Unlike the OC Board of Supervisors District 1 race, in which one of five candidates has to secure a majority of the votes to avoid a November runoff, only a tie would leave District 3 without a winner.

District 3 represents all or at least parts of Anaheim Hills, Irvine, Lake Forest, Tustin, North Tustin, Villa Park, Orange, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Yorba Linda and the other eastern unincorporated areas. Ballots are making their way into the mailboxes of registered voters this week.

Read more: Follow the links on each candidate’s name to see how they responded to our 2024 voter guide questions, and check out the entire guide here. 

The five-member Board of Supervisors sets policy and direction and oversees the county’s $9.3 billion budget, 18,000 employees and various departments including animal care, landfills, public works, social services and public health.

Khan was elected to the Irvine City Council in 2018 and then as the city’s mayor in 2020. Among the top issues she said she’d like to address as a county supervisor are homelessness, housing and climate change.

Wagner was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2019 in a special election. He previously served six years in the State Assembly, and was mayor of Irvine from 2016 to 2019. He said if he wins he would continue to prioritize public safety and addressing homelessness.

Khan called homelessness and housing the most pressing issues in the county. The county’s support of local nonprofits and organizations that address homelessness has been good, she said, but thinks the focus should move away from traditional shelters.

“We have to really dive in and take care of our unhoused,” she said. “That means making sure that we’re putting funding into areas like social services and creating a case management program where there’s one-on-one support to learn what the needs are of the community.”

Traditional shelters “don’t work.” she has said. “It’s critical to understand the needs of unhoused individuals. They may include mental health needs, some being critical enough for us to utilize CARE courts, the legislation I advocated and spoke in favor of. There may be substance abuse issues, medical needs or just financial instability.”

By redirecting funds from creating more traditional shelters toward “case management-based temporary housing — a ‘wellness center’ — we can reduce our homeless population,” she said. “This is a system that can work in any city, especially those that have been resistant to traditional shelters.”

When it comes to meeting housing needs, Khan said the county and cities are doing their best, but there needs to be a way to make sure what’s being built offers an affordable entry point for families into homeownership and doesn’t become investment properties.

“How do we limit corporate investors from basically buying out homes that are available for our families and pushing them out so they can’t even compete with them? We need real reform to make sure that we’re providing housing for our community, not for corporations,” Khan said. “As we build out, and as we provide more affordable housing, we also need to make sure that the housing that we build isn’t going to be taken up by corporations and not individuals and families.”

She also called collaboration with cities “crucial for promoting the development of affordable housing in Orange County, going beyond the management of unincorporated areas. The county needs to actively seek ways to incentivize new developments and engage with cities.”

Wagner wants to maintain the county’s focus on addressing homelessness, he said, including expanding efforts beyond providing housing to also providing support for people to get help in other ways such as with substance use and mental illness.

“I want to make sure that we, as a government, give to the people who want the help they need, because ultimately, that’s how we’re going to be successful in reducing our homeless issue and get people stabilized,” he said. “Then, they’re able to live in a housing situation.

“I don’t believe the answer is just to build houses or rent hotel rooms, because if you haven’t fixed the underlying issue that is troubling someone, that’s not a long-term solution.”

He said “gaps in care and in enforcement tools remain that frustrate our ability to continue progress. I am working with the county to undo the misguided court decision in the Boise case that unwisely limits our ability to enforce anti-camping and anti-vagrancy laws. I also am working with South County cities in my district to further efforts to help address homelessness, especially with short-term inclement weather facilities.”

When it comes to public spending, Wagner said public safety has taken a front seat as one of the concerns he wants addressed.

“Especially in California, when we’re seeing a legislature that is not as tough on crime as it should be, when we’re seeing surrounding communities, L.A., with these smash-and-grabs, they’re bleeding down into Orange County,” Wagner said. “When we’re seeing some of those issues out there, I would say a priority, if not a top priority, has to be maintaining public safety.”

