Kennedy Center begins process of removing Trump references after judge said it was illegally added

• June 4, 2026

By STEVEN SLOAN and MEG KINNARD

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center is beginning the process of removing references to President Donald Trump a week after a federal judge ruled that his name had been illegally added to the performing arts center.

Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, said in a statement to The Associated Press that “we are complying with the court’s order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump’s leadership.”

In a Thursday memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel, the institution’s lawyers said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The changes, the memo said, must be completed by June 12.

A federal judge ruled May 29 that Trump’s name had been illegally added to the venue, also blocking the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July.

Hours later, Trump said he was backing away from the revamp and making arrangements to relinquish control to Congress of what, until the Republican president’s second term, had been known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Associated Press writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump says Pulte won’t be his nominee for director of national intelligence

• June 4, 2026

By JOSH BOAK

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte, his pick for acting director of national intelligence, would not be his “permanent” choice for the critical security post.

The Republican president’s disclosure that he was ruling out installing Pulte in the position full-time came after bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill in recent days over Pulte’s lack of national security experience. The position requires Senate confirmation, something that lawmakers indicated was unlikely if Pulte were the nominee.

“He’s not going to be permanent because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent,” Trump said while taking questions in the Oval Office after an event on coal. He called Pulte a “very smart guy” and said he may look at past elections that Trump claims, without credible evidence, were “rigged” against him.

Trump said other candidates were under consideration for nomination to the post. “We’re interviewing people right now,” he said.

Pulte, a grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, has been a source of controversy within the administration for his work as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and his oversight of the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Pulte has used his position to pursue Trump’s perceived political rivals for alleged mortgage fraud and has verbally attacked Jerome Powell, whose term as the Federal Reserve chairman recently ended after months of Trump and Pulte attacking him for not slashing the central bank’s benchmark rates. The federal housing finance regulator has also pitched a 50-year mortgage, an idea that backfired as it meant that the process of building wealth through home ownership would be slowed.

Both Republican and Democratic senators expressed concerns about Pulte and his lack of national security credentials in occupying a role coordinating 18 federal agencies involved in domestic and foreign security issues. Trump’s initial director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned last month, citing her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said the national intelligence director job shouldn’t be “weaponized” and should be led by “professionals.”

Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas, who are each leaving the chamber after this year’s elections, also expressed concerns about Pulte.

Democratic senators view Pulte as a risk even if he is only temporarily serving as the director of national intelligence while keeping his position at the FHFA.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent Trump a letter on Thursday calling on him to rescind Pulte’s national security appointment.

“Americans cannot trust him to protect our nation and refrain from misusing the sensitive information he will have access to,” Warren wrote, saying that giving Pulte the job on an acting basis was a risk because Trump’s own words suggested the federal agency could be used “to promote election denial theories.”

At a hearing on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed reports that he had threatened to fight Pulte in September of 2025, a sign of the friction that the federal housing finance director had generated inside the administration.

But as a frequent traveler on Air Force One, Pulte has a close relationship with Trump.

“He’s a person who’s got high integrity,” Trump said Thursday about Pulte.

​ Orange County Register 

Planning commission seeks more details on Trump’s planned 250-foot arch near the Lincoln Memorial

• June 4, 2026

By MEG KINNARD

The National Capital Planning Commission has kept alive the triumphal arch that President Donald Trump wants built at an entrance to the nation’s capital, requesting more information on how it could potentially impact air travel navigation in the area, as well as other specifics on construction and traffic in the area.

Most members of the federal agency that approves construction on federal land voted in favor Thursday of seeking more information from the Department of the Interior, which submitted the application for the 250-foot arch planned between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The vote came after nearly three hours of public comment from about 20 members of the public, some representing historic and architectural organizations, and most of whom expressed concerns about the arch that is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his imprint on Washington.

Preliminary surveys and testing of the arch site began last month, and other approvals are underway. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts — which only oversees designs and has no role in the actual construction or funding of the arch or any other project it considers — has approved the arch’s design, a key step in the project’s process but one that has no immediate bearing on the construction timeline.

For now, the National Capital Planning Commission is seeking more information justifying the proposed height of the towering arch, as well as additional details about lighting, management of storm water and how traffic and parking would be regulated for visitors.

