KQED78%
California Democratic Party Endorses Billionaire Tax, Splitting with Newsom 35%
By Izzy Bloom58% Guy Marzorati83%
8/3/2026, 4:45:46 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 28 faulty reasoning types, including In-Group Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Confirmation Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 15.9% saturation with 145 hits. Analysis detected 1,243 faulty-reasoning hits from 910 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 36% and a BS Rank of 35% (18,656 of 28,475 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 65.50% of the article peer group.
California Democrats’ internal conflict over the billionaire tax measure on November’s ballot ramped up Sunday with an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, pitting party activists against the state’s Democratic governor.
At a meeting in San Diego to take positions on Proposition 40 and other ballot initiatives, the party’s executive board voted to endorse the one-time wealth tax measure by a narrow margin of 61.7%, just above the 60% threshold needed to pass.
SEIU-UHW, the healthcare union behind the proposal, framed the endorsement vote as a huge boost to their campaign and a sign that the party is rallying behind the measure, which Gov.
Gavin Newsom and some other powerful labor unions oppose.
A man’s shirt and sticker are displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb.
21, 2026.
“What it shows is that Democrats are united across California to support the billionaire tax,” union President Dave Regan told KQED.
“All of the efforts by people to give a different impression have just shown to be false.”
Nancy Tung, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and one of the voting executive board members, disputed that framing, pointing to how contentious and tight the final vote was.
“I wouldn’t say there’s overwhelming support,” Tung said.
“That ignores the fact that this barely passed.”
The endorsement followed a first vote that fell short at 59.2%.
A follow-up motion to take “no position, ” which needed a supermajority vote, also failed.
The 235 executive board members represent a small percentage of the thousands of Democratic State Central Committee members.
The board includes both Democratic elected officials and activists from county Democratic committees and party caucuses.
“The e-board is made up of people who are very committed to the party,” Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta said.
“They’re not your average bear; they’re probably more progressive than the rest of the world, but I don’t know if they’re as progressive as the Progressive Caucus within the Democratic Party.”
Rep.
Maxine Waters of Los Angeles attended the Sunday board meeting, helping the Proposition 40 campaign whip the votes needed to secure an endorsement.
She joins other high-ranking Democrats supporting the measure, including Vermont Sen.
Bernie Sanders and South Bay Rep.
Ro Khanna.
On the other side, Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and labor groups including the California Teachers Association oppose it.
This divide within the party complicates the value of the endorsement, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California.
Xavier Becerra, a candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on election night on June 2, 2026.
“A Democratic Party endorsement in California is always going to help a ballot proposition because there are so many Democrats in the state,” Grose said.
“It’s not as strong of a signal when there’s high-profile Democrats who are also opposed.”
The party endorsement doesn’t come with additional funding, messaging or organizing muscle.
It allows the Proposition 40 campaign to claim party support on their mailers and ads instead of listing individual Democratic endorsers.
“Now what?
The party is not going to spend $10 million to go promote Yes on Prop.
40,” Acosta said.
“So whatever the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign wants to do with that endorsement, they’re going to have to figure out how to go tell the rest of the world what happened.”
Public opinion polls show early support for the measure.
A May poll from the Public Policy Institute of California shows 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats would vote for it.
Opponents argue the measure, if passed, will push wealthy residents and their tax dollars out of the state.
Newsom has also argued a billionaire tax should be enacted at the federal, not state, level.
The opposition, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has already spent more than $100 million to undermine the measure and is expected to shell out tens of millions more before November.
The state party also voted Sunday to oppose two measures funded by Brin, Propositions 41 and 42, seen as poison pill attempts to undercut the billionaire tax measure.
Gov.
Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan.
20, 2026.
“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future,” the No on 40 campaign said in a statement.
“We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”
Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for an interview.
Becerra’s office pointed to his earlier statement to Politico warning against “half measures.”
“Every Californian must pay their fair share, and no billionaire should pay taxes at rates lower than teachers, firefighters or nurses.
But this is sketchy policy,” Becerra said in the statement.
Regan said he hopes Newsom and Becerra will reconsider their positions to align with “the people who they relied on to be elected to office.”
“The fact that Gov.
Newsom and Secretary Becerra are opposed, I think, says more about them than it does about Democrats,” Regan said.
“They are clearly out of step with a supermajority of the voters.”
Speakers
7speakers50%attributed speech454writer words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageNo on 40 campaign
74 attributed words16% of attributed speech55% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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Analysis
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