Wagner said he wants to ensure that law enforcement and departments such as the Orange County Fire Authority continue to be properly funded to have the tools and technology needed to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively.

With his background in government, Wagner said he is confident in himself as a public servant.

“I’ve been in this business for an awfully long time, and I have done my best to think through the issues, come up with a view of the appropriate role of government, and then vote that role,” Wagner said. “I’m quite comfortable explaining to the public why I do what I do and let the public decide, because the way this government works is, we ultimately are responsive to the public. I’m going to do what I think is in the absolute best interest of the public.”

In her campaigning, Khan said she has been visiting constituents outside of Irvine, meeting folks in Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest, in the canyons and elsewhere to find out each city’s individual needs.

“It’s really just letting people know that I’m here, and listening to what their needs are. The district is so diverse with their needs,” Khan said. “What’s really key here is having that open dialog, letting them know that I’m here to listen to them and to deliver.”

The Registrar of Voters will open the first wave of vote centers on Feb. 24 and more will open as election day on March 5 draws nearer. Secure drop boxes are available 24/7 in various locations and ballots may also be mailed back. For more information visit ocvote.gov.

NEW YORK — The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday outlawed robocalls that contain voices generated by artificial intelligence, a decision that sends a clear message that exploiting the technology to scam people and mislead voters won’t be tolerated.

The unanimous ruling targets robocalls made with AI voice-cloning tools under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a 1991 law restricting junk calls that use artificial and prerecorded voice messages.

The announcement comes as New Hampshire authorities are advancing their investigation into AI-generated robocalls that mimicked President Joe Biden’s voice to discourage people from voting in the state’s first-in-the-nation primary last month.

Effective immediately, the regulation empowers the FCC to fine companies that use AI voices in their calls or block the service providers that carry them. It also opens the door for call recipients to file lawsuits and gives state attorneys general a new mechanism to crack down on violators, according to the FCC.

The agency’s chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, said bad actors have been using AI-generated voices in robocalls to misinform voters, impersonate celebrities and extort family members.

RELATED: Fake Biden robocalls in New Hampshire traced to Texas company, criminal investigation underway

“It seems like something from the far-off future, but this threat is already here,” Rosenworcel told The Associated Press on Wednesday as the commission was considering the regulations. “All of us could be on the receiving end of these faked calls, so that’s why we felt the time to act was now.”

Under the consumer protection law, telemarketers generally cannot use automated dialers or artificial or prerecorded voice messages to call cellphones, and they cannot make such calls to landlines without prior written consent from the call recipient.

The new ruling classifies AI-generated voices in robocalls as “artificial” and thus enforceable by the same standards, the FCC said.

Those who break the law can face steep fines, with a maximum of more than $23,000 per call, the FCC said. The agency has previously used the consumer law to clamp down on robocallers interfering in elections, including imposing a $5 million fine on two conservative hoaxers for falsely warning people in predominantly Black areas that voting by mail could heighten their risk of arrest, debt collection and forced vaccination.

The law also gives call recipients the right to take legal action and potentially recover up to $1,500 in damages for each unwanted call.

Josh Lawson, director of AI and democracy at the Aspen Institute, said even with the FCC’s ruling, voters should prepare themselves for personalized spam to target them by phone, text and social media.

“The true dark hats tend to disregard the stakes and they know what they’re doing is unlawful,” he said. “We have to understand that bad actors are going to continue to rattle the cages and push the limits.”

Kathleen Carley, a Carnegie Mellon professor who specializes in computational disinformation, said that in order to detect AI abuse of voice technology, one needs to be able to clearly identify that the audio was AI generated.

That is possible now, she said, “because the technology for generating these calls has existed for awhile. It’s well understood and it makes standard mistakes. But that technology will get better.”

Sophisticated generative AI tools, from voice-cloning software to image generators, already are in use in elections in the U.S. and around the world.

