The race for the governor’s office in California has seen a shake-up, according to a new poll that has a Democratic candidate taking over the number two spot.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) is now leading the Democratic pack, while on the Republican side, Fox News contributor Steve Hilton has been able to pull ahead of Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco.

‘The Republican electorate in California is split. … Democratic voters have not yet clearly coalesced around one candidate.’

However, 21% of the California electorate continues to be undecided and could completely upend the contest after more voters pick a candidate.

California has an open primary system that has the two top candidates, regardless of party affiliation, proceed to go head-to-head in the general election.

Hilton garnered support from 17% of the respondents to the Emerson College/Inside California Politics survey, while Swalwell came in at 14%, which is tied with the 14% supporting Bianco.

Bianco has been hammered by Hilton for being photographed kneeling with protesters during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations and for skipping a gubernatorial debate.

Former Rep. Katie Porter (D) came in third place in the poll with 10% support, but that is a drop from the 11% she garnered in Dec. 2025. Porter’s campaign has been stymied by reports that she harassed her staff and also from damaging accusations from her ex-husband.

Billionaire leftist Tom Steyer saw a surge from his ad spending in California, but he still came in fourth place despite more than doubling his support from 4% two months ago to 9% in the current poll.

“The Republican electorate in California is split between Steve Hilton (38%) and Chad Bianco (37%), while Hilton also picks up a plurality of independent voter support at 22%,” said Emerson College Polling executive director Spencer Kimball.

“Democratic voters have not yet clearly coalesced around one candidate: 23% of Democrats support Eric Swalwell, 14% support Porter, 12% Steyer and 22% are undecided,” he added.

RELATED: California Democrats crushed by backlash against tax proposal to replace revenue lost by electric car mandate

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom got some bad news in the new poll as well.

His approval rating has dropped from 47% to 44%, while his disapproval rating has spiked from 39% to 45%, for a net approval rating crashing down 9 percentage points.

Californians were decidedly negative toward President Donald Trump according to the poll — 62% disapproved of the president, while 32% approved.

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President Donald Trump has been falsely accused of racism since before his first term in the White House, but one CBS reporter suggested that no one has ever falsely accused the president of being racist — and press secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly called him out.

“Yesterday in his statement about Jesse Jackson, the president said, ‘Despite the fact that I’m falsely and consistently called a racist by the scoundrels and lunatics on the radical left, Democrats all, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way,’” CBS correspondent Ed O’Keefe recited from Trump’s Truth Social post — which was a tribute to the late Jesse Jackson — at a White House press briefing.

“Where or when does the president believe he’s been falsely called racist?” O’Keefe asked.

“You’re kidding, right?” Leavitt asked, stunned. “I will pull you a plethora of examples. I’m going to get my team in that room to start going through the internet of radical Democrats throughout the years, Ed, who have accused this president falsely of being a racist.”

“And I’m sure there’s many people in this room and on network television across the country who have accused him of the same. In fact, I know that because I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” she added.

“I realize what Ed O’Keefe is trying to do here,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments. “He’s trying to say, ‘Well, he’s never been falsely accused. We were always dead on the money with that.’ And to that point, Ed O’Keefe himself called President Trump a racist.”

O’Keefe once posted on X that President Trump received “backlash and support over his racist tweets.”

While O’Keefe and many others in the Democratic Party believe Trump to be a racist, Jesse Jackson did not, and Gonzales plays a decades-old video of Jackson thanking Trump for being “inclusive” and creating a “comfort zone.”

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to recover after all of those racist remarks. Hear that racist rhetoric? Oh my gosh. Helping the NAACP, helping Jesse Jackson. Boy, if President Trump is a racist, he’s doing it very wrong,” Gonzales says.

“He is the worst racist in history. … He was rapped about in rap songs before he ran for president as a Republican. He has a very long history of black people in America actually loving him, singing about him, talking about him,” she continues.

“They thought he was the coolest until there was an R in front of his name, and then everyone had to hate him, and then we all had to pretend like he’s definitely a racist,” she adds.

