Skelton says, after watching Ali’s health decline, it may be time to reconsider a ban.

PODCAST: PRIMARY POST-MORTEM

On this week’s California Politics Podcast, John Myers leads a discussion of the big political takeaways from the June 7 primary — not only who won and who lost, but also what the results might mean for both the November general election and beyond.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

-- Party unity doesn’t sound so elusive after the Clinton and Sanders battle when you compare it with 2008, Evan Halper and Christi Parsons write. To that end, the two Democrats are meeting Tuesday in Washington.

-- How do Clinton’s final days in the 2008 presidential race stack up against Sanders’ current run? Colleen Shalby crafted a timeline.

-- Clinton’s first general election television ad seeks to contrast her with Trump’s rhetoric.

-- Lisa Mascaro looks at how Republicans could lose Latinos for a generation.

-- Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed the National Rifle Assn. in an interview with television host Chelsea Handler after a California group with the NRA’s support suggested a new gun control initiative he backed will put transgender women at risk, Javier Panzar reports.

-- Ralph Nader argues in a Los Angeles Times op-ed there is no such thing as a “spoiler” and writes, “The least-worst choices are getting worse every four years, and the insiders only exacerbate the problem by trying to defang the third-party competition. So long as there’s no robust challenge to the duopoly, there’s no reason for insiders to improve.”

-- Attorneys for Trump are seeking to block the filing of a portion of his video-recorded deposition in a class-action lawsuit by former Trump University students, a move that could prevent the public release of the videos, according to a court document filed Friday.

-- What do you think of Trump? Readers can weigh in with our quick survey.

LOGISTICS

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