Last year, as the U.S. presidential race got underway, several campaign advertisements used AI-generated audio or imagery, and some candidates experimented with using AI chatbots to communicate with voters.

Bipartisan efforts in Congress have sought to regulate AI in political campaigns, but no federal legislation has passed, with the general election nine months away.

Rep. Yvette Clarke, who introduced legislation to regulate AI in politics, lauded the FCC for its ruling but said now Congress needs to act.

“I believe Democrats and Republicans can agree that AI-generated content used to deceive people is a bad thing, and we need to work together to help folks have the tools necessary to help discern what’s real and what isn’t,” said Clarke, D-N.Y.

The AI-generated robocalls that sought to influence New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary election used a voice similar to Biden’s, employed his often-used phrase, “What a bunch of malarkey” and falsely suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting a ballot in November.

“New Hampshire had a taste of how AI can be used inappropriately in the election process,” New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan said. “It is certainly appropriate to try and get our arms around the use and the enforcement so that we’re not misleading the voting population in a way that could harm our elections.”

The state’s attorney general, John Formella, said Tuesday that investigators had identified the Texas-based Life Corp. and its owner, Walter Monk as the source of the calls, which went to thousands of state residents, mostly registered Democrats. He said the calls were transmitted by another Texas-based company, Lingo Telecom.

According to the FCC, both Lingo Telecom and Life Corp. have been investigated for illegal robocalls in the past.

Lingo Telecom said in a statement Tuesday that it “acted immediately” to help with the investigation into the robocalls impersonating Biden. The company said it “had no involvement whatsoever in the production of the call content.”

A man who answered the business line for Life Corp. declined to comment Thursday.

Associated Press writers Christina A. Cassidy in Washington and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

QUETTA, Pakistan — Bombs ripped through two separate political offices in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people, officials said, a day before the country was set to elect a new parliament.

The attacks in Baluchistan province — home to a low-level insurgency and various militant groups — have raised concerns ahead of the balloting in the troubled Western ally where many voters are already disillusioned by political feuding and a seemingly intractable economic crisis.

Violence ahead of elections and on the day of polling is common in Pakistan, which has struggled to rein in militancy. Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed across the country following a recent surge in attacks, especially in Baluchistan.

Hours later, the Islamic State group’s branch in Pakistan claimed Wednesday’s second attack.

At least 18 people were killed in the first attack at independent candidate Asfandyar Khan’s election office in the Pashin district, Jumadad Mandokhel, a government official, said.

Shortly after, another bombing killed at least 12 people at the Jamiat Ulema Islam party office in Qilla Saifullah, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) away, according to Jan Achakzai, the spokesman for the provincial government. He said the elections would not be delayed despite the bombings.

The attacks, which left more than two dozen people wounded, drew condemnation from almost all political parties.

Later Wednesday, police official Arfan Bahadur said a man prematurely detonated a hand grenade in the southern port city of Karachi, killing himself and two passersby. He said it was not clear how the man got a hold of the grenade.

Jamiat Ulema Islam — a leading radical Islamist party that has close ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban — has been attacked by the Islamic State group and other militants in recent years. At least 54 people were killed in July when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a party rally. An Afghan branch of the Islamic State group claimed that attack.

Party president Fazlur Rehman and scores of candidates from the party are contesting the elections throughout the country.

Baluchistan, a gas-rich province on the border with Afghanistan and Iran, has been the scene of an insurgency for more than two decades by Baluch nationalists who are seeking independence.The nationalists typically attack security forces — not civilian or political targets in the province. The outlawed Baluchistan Liberation Army has been behind multiple attacks on security forces, including one on Jan. 30 that killed six people.

The Pakistani Taliban, along with other militant groups, also have a strong presence in Baluchistan and have targeted civilians in recent years, though the Pakistani Taliban pledged not to attack election rallies ahead of the vote.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar denounced the attacks and conveyed his condolences to the families of those who died. He vowed that “every attempt to sabotage the law and order situation will be thwarted” and said the government is committed to holding elections Thursday in peace.