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A growing number of Republican lawmakers are calling for Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales (R) to resign after damning text messages he apparently exchanged with a now-deceased staffer have come to light.

Gonzales first came under scrutiny in September after one of his district staffers, Regina Santos-Aviles, set herself on fire outside her Uvalde home, passing away from her injuries the following day. The Daily Mail later published an expose alleging an affair between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles, which he repeatedly brushed off as “personal smears.”

‘I am so sick of people not calling this crap out.’

The scandal recently resurfaced after news broke that back in April, several months before her death, Santos-Aviles apparently messaged a co-worker claiming to have had an “affair” with their “boss.”

Despite Gonzales’ attempts to shut down the story, another flurry of explicit texts that appear to be from the congressman to Santos-Aviles have only exacerbated the scandal.

RELATED: ‘Desperate rage’: Republican accuses lawyer of ‘blackmail’ amid affair rumors linked to staffer’s suicide

The newly released text messages appear to show Gonzales pressuring Santos-Aviles to “send [him] a sexy pic” and asking her to name her “favorite position.” Santos-Aviles seemed to push back on his advances, saying she didn’t “like taking pictures” of herself and that his line of questioning was “going too far boss.”

Attorney Robert Barrera — who is representing Santos-Aviles’ widower, Adrian Aviles — told Blaze News that these messages “appear valid.” Blaze News also reached out to Aviles to confirm the validity of the messages.

Gonzales’ office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

RELATED: Texas Republican’s staffer fatally set herself on fire last year — text now seems to confirm their alleged affair

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

As the scandal reaches a fever pitch, more and more Republicans are pressuring the Texas congressman to resign and bow out of his primary race against Brendon Herrera, a gun YouTuber who nearly unseated Gonzales in 2024.

“The entire Texas delegation, as well as every single other Member of Congress, should be condemning a sitting Member of Congress asking for explicit photos of their staff,” Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida said in a post on X. “As a woman, this is really disgusting to see. Not to mention, it brings dishonor on the House of Representatives.”

“I am so sick of people not calling this crap out,” Luna added. “Again, like I’ve said before, this is not the only case of this crap up here. [Tony Gonzales], shame on you.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) offered a succinct response to the apparent messages: “RESIGN!”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) fell short of calling for Gonzales’ resignation but rather said he would need to address the allegations. Notably President Donald Trump endorsed Gonzales in December following the initial scandal and has not yet rescinded his endorsement.

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Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is still on the defensive after a humiliating performance at the Munich Security Conference.

The far-left firebrand was thoroughly ridiculed over a rambling non-response she made to an important question about current events and U.S. foreign policy.

‘I could give — whatever about that, to be honest.’

She offered a bizarre justification in a video on her Instagram account and tried to blame President Donald Trump in response to the criticism.

“If you think that I don’t understand foreign policy because out of hours of discourse about international affairs, I pause to think about one of the most sensitive geopolitical issues that currently exist on Earth,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “I’m afraid the issue’s not my understanding, but rather the problem is perhaps you’ve gotten adjusted to a president that never thinks before he speaks and doesn’t care about the implications of his words before he speaks on matters like these.”

Both the president and Vice President JD Vance have mocked Ocasio-Cortez over the gaffe.

“After the president said that I was so smart,” Vance said Thursday, “and that I didn’t want to repeat our congresswoman who froze for 20 seconds over in Munich — now I’m tempted, sir, just to freeze for 20 seconds and just stare at the cameras. And maybe they’ll say nice things about me like they do about Congresswoman Cortez!”

Ocasio-Cortez was asked at the global conference to explain what the U.S. should do if China invaded Taiwan, a contentious possibility that many believe could become reality soon.

“Um, you know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, um, this is of course a very long-standing policy of the United States,” she stammered while pausing numerous times. “And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point.”

RELATED: JD Vance mocks Ocasio-Cortez on her humiliating response to foreign policy query — and she lashes out at him

Many outlets noted that Ocasio-Cortez is widely considered to be trying to expand her name recognition in order to run for even higher office, including the presidency. She denied the suspicion after her embarrassing gaffe.

