By Laurel Rosenhall, CalMatters

CalMatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  President-elect Joe Biden arrives with his running mate, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to speak in Wilmington, Deleware, on the evening before the Associated Press called the race for them. Her role is likely to be an asset for her home state of California. Photo by Carolyn Kaster, AP Photo

November 7, 2020 (Sacramento) - Goodbye, state of resistance. Hello, state of influence. 

Source:  goaztecs.om

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

November 7, 2020 (Carson, Calif.) - In a battle of two unbeaten teams, San Diego State dropped its first game of the 2020 campaign after suffering a 28-17 setback to San José State Friday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Erik Herrara

November 5, 2020 (San Diego) – Yesterday, the day after the presidential election, the San Diego March for Democracy Coalition held a press conference and “Count Every Vote” car caravan through local communities.  The action was called to protest President Donald Trump’s premature victory claim and demand for vote counting to stop.

In the early hours after Election Day, when no media outlets had declared a winner and with millions of votes yet to be counted in key battleground states, Trump stated, “We want all the voting to stop.”  The votes being counted were cast legally on or before election day.

CNN labeled Trump’s premature victory claim and demand to stop vote counting as “false, authoritarian and undemocratic.” Many Republican leaders have also denounced the President’s actions.

Biden, by contrast, has said he believes he will win but has urged that every vote be counted.

Democrats appear to have taken control of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for the first time in at least a generation. But that doesn’t mean they’ll automatically agree on what to prioritize, or how to go about it.

By Jesse Marx and Maya Srikrishnan, Voice of San Diego

Photo:  from left: Democrats Terra Lawson-Remer, Nathan Fletcher and Nora Vargas / Photos by Adriana Heldiz

November 4, 2020 (San Diego) - Democrats appear to have taken control of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for the first time in at least a generation.

By Mike Allen

If voting trends continue, the Padre Dam Municipal Water District will see a new face on its five-member board.

Teacher Suzanne Till was leading longtime incumbent Augie Scalzitti by a 48 to 31 percent margin as of the latest tally from the county’s Registrar of Voters early Nov.4.

James Sly, chief operating officer at the East County Economic Development Council, was third at 20 percent of the vote.

The race was in the No. 2 Division. In Division 4, Augie Caires was unopposed and will win his third term on the board. He served as the district’s CEO for 13 years.

November 4, 2020 (San Diego's East County) -- Video is now posted of East County Magazine's November 3, 2020 Election NIght special report. Our reporting team provided early results and analysis of East County  Congressional, supervisorial, city council, mayoral and school board races as well as ballot measures and other key contests.

We also interviewed Ammar Campa-Najjar, who at the time was leading in the 50th Congressional district race which later flipped to Darrell Issa. 

View video of our coverage:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brBi8ReloI0&feature=youtu.be

Source: San Diego County Sheriff's Department

Prepared by: Melissa Aquino

November 4, 2020 (San Diego) - A new San Diego County Sheriff's Department service is now available to keep you informed. 

Call or text "Hello" to (858) 866-HELO (4356) to receive helicopter messages straight to your phone. 

Sheriff's ASTREA (helicopter) uses a loudspeaker when searching for a missing person or suspect. Announcements are also made during critical incidents such as a SWAT standoff, disasters, crowd management events or to give people a shelter in place notification.

This is not an automated or a push notification service. You still need to call or text "Hello" to (858) 866-HELO each time you hear Sheriff's ASTREA making announcements over your area.

By Henri Migala

Photo: Steve Vaus (left), Joel Anderson (right)

November 3, 2020 (San Diego's East County) - County Supervisor District 2 candidates Steve Vaus and Joel Anderson are virtually tied at the latest update provided by the San Diego Registrar of Voters unofficial election results.

At the latest update, posted at 10:26 p.m., Steve Vaus held a slight lead with 50.94% of the votes, and Joel Anderson having 49.06%.

Vaus and Anderson are running to fill the seat being vacated by Dianne Jacob due to term limits.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors controls a $5 billion budget and makes decision over a wide variety of social service programs, and on issues affecting your health and safety. Four billion, or 80%, of that budget is related to state and federal programs the county is required to administer, and one billion, or 20%, can be used for the Supervisors to establish their priorities.  Most of the $1 billion comes from local property taxes, so it is important for local citizens to know the supervisors’ priorities.

By Kendra Sitton

November 3, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) -- In the race to replace Representative Susan Davis in the 53^rd District, Sara Jacobs took a decisivie lead over City Council President Georgette Gomez. As of 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, Gomez trailed by over 40,000 votes and conceded the race to Jacob.

Both candidates ran as progressives in a heavily blue district.

Georgette Gomez is San Diego’s current City Council President and representative of District 9. Before holding office; she was an environmental justice organizer.

Sara Jacobs has not held elected office before but she is the granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs. She has previously worked in the State Department and is a childhood anti-poverty advocate.

Both women are vying to fill the seat vacated by Susan Davis who is retiring. She previously held the seat for almost 20 years and was considered more moderate than her district.

November 3, 2020 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Magazine will be livestreaming a special election night show  with East County elections results from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.  Watch live at https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyMagazine. 

Also follow EastCountyMag on Twitter for results.

Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, San Diego

November 3, 2020 (San Diego) — The United States Attorneys for the Southern District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California and Central District of California and the District Attorneys of San Diego, Sacramento, Alameda and Ventura counties launched an online outreach campaign Thursday to help victims of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States Attorneys and District Attorneys are joined by Childhelp, a national nonprofit organization aiding victims of child abuse.

The outreach campaign was created to combat an unintended consequence of COVID-19 public health measures— an alarming rise in domestic violence with victims trapped at home with their abusers under increasing stress. The National Domestic Violence Hotline (www.thehotline.org or 800.799.SAFE [7233]) has reported an increase in contacts to the hotline during COVID-19. Reports show...

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Mayoral candidate Barbara Bry drops off her mail-in ballot at the La Jolla branch library on Election Day. Photo by Chris Stone

November 3, 2020 (San Diego) - As Election Day begins, nearly 1.3 million San Diego County residents have already voted — a 66% early turnout that matches the total turnout in the 2018 gubernatorial election.

By Suzanne Potter, California News Service

Photo: Alaskan brown bear; Sapphoris/Pixabay

New rule would permit the use of steel leg-hold traps with teeth, spikes and serrated jaws.

November 2, 2020 (Sacramento) --  Time is running out for people to weigh in on a Trump administration plan to allow baiting and trapping of bears in Alaska's Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The public comment period ends one week from today, on a new rule which would also permit hunters to kill cubs in their dens.