Achakzai, the provincial government spokesman, announced a three-day mourning period but emphasized that “the elections will take place on Thursday as per the schedule, and we urge people to exercise their right to vote to defeat those who wanted a delay in the elections.”

In 2007, Pakistan’s two-time prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a gun and bomb attack, minutes after she addressed an election rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Her son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, has led the campaign for her Pakistan People’s Party amid tight security.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad.

Five candidates, all with past experience in civic leadership, are looking to grab the First District seat, which represents Huntington Beach, Westminster, Fountain Valley and parts of Garden Grove on the board. Ballots in March’s primary election should start arriving in the mailboxes of registered voters this week.

Qualifying for the ballot are Westminster Councilmember Kimberly Ho; Cypress Councilmember Frances Marquez; state Sen. Janet Nguyen; Van Tran, who is currently serving as Do’s chief of staff; and business owner Michael Vo. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two proceed to a November runoff.

Read more: Follow the links on each candidate name to see how they responded to our 2024 voter guide questions, and check out the entire guide here. 

The five-member Board of Supervisors sets policy and direction and oversees the county’s $9.3 billion budget, 18,000 employees and various departments including animal care, landfills, public works, social services and public health.

The candidates have all said they want to prioritize issues around government transparency, homelessness and public safety, but they have different opinions on how exactly those should be addressed.

Vo said affordable housing is not being built at the rate Orange County families need it, and more housing is the start to ending homelessness.

“People have blatantly told me that, if you give homeless people a house, that doesn’t solve anything; there are people fixated on that. But I look at them and I tell them that obviously housing is not the answer – it is a start. We have to start somewhere,” said Vo, who has previously served on the Fountain Valley City Council. “A homeless person wants a roof over their head, and a key, and they can come and go anytime they want. They have a sense of security.”

And once they have that sense of security, he said support groups and programs can then “befriend them, get to know them and nurture them back into society.”

Ho has served on the Westminster City Council since 2016 and thinks of herself as a “problem solver,” saying she can see herself making a difference in the homelessness crisis by finding solutions at the county and city levels. She agrees with county spending on programs such as Be Well OC, which sends out street teams and is building wellness campuses with mental health and treatment services brought together in-house, but said she disagrees with the pressure put on cities to provide homeless shelter beds without financial support.

“We need funding and we need a fresh pair of eyes and experienced people to be on the Board of Supervisors in order to solve the problem,” she said. “Also, we need to give the local municipalities funds. I don’t know exactly what amount that would be to solve that problem, but it isn’t fair for cities to take out of their coffers to do that.”

Also, residents in Orange County don’t feel safe, Vo said. He wants to improve public safety by creating a task force dedicated to targeting smash-and-grab and home burglary crimes.

“A group of five, 10 people are just coming into an establishment and put things in their backpack and running away,” he said. “It’s come here to Orange County. It’s happened right here in Costa Mesa, in South Coast Plaza. And people are afraid, people feel insecure in their own county.

“By forming a task force, they are multi-agency, they can go into different cities, they can investigate without going through the red tape,” he said. “If anyone thinks of coming to Orange County and robbing our residents here, they will think twice because we will go after them with many measures that the county has, and we are willing to go all the way to bring safety to the public.”

Tran said he wants to give departments such as the District Attorney’s Office and OC Sheriff’s Department more tools and resources to improve public safety.

“Given what’s going on in Sacramento, legislation being passed and signed off by the governor has really increased the crime rate, both in terms of the release of these criminals or defendants from jail early and also the lesser, or the reduction, of sentencing and punishment on many of these types of crimes, that would allow or incentivize criminals to commit these crimes. We need to talk about that directly,” Tran said. “And law enforcement personnel must have the necessary resources to handle this.”