Will Scharf, who has served as Trump’s White House staff secretary, heads the commission and acknowledged the applicant “has some homework to do,” Scharf said, suggesting more information on how it would appear from other monuments in the Washington area. But, Scharf said ultimately, this year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence “is as good an opportunity as any to add something to Washington, D.C., that will hopefully stand the test of time.

Stuart Levenbach, Trump appointee and commission vice chairman, said the proposed site represented “one of the few locations” in the area where such an “iconic civic monument could be appropriate,” although he added that “it’s reasonable to consider whether a significant architectural statement belongs in such a location.”

Commission received 1,700 public comments, most opposing the arch

Many of those contacting the commission about the arch ahead of Thursday’s meeting voiced concerns about its massive scale, obstruction of the city’s skyline, and safety in the heavily trafficked area. Some of the comments called it a “waste of taxpayer money,” while others said it was Trump’s “vanity project” or a “disgusting and disrespectful move by a man who wants to be king.”

Dozens of people were signed up to speak during Thursday’s meeting, many of whom have spoken against the project at previous meetings, and represented organizations like the National Parks Conservation Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Society of Architectural Historians.

Several, including Gary Langston, a military veteran, opposed the arch on grounds that it is too big, needed congressional approval or would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery that was created to symbolize reunification after the Civil War.

“What’s required here, if anything, is a solemn memorial rather than a monument,” Langston said.

Trump has asserted that he doesn’t need congressional approval because he’s building it on federal land.

Suggestions on the arch design

The arch would stand 250 feet tall from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top of the structure, flanked by two gilded eagles. But four lions, envisioned as guarding the base, have been removed. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument, and both east- and west-facing sides would feature text of the Pledge of Allegiance.

A public observation deck on top would provide 360-degree views of the region. The arch would have an exterior made of granite.

Critics have argued that the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt carefully designed views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. It would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet, and close to half the height of the Washington Monument, at about 555 feet.

One of the public commenters on Thursday had some suggestions. Shady Migally, an architect in California, suggested that any arch project should be more creative than a new take on Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, submitting an alternative design just as tall as the administration’s proposal but with less dense lateral columns and a higher inner archway that, according to online renderings, shows more visibility between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump had said last year that the arch could be paid for with private donations left over from the ballroom project. A cost estimate for the arch is still being calculated, but a mix of taxpayer and private funds is expected to pay for it, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president has not publicly discussed the project’s cost.

Trump’s other Washington makeover plans

A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block the arch construction over concerns about disruptions to the sightline.

In an Oval Office event on Thursday, Trump called the arch a tribute to military victories.

“Nobody’s had more military victories, including recently, than we have,” he said.

The president has said some of his other projects, including adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday. His administration said Thursday that the renovation had been completed and was ready to be filled with water.

The White House East Wing was demolished to build a large ballroom,

And up until a judge ruled last week that it had been illegally added and must be removed, Trump’s name had been added to the Kennedy Center.

Critics have said Trump, a Republican, is spending too much time and attention on his pet projects and not enough on issues that voters care about, like the cost of living, in the run-up to the November elections.

That project is also the subject of a court challenge brought by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which said repainting the bottom of the Reflecting Pool blue without first undergoing relevant reviews runs afoul of federal preservation laws governing historic sites.

An order in the case hasn’t come yet, and on Wednesday, the Trump administration notified the court that the work was complete, with the basin set to be filled by Sunday.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

​ Orange County Register 

Lufthansa employees injured after Boeing 787’s nose landing gear collapses at Frankfurt airport

• June 4, 2026

By JAMEY KEATEN and RIO YAMAT

German airline Lufthansa said several employees were injured on Thursday after the nose gear of a Boeing jet collapsed while the aircraft was parked at a gate at Frankfurt airport.

Only crew members and ground staff were on board the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner when the front tip of the plane crashed to the ground ahead of passenger boarding for a scheduled flight to Los Angeles. The flight was later canceled.

“Several employees were injured and are currently receiving medical attention,” Lufthansa said in a statement, adding that it and relevant authorities were investigating.