“Everyone’s got this story wrong, that this is about me running for president,” she said to the New York Times.

“I could give — whatever about that, to be honest,” she added.

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CIA Director John Ratcliffe revealed last year that there were “multiple procedural anomalies” in the production of the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment — a document created at former President Barack Obama’s urging that served as the cornerstone of the Russia collusion hoax.

Ratcliffe emphasized that ex-CIA Director John Brennan sacrificed “analytical soundness” for “narrative consistency.”

The CIA evidently did not limit its prioritization of political agenda over fact to just the one document.

After the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board determined that dozens of analytical CIA assessments were similarly infected with political bias, Ratcliffe announced on Friday that he had ordered retractions or substantial revisions of 19 intelligence products.

“The intelligence products we released to the American people today — produced before my tenure as DCIA — fall short of the high standards of impartiality that CIA must uphold and do not reflect the expertise for which our analysts are renowned,” the CIA director said in a statement.

To provide some insight into the extent of the political perversion and suboptimal quality of past CIA products, Ratcliffe published three redacted versions of reports that the agency indicated “exhibit substantial deviations from the President’s expectations that CIA’s workforce remains independent from a particular audience, agenda, or policy viewpoint.”

‘We owe it to the American people to correct the record.’

One of the reports, published in October 2021, is titled “Women Advancing White Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist Radicalization and Recruitment.”

The report:

Concern-mongers about white women who “may not openly advocate violence but amplify white [racially and ethnically motivated violent extremist] narratives regarding their perceptions of racial and ethnic hierarchy, as well as perceived threats from those they see as advocating multiculturalism and globalization”;Complains that some white women “have produced blogs, videos, or other online content under the guise of cooking tutorials, which feature discussions about the importance of organic food alongside subtle narratives about racial purity and the defense of white European heritage”; Haphazardly blurs the lines between bona fide white supremacists and individuals who’ve amplified the so-called conspiracy theory that “the white population is decreasing because of increasing immigration and birthrates among non-white groups”;Notes that supposed radicals have dared to celebrate “motherhood and homemaking as women’s most important responsibility”;Leans heavily on left-wing media reports; andAdvocates modeling future messaging on the best practices from the Expert Center on Gender and Right-Wing Extremism, part of a leftist German NGO led by anti-white former Stasi collaborator Anetta Kahane.

One of the other redacted reports released last week, an assessment published in July 2020 titled “Worldwide: Pandemic-Related Contraceptive Shortfalls Threaten Economic Development,” similarly evinced an unmistakably leftist worldview.

RELATED: Where in the Constitution is ‘the interagency’ anyway?

Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As its title suggests, the report concern-mongered about the impact of pandemic-era supply chain disruptions on the third world’s access to abortions and contraceptives.

It warned that an uptick in babies “in African and other developing countries would perpetuate poverty, strain household budgets, and limit disposable income for consumer goods, including U.S. exports.”

The document relied heavily on propaganda from the International Planned Parenthood Federation as well as the Guttmacher Institute, an NGO that advocates expanding abortion practices around the world.

“There is absolutely no room for bias in our work and when we identify instances where analytic rigor has been compromised, we have a responsibility to correct the record,” Ratcliffe said. “These actions underscore our commitment to transparency, accountability, and objective intelligence analysis.”

CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis, whose internal review confirmed that the documents “did not meet the high standards the American people expect from the CIA’s elite analytic workforce,” tweeted, “When we fall short of our standards, we owe it to the American people to correct the record.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) commended Ratcliffe “for correcting the record and ensuring that the CIA’s analysis is free of any political bias,” adding, “I’ve been sending these kind of reports back to the CIA for years and observing that they contain no intelligence.”

“Our intelligence agencies have too often missed critical national-security developments to waste time on, for instance, how ‘pandemic-related contraceptive shortfalls threaten economic development,'” Cotton continued. “Honestly.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) noted that Ratcliffe “has done a tone [sic] of work behind the scenes. Well done director!”