Tran, who also serves as a director with the Orange County Water District, said he would also like to see a stricter policy or agreement between the OC Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, when it comes to the sharing of information regarding undocumented immigrants. Tran said although the Board of Supervisors does not have direct jurisdiction over this issue, he would would like to see the board engage more in the dialogue.

Transparency is another issue several candidates spoke to, and something Do has been criticized over in recent months.

There have been recent reports that Do voted with other supervisors in the last two years on subcontracts with a nonprofit for mental health services worth up to $3.1 million without publicly disclosing that his daughter was part of the organization’s leadership. He also directed an additional $6.2 million to the nonprofit from his district discretionary funds, which can be disbursed without a public meeting. County policy currently follows state policy in requiring disclosure when a minor child benefits, but an adult child is not mentioned. Do’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Tran said voters should not equate him with his employer.

“I find trying to tie me with Supervisor Do very offensive. I came into the office to basically change and help the office operate better, at many levels,” said Tran, who became Do’s chief of staff in August 2022. He has been endorsed by Do. “Many of the issues that his opponents are bringing up or accusing him of are beyond my times, nor do I have any knowledge of.”

If elected, Tran said he would want to work with other members of the board to revisit transparency and accountability policies – supervisors have split on recent proposals to broaden the conflict of interest disclosure policy and make changes in the discretionary fund system. In terms of how his office would work to be more transparent, Tran said accessibility is key.

“There is a community service center, Orange County Community Service Center in the city of Westminster… It’s centrally located and it’s very accessible by all residents within the district. I’d like to spend a little time every week there to meet with constituents and residents who have issues and problems,” Tran said. “Accessibility goes a long way, not only as a person or as an elected official or policy maker, but also accessibility in terms of policy, policy issues and explaining what we are doing as a county.”

Nguyen, who previously served as a supervisor between 2007 and 2014 and in the past was considered a mentor to Do, said he has strayed far away from the public official she knew him to be. She said she is “deeply disturbed” by the “reports of self-dealing” and lack of transparency from his office.

“Andrew Do was once a member of my staff, but he changed once he was elected and he and I parted ways years ago,” Nguyen said, adding that on Day 1 she wants to ask for a complete audit of county spending.

“I have experience from the state, from city, county, state. With that experience, I can restore good governance back to the county. The county isn’t upholding its duty to our taxpayers. And so, we need to get back on track to helping and improving the quality of life, ensuring effective county services,” Nguyen said. “When you have someone who is a former supervisor, I can come in there on day one and get to work. I don’t have to learn. I don’t have to introduce myself and understand each department. I’ve been there, I’ve done it.”

Marquez was elected to the Cypress City Council in 2020 and is an associate professor of government at Gallaudet University. When tackling the question of transparency, she said she wants to create guidelines that will help rebuild the public’s trust in their local government.

“I want to recommend that the Board of Supervisors have an Office of Contract Compliance with a contract compliance officer, and this person will be tasked with vetting nonprofits and businesses applying for funding from the county,” Marquez said. “I want the board members to sign conflict of interest forms as well. And any nonprofit or contractor doing business with the county and anyone in a position to evaluate, approve or vote on any contracts should also be required to sign a conflict of interest form.”

Nguyen has expressed frustrations with the current board when it comes to how the OC Animal Care shelter in Tustin has been overseen – there has been a campaign by some rescue groups and advocates for more unrestricted access to animals in the shelter’s kennels and complaints with policies over when cats are taken in and how animal behavior is judged.

“The animal shelter has been shut down since COVID, and there’s been a grand jury report that came out that seriously showed the issues at the shelter,” Nguyen said, adding that seeing animals rescued should be a top priority. “We have a high rate of euthanasia. Our adoption rate is very low. Our return rate of adoption, I was told, is 40% at minimum. The board needs to be interested in all the departments. There needs to be oversight of every aspect, in every department. And that’s not what you see at the animal shelter.”