The aircraft is just over a year old and was delivered to Lufthansa in January, one of the newest additions to the airline’s wide-body fleet, according to Flightradar24. Since entering service in February, the plane has operated 137 flights, the flight-tracking website said.

Boeing said it is “aware of the incident” and “supporting our customer.”

Video footage from the scene appeared to show the front wheels of the aircraft sliding forward and the plane’s nose falling several yards as a ground crew member standing nearby quickly backed away. The doors to the nose gear bay broke off upon impact.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former U.S. federal aviation crash investigator, said it is “very unusual” for a nose landing gear to collapse while an aircraft is at a standstill. He cautioned it is too early to speculate on the cause of the incident, but he said potential factors could include prior damage to the landing gear, a mechanical failure or issues related to maintenance work.

Investigators, he said, will be looking closely at the plane’s maintenance history and system records, and may also review flight data to understand how the aircraft’s landing gear had been operating in previous landings.

“They’re going to look at every square inch of that nose landing gear strut and the mechanisms that operate it,” Guzzetti said.

A 2021 incident at London’s Heathrow Airport also involved the nose landing gear of a Boeing 787. According to a report by the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, a 787-8 was undergoing maintenance at a gate when its nose landing gear retracted during testing, causing the aircraft’s nose to drop onto the pavement. Investigators found that a locking pin intended to prevent retraction had been inserted into the wrong position, allowing the gear to fold despite safeguards designed to keep it extended.

The 787 Dreamliner, a wide-body twin-aisle aircraft used primarily on long-haul international routes, first entered service in 2011. The version involved in Thursday’s incident can carry up to 296 passengers, depending on configuration.

In recent years, the 787 program had been plagued by production flaws and quality-control issues, with shipments of the large plane temporarily halted on multiple occasions.

Issues with the 787 started in 2020 when small gaps were found between panels of the fuselage that are made of carbon composite material. That prompted inspections that turned up problems with a pressurization bulkhead at the front of the plane.

In May 2021, Boeing halted 787 deliveries while U.S. federal regulators looked over documentation of work that was done on new planes.

In June 2023, Boeing said 787 deliveries were delayed again while it inspected fittings on part of the aircraft’s tail — the horizontal stabilizer — after identifying a “nonconforming condition.” The company said at the time that the issue would affect near-term deliveries but was not considered a safety risk for aircraft already in service.

Yamat, AP’s airlines and travel writer, reported from Las Vegas.

​ Orange County Register 

US sanctions Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in latest move pressuring island’s leadership

• June 4, 2026

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and MATTHEW LEE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has imposed sanctions on ​Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel, along with his wife and three other individuals, according to a filing on Thursday from the U.S. Treasury Department.

Also included in the sanctions are Alejandro Castro Espín, the sole son of former President Raúl Castro and Vilma Espín. He served as an advisor to Cuba’s Defense and National Security Commission and was present when Raúl Castro met with former U.S. President Barack Obama in Havana during a historic March 2016 meeting.

The sanctions come after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order expanding sanctions against the island and has been threatening military action ever since ousting Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. That has led to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island. It took on new weight after the U.S. announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro.

Trump has ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging to conduct a “friendly takeover” of the country if its leadership did not open its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Trump’s preference is to reach a deal with the island’s socialist leadership, but has said he is doubtful the U.S. can reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.

Last month, Rubio defended the Trump administration’s decision to slap new sanctions on Havana, the largest of which is against Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The Associated Press reached out to Cuban authorities and did not receive a response.

The new sanctions boost pressure on the Cuban government, but are far from the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions against heads of state or government and their relatives.

The U.S. hit former Sudanese President Omar Bashir and former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in the early 2000s and more recently targeted former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife with sanctions.

Associated Press reporter Danica Coto contributed to this report. Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

​ Orange County Register 

President Trump slams California elections, alleges ‘cheating’ in governor and LA mayor races

• June 4, 2026

President Donald Trump railed against California elections in a series of posts, alleging “big cheating” without citing evidence.

Trump, long a critic of California’s elections and mail ballots, accused Democrats of “trying to steal” gubernatorial and L.A. mayoral elections.