Not all were pleased with the attempt to remedy the agency’s ideological capture.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) suggested that the retractions and revisions were “part of a broader and deeply troubling pattern in this administration: sidelining career experts, undermining inconvenient intelligence assessments, and allowing political considerations to override professional judgment.”

“When political appointees appear to dictate what analysis is valid, it threatens the credibility, reliability, and independence of the Intelligence Community itself,” Warner added.

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The online response to a Huffington Post article whining that Olympics patriotism feels “yucky” is decidedly negative.

While most Americans are swelling with pride over the victories racked up by U.S. Olympians in the Winter Games, some on the left are crippled by conflicting emotions.

‘Being a left-wing extremist sounds utterly exhausting, miserable, and empty.’

The article by Monica Torres proclaimed, “If waving the American flag or chanting ‘USA!’ turns you off right now, you’re not alone.”

Right out of the gate, Torres assailed the Trump administration for killing unarmed civilians and detaining 2-year-olds, then went on to cite therapists treating the “cognitive dissonance.” One expert said the angst could even manifest itself physically in the forms of “tightness in the neck, shoulder or jaw areas, as well as digestive issues and trouble sleeping.”

The progressive news outlet and Torres were pummeled online.

“Who is this self-loathing cringe actually for? Who is the intended consumer?” asked one user on the X platform.

“Imagine being so corrupted that you can’t even root for your nation’s exceptional young athletes. Pathetic!” read another reply.

“If you hate America because you lost a free and fair election, you’re not alone. You’re a moron, and at least a fair bit anti-American, but that’s HuffPo’s audience, and their schtick,” said another detractor.

“Just fire everyone and close. Activism is not journalism,” responded one critic.

“Patriotic Americans cheer while Liberals struggle with cognitive dissonance over 3 words — USA.
Grow up,” replied another user.

“Delete this account, fire all of your editors…and rebrand,” read another reply.

RELATED: HuffPo calls to cancel Thanksgiving over global warming, and the online ridicule is brutal

Photo by Andrea Branca/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

“Being a left-wing extremist sounds utterly exhausting, miserable, and empty,” responded Mollie Hemingway.

The post of the article garnered more than 10 million views.

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A married employee of an Indiana high school was arrested after allegedly sexually abusing a student, according to police. Authorities were tipped off to the damning child sex crime accusations after her husband found his wife with a second student, police said.

The Union City Police Department — located in Western Ohio near the border of neighboring Indiana — announced in a statement the arrest of Alicia Hughes “following an investigation into allegations involving inappropriate conduct with a minor.”

‘It will be interesting to see the school’s policies, how this individual was screened and trained, and what “red flags” were overlooked or ignored.’

Hughes — a 31-year-old employee of the Randolph Eastern School Corporation in Indiana — was caught with a student by her husband on Feb. 14, police said.

“During the course of the investigation, officers learned that Hughes’ husband had discovered her with an 18-year-old student of Randolph Eastern School Corporation and confronted the individuals,” police stated.

The press release revealed, “It is alleged that Hughes was battered during that altercation. The alleged battery is being investigated by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department.”

Police did not reveal the husband’s name.

Investigators said they “uncovered evidence that Alicia Hughes had also engaged in a sexual relationship with a separate high school student who was 17 years old at the time.”

The Union City Police Department noted that Hughes and the student “engaged in sexual intercourse on at least five occasions.”

Hughes was arrested and charged with five counts of child seduction related to the sexual relationship with the minor student, according to police.

Police said Hughes was being detained at the Randolph County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond.

According to Indiana law, child seduction is when a “person used or exerted the person’s professional relationship with the child to engage in sexual intercourse, other sexual conduct, or any fondling or touching with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the child or the person under this section.”

Those in a position of power include employees of a school corporation.

RELATED: Teacher of the year arrested for alleged child sex crimes — then she’s arrested on similar charges just days later

Cleveland.com reported that Randolph Eastern School Corporation Superintendent Neal Adams said that Hughes “has been removed from all duties with students pending the outcome of the legal process.” The outlet added that Hughes is a high school secretary.