Nguyen said she wants to look at how other shelters operate, such as the San Clemente/Dana Point Animal Shelter for example, where she said adoption rates are high and there is a no-euthanasia policy.

Marquez also wants to look at other shelters for better ways the county facility may be able to run, resulting in better care and adoption outcomes for animals, she said. Like Nguyen, she would like to see more public hours, but also wants to see a “consumer-focused” approach, meaning more advertisements and public outreach to get animals adopted.

Ho pointed to the Westminster Adoption Group and Services, or WAGS, group the city of Westminster uses for shelter and adoption services, where she said city officials have dedicated funds to ensure that all pets are well taken care of. The shelter tries to avoid euthanasia at all cost, according to its website.

“We need to advertise, let it be known. I think we just need to let the community know and inform them that there are pets to be adopted before they go to purchase a pet,” Ho said. “I do not want to see pets get put down, especially ones that people maybe just don’t know of.”

The Registrar of Voters is mailing ballots out to registered voters this week. The first vote centers will open on Feb. 24 and more will open as election day on March 5 draws nearer. For more information visit ocvote.gov.

WARREN, Michigan — President Joe Biden chatted with a friendly union crowd inside a United Auto Workers hall in Michigan on Thursday as pro-Palestinian demonstrators held back by police with riot shields voiced their anger nearby at the president’s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas.

The tension highlighted the challenges ahead for Biden in holding on to this critical battleground state in November over likely rival Donald Trump, and underscored the Democrats’ concerns about flagging enthusiasm among voters who have been key to their coalition.

Biden’s visit with autoworkers making phone bank calls for him ahead of the state’s Democratic primary came just days after union President Shawn Fain announced their endorsement of him. Fain praised Biden’s ties to the working class, saying, “We know who’s been there for labor and who wasn’t,” adding that the union’s mission now is to “keep Joe Biden as our president.”

Biden, who joined striking workers on the picket line last year, replied, “Supporting you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

However, Biden’s Michigan schedule did not include any meetings with Arab Americans, adding to increasing frustration over his support of Israel in its war with Hamas as the Palestinian death toll has mounted.

“Why not have a meaningful conversation for how you change course with a community that has first-hand accounts of what it’s like to live in the countries where your decision-making is unfolding?” said Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, one of the largest Arab American communities in the nation.

Despite the White House offering no advance details about Biden’s planned meeting, close to 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were waiting for Biden near the UAW Region 1 building in Warren ahead of his event there. The president’s motorcade bypassed them using side streets.

Protesters chanted “Hey Biden, what do you say? We won’t vote on Election Day” as well as pro-Palestinian slogans, including, “Free, free Palestine.”

Amir Naddaf, 34, traveled with friends from Ann Arbor to protest the president’s UAW event after having supported Biden in the 2020 election

“We came here to send a clear message to the administration that they’re not welcome in Michigan,” said Naddaf.

Dozens of riot gear-clad police officers and an armored vehicle kept the protesters from approaching the union hall.

More than 26,000 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 more, mostly civilians, in the attack.

Michigan has shifted increasingly Democratic in recent years, with the party controlling all levels of state government for the first time in four decades. Biden is looking to build on that power as he seeks reelection and the state’s critical 15 electoral votes.

The president faces no serious challenge in the primary, but his campaign is trying to build energy for the tougher fight to come in the fall. Michigan was part of the so-called blue wall of three states — with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — that Biden returned to the Democratic column when he won the White House in 2020.

He kicked off his visit to Michigan by meeting with Black religious leaders at They Say restaurant in Harper Woods, outside of Detroit, before thanking autoworkers for their support.

Warren, where Biden met with union workers, is in Macomb County, an area that Democrats lost by a wide margin to Trump in the past two national elections. Biden’s outreach to workers there came amid concerns within the party over rising tension between Biden and Arab Americans in the state, many of them in Detroit’s Wayne County, which is the Democratic Party’s largest base.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One with Biden that senior administration officials will travel to Michigan later in February to hear from community leaders on the conflict in Israel and Gaza. She did not specify which officials or with whom they would meet.