Republican and Trump-endorsed Steve Hilton holds a lead in the race for governor, with Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer still battling it out for that coveted second spot to make the general election runoff.

Over in the L.A. mayoral race, reality television personality Spencer Pratt was in second place behind incumbent Karen Bass, a former longtime Democratic member of Congress, according to the latest, unofficial results. But progressive Councilmember Nithya Raman was getting closer to that No. 2 spot, the latest returns show, as more ballots are received and counted.

“Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” Trump posted to Truth Social late Wednesday, June 3.

And later Thursday morning, the president said: “Look what’s happening in California, the Dumocrats, right before our very eyes, are stealing the Vote.”

In another post, Trump alleged the U.S. Attorney’s Office in L.A. is investigating California elections. When reached Thursday morning, a spokesperson for the office declined to comment on the president’s statement.

Later ballots tend to be more Democratic leaning, especially since the state’s Democrats waited to vote this year in case a frontrunner would emerge among the bevy of candidates in the governor’s race. And Republicans tend to vote earlier and in person on Election Day.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office responded to Trump’s claims with its own social media post: “Trump is lying about California again — time to take the phone away from grandpa and put him to sleep.”

When asked to cite specific examples of the alleged cheating, a White House spokesperson simply referred to the president’s social media posts, without providing further evidence.

In California, every registered voter is mailed a ballot, and they have multiple ways to cast them: in person, at drop boxes or through the mail. Ballots returned via the U.S. Postal Service are still counted so long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day (June 2) and arrive at the county elections office within seven days.

And as Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page has said, it’s not so much that vote counting takes a long time, it’s the process, set by state law, which gives voters time to fix a signature challenge on mailed ballot envelopes. This year, that deadline is 5 p.m. on June 24 — and that means county elections officials cannot certify local results until June 26.

The California secretary of state has until July 10 to certify the results of this election.

And, in fact, Orange County is counting ballots even quicker than before it adopted the current system with vote centers and electronic rosters, Page said.

“From four to nine days after Election Day in every statewide election since 2020, the votes from at least 95% of accepted ballots in OC are reported,” Page said in a post on LinkedIn Wednesday. “During the 2025 Statewide Special Election, we posted the results from 98.8% of accepted ballots within four days.”

During the 2018 general election, before moving to this system, results from at least 95% of accepted ballots weren’t posted until 18 days after the election because of the number of provisional ballots to process, he said.

Trump has often falsely claimed his 2020 election loss was the result of cheating. And he is also a big critic of California and how the Democratic-leaning state conducts its elections.

In November, when voters overwhelmingly approved a congressional redistricting plan, Trump alleged the election system was “rigged,” without citing any evidence.

He also suggested last year withholding future federal aid for the recovery of California’s most devastating wildfires until the state establishes a voter ID law.

Meanwhile, claims of widespread fraud in California’s elections have not been substantiated, and Republican leaders in the state have encouraged their party’s voters to vote by mail and vote early.

Trump, in April, endorsed Hilton in the race for governor, choosing to back the former Fox News personality over Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who has given his wholehearted and open support for the president in a blue state where the president is especially unpopular.

And ahead of the June 2 election, Trump said he’d like to see Pratt “do well” in the mayoral contest.

A spokesperson for Hilton did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

A representative for Pratt pointed to a post on X the mayoral candidate made earlier in the day.

“God always wins.”

​ Orange County Register 

Review: ‘Sound of Music’ delivers all your favorite things in Costa Mesa

• June 4, 2026

Happy to announce that “The Sound of Music,” at Segerstrom Center for the next 10 days, remains a satisfyingly spry 66 years old, its enduring, endearing appeal largely in place in this touring production.

Through astonishingly engaging earworm melodies, smart, sincere and heartfelt lyrics and a universal theme of a damaged family made whole by a naive outsider helping them persevere, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s final musical fails to age or fade.

In fact, the biggest challenge facing any live production now is that the main point of comparison is the 1965 film version, with Julie Andrews’ incomparable voice eternally setting the bar for the show’s greatest hits.

Adjusted for inflation, the movie version continues to be the most financially successful film of a musical ever made. Poor “Lion King” and too bad for “Wicked” (even counting its second part). “The Sound of Music” remains the mountain they can’t climb, the problem of Maria they can’t solve.