The staff directory for the Union City Jr/Sr High School does not show the name of the suspect; however, an archived version of the school’s website shows an attendance secretary named “Alicia Hughes.”

Adams did not specify if Hughes had been terminated.

“We recognize that situations of this nature are deeply concerning for our families, staff, and the broader community,” Adams added. “Please know that we share those concerns and are taking this matter with the utmost seriousness, care, and urgency.”

Tom Blessing, an attorney for survivors of sexual abuse, said of the accusations, “Usually, we see abuse claims involving teachers and coaches, but any school staff with access to children could use their position of authority and trust to take advantage of them: custodial and maintenance staff, counselors, office staff, even administrators.”

Blessing continued, “It will be interesting to see the school’s policies, how this individual was screened and trained, and what ‘red flags’ were overlooked or ignored.”

Blessing noted that many times “institutional failures enabled the abuse” in sexual misconduct cases by school employees.

The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment. The Union City Police Department did not have any updates on the case.

Those with information about the case are urged to contact the Union City Police Department at 937-968-7744.

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The Department of Homeland Security set the record straight on Immigration and Customs Enforcement training, debunking claims from the media that agents are receiving less training.

A DHS press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News counters falsehoods about ICE’s training programs amid a significant increase in new hires.

‘Despite false claims from the media and sanctuary politicians, no training hours have been cut.’

Leftist outlets have claimed that the Trump administration reduced the length of its training course from roughly five months to just 42 days, as reported by the Atlantic in January.

The DHS released further details on Monday about ICE’s training program, discrediting those claims.

The agency explained that ICE recruits receive 56 days of training and an average of 28 days of on-the-job training. Under the prior administration, agents trained eight hours a day, five days a week. Under President Donald Trump, new hires are being trained 12 hours a day, six days a week.

“No training requirements have been removed,” DHS stated, adding that it is the “same hours of training officers have always received.”

RELATED: ‘Quite literally insane’: DHS responds to new scheme from LA activists to warn illegal aliens about ICE

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers are prepared to accommodate 12,000 new hires in 2026, with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act providing these centers with $750 million to boost the training and readiness of ICE agents, as well as Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection officers.

“DHS has streamlined training to cut redundancy and incorporate technology advancements, without sacrificing basic subject matter content. Under these new improvements, candidates still learn the same elements and meet the same high standards ICE has always required. No subject matter has been cut,” the press release read.

Further, the DHS noted that most new ICE hires are experienced law enforcement officers who have previously completed a law enforcement academy.

Leftist outlets have accused the Trump administration of eliminating Spanish-language courses for ICE personnel.

The DHS responded to this claim as well, explaining that the agency terminated the language classes, which covered only one dialect of Spanish, to instead provide officers with robust translation and interpretation services for multiple languages.

The agency stated that ICE training courses focus on enhancing several skills, including arrest techniques, defensive tactics, conflict management and de-escalation, firearms and marksmanship, and proper use of force.

According to the DHS, new hires who join ICE’s Special Response Teams undergo more intensive training, including 30 hours of tryouts, an SRT Basic Operator Course, ongoing marksmanship training for all issued firearms, and continuous training for specialized skills, such as breaching techniques, perimeter control, hostage rescue, and more.

Further, the DHS described education on the Fourth and Fifth Amendments as an “integral component” of ICE officers’ basic training at FLETC.

“The overarching objective is to ensure that, prior to assuming field duties, every ICE officer has been repeatedly trained, tested, and held to clear standards that require consistent respect for constitutional rights in all enforcement activities,” the DHS said.

RELATED: ‘Large human smuggling operation’ uncovered in Texas? ICE makes alarming claim about ‘alien from India.’

Photo by Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images

DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis stated, “We have ensured our law enforcement officers get the best of the best training to arrest and remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from our communities.”

“Despite false claims from the media and sanctuary politicians, no training hours have been cut,” Bis continued. “Our officers receive extensive firearm training, are taught de-escalation tactics, and receive Fourth and Fifth Amendment comprehensive instruction. The training does not stop after graduation from the academy — recruits are put on a rigorous on-the-job training program that is tracked and monitored.”

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