The early endorsement by the UAW was a clear win for Biden, who came to Michigan to stand alongside striking autoworkers last year. His latest meeting with union members comes on the heels of Trump’s visit with another one of the U.S. most influential unions, the Teamsters, in Washington on Wednesday.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime Biden ally, said Democrats need to tend to a multitude of constituencies in Michigan to hold on to the state in 2024.

“Michigan is a purple state. I say that to everybody,” she said. “Clearly, the Arab American community matters. But young people have to turn out. They were very decisive two years ago in voter turnout. A lot of the union leadership has endorsed the president, but we’ve got to get into the union halls and do the contrast so people really understand what it’s about. And we’ve got to make sure women and independents turn out. You know, we’re a competitive state.”

Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, led a group of campaign advisers to the Dearborn area last week as part of her ongoing effort to meet with core supporter groups around the country. She spoke with some community leaders, but the trip ended abruptly when Arab American leaders declined to show up for a meeting with her.

Ahead of Biden’s visit, demonstrators held a community rally in Dearborn on Wednesday night to protest administration policies backing Israel.

“The people in the Middle Eastern community are not confused. They are crystal clear on how Palestine has been handled versus Israel,” said former Democratic state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, who is from Detroit. “Just to come and visit them without changing your positions is not going to move them. African Americans are not confused either. And so you can’t just do visits. A visit is not enough.”

Biden and his aides have said they do not want to see any civilians die in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the U.S. is working to negotiate another cease-fire to allow critical aid to reach the territory.

During an October visit to Tel Aviv, Biden warned the Israelis not to be “consumed by rage.” But the president and his aides have also said he believes Israel has the right to defend itself and he has asked Congress for billions to help Israel in its war effort.

On Thursday during a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington ahead of his trip, Biden spoke of the threat of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

“Not only do we pray for peace, we are actively working for peace, security, dignity for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people,” he said.

A December AP-NORC poll found that 59% percent of Democrats approve of Biden’s approach to the conflict, up from 50% in November. But Democratic voters in New Hampshire’s primary were roughly split on how Biden has handled the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to AP VoteCast.

___ AP Writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

Our 2024 Primary Election Voter Guide launches online today, a one-stop-shop to find candidates’ platforms, explainers on ballot measures and our editorial board’s endorsements.

It’s an easy way to get to know who is on your ballot and compare the candidates vying for your vote. And we’ve got some new features for you this year, like an interactive map to help you find the nearest ballot drop box and demographical information about each race.

You can hear from candidates, in their own words, as they answered questionnaires on various topics, including how the economy is impacting Orange County, what’s next for artificial intelligence and its regulation and how border security can be better addressed, just to name a few.

Find the questionnaire here.

From there, scroll through the page or use the drop-down menu in the upper left corner to find a specific race.

Click on candidates’ names to see their questionnaires and answers in full. Candidates vying for the same seat received the same questions, and answers were only edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove offensive language.

You can find explainers on all the local ballot measures in Orange County as well as the lone statewide proposition before primary voters this March: Proposition 1. You can also find information about the only recall election on primary ballots in Orange County: an effort to oust two Orange Unified School Board trustees from their posts.

There is information about each race and district, such as how long terms last and why the U.S. Senate race is on your ballot twice. And for congressional and legislative races, you can find information about the district’s voter makeup.

The Voter Guide is available for all readers and can be shared. Find it online at ocregister.com/voter-guide.

And if you care to compare candidates’ responses this year to how they answered in 2022 – if they ran for office that year – you can find those answers at ocregister.com/2022-voter-guide/.

