{"id":678,"date":"2026-05-14T10:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=678"},"modified":"2026-05-14T10:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:30:11","slug":"3-ads-that-explain-california-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=678","title":{"rendered":"3 ads that explain California politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Three political ads meant to break through our collective indifference caught my eye this week, as we come down to the wire on the June 2 primary election. <\/p>\n

Read more Vance says $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California will be deferred over fraud concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

Each one says less about the candidates involved, and more about this moment in politics and where the races for California governor and L.A. mayor may be headed. Each ad also hints at deeper issues that haven\u2019t quite reached the water-cooler conversation level, but maybe should. <\/p>\n

Becerra blunder<\/h2>\n

The first ad that grabbed my attention was a quick-turn by San Jos\u00e9 Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan (still stuck in single-digit polling numbers), who jumped on Xavier Becerra\u2019s first major mess-up. <\/p>\n

Becerra chastised KTLA interviewer \u2014 on camera \u2014 not to give him too many hard questions because, \u201cThis is not a gotcha piece, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

That left a lot of folks wondering about his temperament and transparency, something rival Katie Porter knows a bit about. <\/p>\n

The video went viral, and Mahan mashed it up with now-infamous clips of Porter walking out of a different interview earlier in the campaign cycle. <\/p>\n

The result was a fast, funny, pointed jab that made both Becerra and Porter look prickly and unaccountable. For Porter, that damage was done long ago. But this moment for Becerra, the very-slim-margin front-runner, could have sticking power. <\/p>\n

New polls, which likely don\u2019t account for the impact of this gaffe, have Becerra edging up in a lead over Tom Steyer or maybe just tied. If Becerra is leading, it\u2019s not by much, and he\u2019s not a shoo-in by any means. <\/p>\n

The bigger issue is that there are many hard questions that Becerra will likely need to answer if he does make the general election \u2014 questions he\u2019s largely been dodging with pat answers. <\/p>\n

This week, one of the lobbyists charged in a scheme that allegedly stole more than $200,000 from one of Becerra\u2019s old campaign accounts will appear in court again. <\/p>\n

She\u2019s apparently been working on a plea deal, so it\u2019s likely either that will be formalized, or the case will move forward to a trial. Becerra is not accused of any wrongdoing and told my colleague Dakota Smith that he had testified before the grand jury in the case. <\/p>\n

But Becerra has also said he was aware that up to $10,000 a month was being paid out of a dormant campaign account to manage that money, since his role as the Health and Human Services Secretary made it illegal for him to be involved directly. <\/p>\n

The question that seems relevant in this age of fraud-and-waste panic is who pays $10,000 a month to have someone watch over a dormant account and doesn\u2019t think that\u2019s excessive? Becerra may have been an innocent victim, but $120,000 a year is a lot<\/i> of money to pay someone to babysit a largely unused stack of cash. <\/p>\n

If Becerra does make it through to the primary and faces Hilton or potentially Steyer, both successful businessmen, expect this lack of financial acumen to be an issue \u2014 a hard question that is fair to ask of the person who wants to run the fourth largest economy in the world. <\/p>\n

Steyer backers<\/h2>\n

Speaking of money, the second ad (or sort-of ad) that caught my attention is tied to Steyer, the billionaire who has spent more than $100 million of his own money in this race. <\/p>\n

Read more Newsom to propose fund to help California wildfire victims rebuild<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee reported that Steyer\u2019s campaign has been paying influencers to post support of him online. The account mentioned in the Bee\u2019s report seems to have removed those videos, but others have archived some of them. <\/p>\n

These posts are meant to decidedly not feel like advertisements, but just organic support from Steyer supporters. Steyer\u2019s is far from the first campaign to do this and won\u2019t be the last. <\/p>\n

Trump, Kamala Harris, Charlie Kirk\u2019s Turning Point USA \u2014 all of them have courted influencers, paid or unpaid, to reach voters, especially young ones. California is one of the few states with a law that tries to regulate some of this type of content, but it\u2019s not a strong law. <\/p>\n

While there may be nothing shocking in Steyer\u2019s digital strategy, it should alarm us on the larger level of having a healthy democracy. We\u2019ve largely forgotten the black hole of delusion that millions of Americans fell into during the pandemic era from online misinformation brokers. Remember QAnon? <\/p>\n

Influence campaigns are shockingly powerful, and growing in sophistication by the minute. While Steyer\u2019s efforts may be run-of-the-mill, it\u2019s an area of political communication that demands greater transparency and regulation. <\/p>\n

Pratt problems<\/h2>\n

Which brings us to Spencer Pratt, and the ad (ads, really) that caught everyone\u2019s attention \u2014 the AI-generated mini-movies that blatantly steal the \u201cBatman\u201d and \u201cStar Wars\u201d intellectual property and which have earned so much viral attention that the mayor\u2019s race can now fairly say it\u2019s got national reach. <\/p>\n

Pratt did not make these ads, but he\u2019s reposted them, and millions have watched. Though it may seem obvious they are made by artificial intelligence, they are not identified as such. <\/p>\n

Pratt has portrayed himself as angry with what he\u2019s sees as Bass\u2019 failure after the Palisades and Eaton fires \u2014 a fair criticism that many share. He\u2019s made his own ads highlighting how his family is forced to now live in an Airstream trailer, though TMZ reported Wednesday that Pratt has actually been camping out at the Hotel Bel-Air, where rooms were starting at $1,420 a night this week. (Pratt disputes this reporting and said Wednesday that he doesn\u2019t live anywhere.) <\/p>\n

Though parody is protected speech, one of the AI videos Pratt has promoted ends with a crowd, including a child, pelting L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris with fruit until they flee. <\/p>\n

Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, posted online that it was \u201cmaybe the best political ad of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

I disagree. While a certain segment of conservative white male voters might find it hilarious to pelt women of color until they run in fear, I\u2019m pretty sure there are some messages in that missive that aren\u2019t getting the scrutiny they deserve. <\/p>\n

The links between hate speech and political violence are well documented. Outrage and action are tied, but now increasingly removed from reality. How AI \u2014 especially AI depicting political rivals as unhinged, evil villains \u2014 will affect voters, and democracy in general, isn\u2019t yet understood. <\/p>\n

I doubt these ads on behalf of Pratt will change the minds of many voters, but they do change politics. <\/p>\n

Read more Heavier storms and longer dry spells are drying California and the West<\/a><\/p>\n

And not for the better. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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