A rarity these days in a live staging, the show comes our way under the keen, curatorial eye of veteran director Jack O’Brien. Another seemingly ageless wonder, in his program mini-bio the several-time Tony winner merrily dismisses his own longevity, going third person to note: “If he’s slowing down, he hasn’t noticed it yet.”

In 2015, O’Brien was entrusted with mounting a live national tour. His stated goal for “The Sound of Music” was to “tear off the varnish of the past,” emphasizing the gritty realities in the Nazi-period plot rather than goo-ily trading on the cozy sentimentality of cute kids singing on stage, which feebly accounted for uncounted homegrown mountings across the latter 20th century.

A decade on, O’Brien has returned to actively shape the characters again with a fresh next-gen cast. His workload was certainly lightened with the casting of Cayleigh Capaldi as his Maria.

Capaldi is not just another bellowing belter, but a true soprano with a flexible middle range and sustained articulation in her phrasing.

During her first sighting, Capaldi’s assured announcement to the audience in C Major that those “hills are alive” immediately deflates that impossible competition all Marias face: OK, it’s not Julie. But we’re going enjoy “The Sound of Music,” “My Favorite Things,” and pretty much every fabled note of Maria’s we came to hear sung live.

Capaldi is interesting, too, in character. Those nuns at the abbey, trying to get their hands around Maria, sing in puzzlement “How do you find a word that means Maria? A flibbertigibbet? A will-o’-the-wisp? A clown?”

None of these remotely apply to Capaldi’s relatable portrayal. Shuttled off down the mountain to take care of widower Captain von Trapp’s seven kids, she might be confused about finding herself, but there is a take-charge whiff of feministic backbone  built into Capaldi’s interaction with every adult character she encounters and contends with.

These adults are headed by Kevin Earley, who early on makes for a starchy rather than stern Captain. He is earnest enough, but that ineffectual whistle he blows at his staff and kids alike seems less militaristic and more like the uniformed crossing guard nobody pays attention to.

Earley does a nice job of melting from patriarchal martinet to open-hearted dad in hearing the children’s harmonies for the first time when they sing the title song. Vocally, he is a nice enough fit with Capaldi in their romantic duet “Something Good.”

Enough with the oldsters, what about those kids? From eldest Liesl (Ariana Ferch) (, who is satisfying as a doting eldest as well as being of courting age, to pipsqueak Gretl (Everly Beerson), who draws a suitable number of “ahhhs” from the audience with every squeaky word, the children’s ensemble is everything you want.

There is no credit given for vocal coaching, but these pliant voices are a galvanizing harmonizing unit in the treasured “Do-Re-Mi” and “So Long, Farewell.”

As for the other key adult roles, Kate Loprest fills the bill as the transactional Elsa, a half-hearted rival with Maria for the Captain’s hand, but seemingly more drawn by the scenic view from his porch and the money it represents than taking a political stance to stand by her man.

Nicholas Rodriguez glides along as Max, a dandified musical impresario of self-acknowledged slight character who also proves to have pliant political backbone.

Broadway veteran Christiane Noll dons full habit as the Mother Abbess, perhaps the adult with the most insight — or at least interest — into what makes Maria tick.

Noll employs unceasing vibrato to power through reasonably successful first act and show closing belts of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”

The pit orchestra of 14 under music director and conductor Jonathan Marro’s handling, does justice to Robert Russell Bennett’s original and still gorgeous orchestrations.

Jane Greenwood’s costume design is impeccably period; especially fun are the children’s rustic outfits Maria has sewn from old curtains.

A periodic drawback to the physical production is its fit onto the Segerstrom stage. As long as action takes place at the Captain’s mansion, nicely illuminated, things are fine. But the black, confining nunnery space reminds a bit of some medieval dungeon.

A further oddity at the show’s end is an upwards sloping pathway the family takes its leave on, the kids trundled by parents to freedom from the Nazis up a graded ramp that might be more environmentally apt in some temporary forest exhibit across the street at South Coast Plaza.

These grumbles aside, if you’ve never seen “The Sound of Music” live this might be your last chance for a full production on a big stage.

And, also, the best one you may get, too.

