Top Ten Winners & Losers In California Politics For The Week Ending 2/12 Including The Biggest Loser Feature! McClintock, Lee, The First Partner, OpenAI, Wiener, Bass, PLF, Santa Barbara CC…

Every week I'm closely following politics here in the Golden State. This is a weekly feature where we call out ten winners and/or losers. Actually, I tend to find more losers... LOL.

Below is our Top Ten List of Winners and Losers for the Week. This feature is available to all of our subscribers, free and paid. Under the paywall, however, is our “Worst Week In California” special feature. It's me, in rare form, on video, going on why someone’s week sucked. Pithy? You bet! Also, for paid subscribers are several cartoons that didn’t make the top spot!

⏱️ 5-minute read

This is where we examine state and local politics (or national issues with a California angle), and highlight individuals (or groups) who have achieved notable successes or have had a particularly challenging week. I strive to call balls and strikes fairly and objectively, which sometimes makes it difficult to assemble this list.

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Top Winners & Losers This Week in California Politics

⬆️ WINNER: CONGRESSMAN TOM MCCLINTOCK

Last night’s overwhelming endorsement by the California Republican Party Board of Directors for re-election in the newly drawn 5th Congressional District is a decisive show of institutional strength. He already represents around 75% of that seat, giving him a substantial built-in base. With rumors swirling that Congressman Kevin Kiley — whose current district includes less than 5% of this territory — is eyeing a challenge, pairing the state GOP endorsement with President Trump's recent endorsement sends a clear signal. The party leadership and national movement are aligned behind McClintock. My friend Kevin Kiley really should not be running in this district, and hopefully will not.

⬇️ LOSERS: THE UNITED EDUCATORS OF SAN FRANCISCO TEACHERS UNION

At a time when the district is financially strained, and many private-sector workers are facing layoffs, reduced bonuses, and pay cuts, this union is striking for richer compensation packages — including premium health coverage that extends to entire families. That posture is hard to square with fiscal reality. When a system is short on cash, demanding more without tradeoffs isn’t solidarity; it’s leverage politics. Reports that families felt pressure not to keep children learning at home during the strike only compound the perception that institutional power, not student outcomes, is driving the agenda.

⬆️ WINNERS: PARENTS OF KIDS WHO USE CHATBOTS

With OpenAI backing away from a fight over a California ballot measure and shifting to the Legislature, parents gain breathing room. A rushed statewide initiative funded by the industry was unlikely to deliver serious guardrails, and there’s little indication it would have imposed meaningful accountability, such as strict liability standards, if minors are harmed. Ballot-box policymaking on complex AI issues invites loopholes and vague enforcement. Moving the debate into the legislative process at least creates the possibility of real scrutiny, amendments, and enforceable protections. This is good news for current and future parents.

⬇️ LOSER: ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA

He is in court defending a state policy that deliberately excludes parents from being informed about significant matters involving their own children at school. That is a fundamentally backwards position. Parents are not bystanders in their children’s lives, and government officials should not be inserting themselves between families and basic information. By doubling down on litigation to protect that framework, he is using the authority of the Attorney General’s office to defend a policy that puts bureaucracy ahead of parental rights.

⬇️ LOSER: ASSEMBLYMAN ALEX LEE

He is carrying a bill that would effectively entrench broad telework protections for state employees, reinforcing a two-tiered work culture in which public workers remain at home while much of the private sector has returned to the office. Backed by powerful public employee unions, the proposal limits managerial flexibility and pressures agencies to justify in-person requirements rather than remote work. If it advances — as union-backed measures often do — it further cements Sacramento’s alignment with organized labor over taxpayers who fund the system and expect full public service access.

⬇️ LOSER: STATE SENATOR SCOTT WIENER

His high-profile bill targeting the use of masks by ICE agents — framed as a “public’s right to know” transparency measure — was just blocked by a federal judge, halting enforcement. The ruling didn’t just question federal overreach; it highlighted the hypocrisy of carving out an exemption for California Highway Patrol officers while singling out federal agents. That selective transparency undercut the bill’s stated principle and strengthened the argument that it was political theater. Now it stands as a courtroom setback instead of a legislative victory. Of course, loser Weiner is already talking about making changes to this terrible bill and passing it again.

⬇️ LOSER: LOS ANGELES MAYOR KAREN BASS

For a mayor elected with strong progressive backing, drawing a credible challenger from her own ideological flank is a political warning sign. City Councilmember Nithya Raman has entered the race, positioning herself to Bass’s left, signaling dissatisfaction within the activist base that helped power the current administration. When even allies decide you’re not delivering fast or far enough, it suggests coalition erosion, not consolidation. Incumbents rarely want a family fight — and this one underscores growing unrest inside Los Angeles’ progressive ranks.

⬇️ LOSERS: SANTA BARBARA CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS MEAGAN HARMAN, WENDY SANTAMARIA, KRISTEN SNEDDON & OSCAR GUTIERRE

In a sharply divided 4-3 vote, this majority pushed through a temporary moratorium on rent increases that effectively freezes rents for most units through the end of 2026 while a “permanent” rent-stabilization plan is drafted. Instead of addressing housing supply and affordability with market-friendly solutions, they embraced a politically charged intervention that overrides private property rights and risks legal exposure — all without solid economic analysis or community consensus. The result deepens uncertainty for landlords, chills investment, and substitutes government decree for real housing policy. If you need a reminder about why rent control sucks, it’s right here.

⬆️ WINNER: ATTORNEYS FOR THE PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Taking San Francisco to court over its race-based reparations scheme, this legal team is forcing a constitutional reckoning. The lawsuit filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation argues that handing out up to $5 million based on ancestry violates equal protection guarantees and Proposition 209’s ban on racial preferences. With the city proposing sweeping classifications untethered to specific wrongdoing, the challenge squarely frames the issue: government cannot replace individual equality with racial spoils. This is exactly the kind of case that tests whether constitutional limits still mean anything in California.

⬇️ LOSER: JENNIFER SIEBEL NEWSOM

At what was supposed to be a routine press event, she turned on the Capitol press corps and accused them — in essence — of being accomplices in a “war on women” for asking questions outside the narrow confines of a Planned Parenthood funding bill. Instead of engaging, she scolded. Instead of persuading, she attacked. That posture doesn’t strengthen her cause; it alienates neutral observers and reinforces the perception that dissent or scrutiny is treated as hostility rather than part of the democratic process.

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NOW IT’S TIME… WORST WEEK IN CALIFORNIA POLITICS

Starting this year, we have a new feature for paid subscribers. It’s below the paywall, and I basically do a video dumping session with whoever had the worst week. Hey, if they are having a bad week, why not pile on? Fun times! Don’t miss out! This one is nuts.

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OK, now for all of you paid subscribers… Below, I got on a good length rant on our featured Worst Week In California Politics awardee — check it out! What? Aren’t you a paid subscriber? Hit the red button for a free trial! Also, check out a few cartoons that didn’t make the top of this column!