Trump may face choice: state ballot or tax returns

SB 27, awaiting Newsom’s signature, would require presidential primary candidates to release forms

It’s 222 days until California’s presidential primary. This week, we dig into the controversial proposal to force the president to release his tax returns and the latest presidential campaign events in the Bay Area.

Could California Dems bump Trump from ballot?

President Donald Trump could be forced to decide between getting on California’s presidential primary ballot and releasing his tax returns if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a new bill that passed the California Legislature this month.

SB 27, sponsored by state Sen.

Mike McGuire, would require presidential candidates to publicly release at least five years of their tax returns to get their name on the state’s primary ballot — a move to force transparency by Trump, who has bucked decades of presidential precedent by keeping his returns under wraps.

SB 27 passed the Legislature on mostly partyline votes.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a past version of the bill in 2017, arguing that it could create a slippery slope of “individual states seeking to regulate presidential elections.” Newsom hasn’t said whether he’ll sign it, but during his run for governor, a campaign spokesman told the Bay Area News Group that Newsom supported the version Brown opposed.

The legislation is certain to spur immediate lawsuits if Newsom approves it, and experts are divided about whether it could pass constitutional muster.

If it did go into effect and Trump refused to release his returns, there wouldn’t be any electoral impact — the president appears virtually assured to win the GOP nomination.

But a ballot without Trump could depress turnout among Republican voters in the Golden State’s top-two primary, a perilous prospect for the party’s down-ballot candidates next year.

The bill also would require future candidates for governor to release their returns. Newsom did so during his campaign, while Brown did not.

Inslee, Buttigieg hit Bay Area

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg blazed through the Bay Area this week for fundraisers and campaign events.

Inslee brought his message about fighting climate change to a meeting of several hundred members of Rossmoor’s Democratic club, telling the mostly older crowd that he was running because “on my last days on Earth, I wanted to be able to look my three grandkids in the eye and say I did everything possible to prevent their lives from being degraded by the climate crisis.”

He argued that the other presidential hopefuls weren’t taking the issue seriously enough, saying there was no hope of passing real reforms without getting rid of the filibuster, which allows the Senate minority to hold up a bill and makes sweeping legislation near impossible even in a future Democratic-controlled Senate.

“I hear all these bold aspirations of the other candidates, and I know they’re sincere and heartfelt, but there’s no way in hell we’re going to get these things done if we don’t get rid of the filibuster,” Inslee said.

Attendees came away impressed with Inslee’s rhetoric on climate, the issue he’s best known for, but also his work on topics such as health care and criminal justice reform.

“He’s not just a one-note candidate,” said Rossmoor resident Joel Aberbach.

The gated community’s Democratic club, which claims to be the largest local organization in the country, is typically a fundraising destination for candidates, but it’s rarer to see public events that don’t require a donation. It’s a sign of how the presidential candidates are spending more time courting California voters in advance of the Golden State’s Super Tuesday primary.

Buttigieg was in the Bay Area on Wednesday for a small-dollar fundraiser in San Francisco that was billed by the campaign as “a conversation on equity, tech and community” — but was closed to reporters. He also was scheduled to attend a Menlo Park fundraiser hosted by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, but that event was postponed so that Buttigieg could speak at an NAACP convention in Detroit.

Leading this week in …

Facebook ad spending (nationwide): Tom Steyer continues to lead the candidates in spending on Facebook ads, shelling out more than $300,000 in the past week for digital spots introducing himself to the country. It appears the billionaire’s moves are having an impact: He’s picked up one poll in Iowa putting him at 2%, more than many other Democrats who’ve been in the race far longer. He’ll need three more polls with that level of support or higher, as well as 130,000 individual donors, if he wants to make it onto the September debate stage.

Google search traffic (California): U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont were on top of search traffic over the past week, with Sanders leading across most of California and Harris ahead in the Bay Area and Palm Springs media markets.