‘The Sound of Music’

Rating: 3 ½ stars (out of 4 possible)

When: Through June 14. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m., Sunday

Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa

Tickets: $39-$169

Information: 949-556-2787; www.scfta.org

​ Orange County Register 

The progressive playbook may have finally run its course in California

• June 4, 2026

The results of Tuesday’s California primaries sent a clear message to the state’s left flank, whether they were ready to hear it or not: voters are taking a harder look at the governing philosophy that has shaped California politics for much of the past decade, and it’s clear they don’t like what they see.

Indeed, in one of the bluest states in the country, two Republicans – mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt and gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton – are likely to make their way to the general election come November.

While both races are still too close to call as of early Thursday morning, the sole fact that two Trump-endorsed candidates are leading their Democratic challengers is proof enough that many Californians are quite dissatisfied with the state’s political establishment and are looking for a different approach – and not a progressive one.

In Los Angeles, with results still being counted, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has pulled only about one-third of the vote so far (35%), while another two-thirds opted for someone else. In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a staggering margin, Bass’ failure to consolidate more support suggests her tenure has fallen short on the issues that matter most.

Specifically, the city’s most recent crisis, the Palisades fire in January of last year, exposed longstanding weaknesses in emergency preparedness, coordination, and recovery under Bass’ leadership.

For many Angelenos, the devastating impact of the fires still lingers, and it has undoubtedly weighed on voters’ minds as they headed to the ballot box earlier this week.

For Pratt – the reality television personality who has been outspoken about Bass’ recovery response, or lack thereof – the frustration surrounding the city’s handling of the fires created a clear opening to position himself as an outsider alternative to a political establishment many voters view as ineffective.

And according to the polls, it’s working.

Currently, Pratt leads Councilmember Nithya Raman, a progressive Democrat, by about 7 points (30% to 23%), although the Associated Press has only projected Bass to move onto the general election thus far.

Nonetheless, the fact that Pratt is holding a meaningful lead over Raman speaks for itself: Angelenos, given the choice between a progressive Democrat and an outsider with no political experience, are choosing the latter.

To be sure, that isn’t an endorsement of Pratt so much as it is a rejection of the brand politicians like Bass and Raman represent. When a city as blue as Los Angeles would rather roll the dice on a television star than send another progressive to City Hall, the message is hard to misread.

This voter dissatisfaction, however, does not exist in a vacuum. What is happening in Los Angeles is not isolated; rather, it is part of a broader pattern that is simultaneously playing out across the Golden State.

In the race for governor, although also still too early to call, Hilton – a British-born conservative political commentator – narrowly leads the field with roughly 28% of the vote, ahead of Democrats Xavier Becerra (25%) and Tom Steyer (20%), according to NBC News.

Again, the idea that a Republican is atop the leaderboard in a state where Democrats hold a nearly five-million voter advantage is, by any measure, a remarkable result – and a direct indictment of the progressive governing model that has defined California for the better part of a decade.

That said, it’s critical to note that the Democratic vote is fractured across a particularly crowded field: Becerra, Steyer, and several other contenders are all drawing from the same left-leaning pool, while Hilton is able to consolidate Republican support with only one other viable Republican candidate, Chad Bianco, though he sits at just 11%.

Yet, that doesn’t make the result any less telling. Even with a split field, a set of Republicans leading in California’s biggest races speaks to something deeper, and for the Democratic Party, frankly something more concerning.

Taken together, the two primaries tell the same story: that years of one-party governance have quietly eroded the support that Democrats in this state have long taken for granted.

To be clear, Democrats remain the favorite to win both races in November, as party registration alone gives them an advantage impossible to ignore. But registration must not be mistaken for enthusiasm, and these results have introduced something that Golden State Democrats are not used to: doubt about the durability of one-party rule.

And with the midterms on the horizon and 2028 already beginning to take shape, Democrats would be wise to treat Tuesday’s results not as a California-specific problem, but as a warning sign.

Voters are not asking for an uber-progressive revolution – they are asking to be governed well.

If the broader Democratic Party cannot hear that message coming out of its own stronghold, it is unlikely to hear it anywhere else until it’s too late.

Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant.

​ Orange County Register