That uncertainty ranges from whether it would force the city to run its own municipal elections, and not use the Orange County Registrar of Voters to consolidate elections, to who would decide how, or if, the new requirements are implemented. The measure doesn’t explicitly lay out how the city would enact the new requirements.

“There’s a lot of details that will be flushed out as this goes forward,” said Councilmember Tony Strickland, who helped create the amendments and is campaigning for them.

But the city doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel and can model implementing voter ID on other states that already require it, he said.

Voters in March will actually be deciding on three amendments: Measures A, B and C.

Measure A would allow the city to implement voter identification requirements and ballot drop box monitoring and would require a minimum number of polling places throughout the city, yet it doesn’t mandate the changes. Measure B etches deeper into stone the city’s flag policy and would require unanimous City Council approval to fly new flags. Measure C mostly proposes administrative changes, including shortening council vacancy appointments, moving the city to a two-year budget cycle and allowing the mayor to cancel council meetings.

The election is effectively a test of what level of voter support exists for some of the most contested policies the council’s conservative majority of Strickland, Pat Burns, Casey McKeon and Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark is pushing for. Three councilmembers, Rhonda Bolton, Dan Kalmick and Natalie Moser, opposed putting the three charter amendments to voters.

Protect Huntington Beach, a political group largely led by former councilmembers that’s campaigning against the measures, is asking residents to vote down on all three, calling them solutions in search of a problem.

The most scrutinized proposal is one that would let the city, as soon as 2026, ask people to show a government-issued ID when they vote in municipal elections at city polling places; that includes voting for the seven councilmembers and the city attorney, city clerk and city treasurer positions.

Measure A’s supporters say it’s about strengthening faith in city elections and protecting them from potential fraud.

“Huntington Beach voters deserve the right to know that our elections are secure. It is crucial for our democracy that voters have faith in our election results,” Strickland and Van Der Mark wrote in their ballot arguments.

Strickland, in an interview, pointed to how both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have contested election results as part of the need for voter ID to give people faith in elections.

The California attorney general and secretary of state in September warned Huntington Beach that implementing voter ID conflicts with state law, which they said requires people voting in person to provide their name and address only.

A resident tried to get a judge to block the measure from appearing on the ballot, with the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, but an Orange County judge in December denied that attempt, saying courts generally don’t do pre-election reviews of ballot contents.

Mark Bixby, who publishes the Surf City Sentinel Facebook page and filed that lawsuit, said it is still ongoing and he intends to prevent voter ID from ever being implemented.

Opponents argue there’s been no evidence of voter fraud and call it a wasteful measure that could be costly to the city if it were to run its own elections.

“Our elections are already secure, overseen by the award-winning, ISO-certified Orange County Registrar of Voters,” Bolton, Moser and Kalmick wrote in opposition. “(Measure A) misleads voters, threatening this security by potentially forcing Huntington Beach to conduct its own elections, a task for which the city is unprepared and lacks infrastructure. This could cost millions, an unnecessary financial burden.”

Kalmick said the measures were poorly drafted and rushed, leaving many unknowns about what happens next should they pass.

“The county has to follow state law, and the people that are in charge of elections for the state of California say you can’t do this,” Kalmick said. “So, the county is likely not going to want to get sued and would likely just kick us loose.”

Sunny Han, the city’s chief financial officer, told the council in September that the current estimated cost to hold an election is $1.3 million to $1.65 million, which includes one-time expenses for buying equipment and recurring costs.

City Clerk Robin Estanislau said previously there is nothing within the city’s charter that mandates the city must consolidate with the county for elections.

Bob Page, who leads the county’s Registrar of Voters Office, declined to comment on the proposed amendments, writing in an email that he must remain impartial regarding any matter on the ballot and can’t make a statement that could influence a voter’s decision.

Strickland hopes Huntington Beach will be able to work with the Registrar of Voters, and “it’s less desired” if the city were to run its own elections, but, “having faith in your election outcomes in a democracy — can’t put a price tag on that.”

Vote by mail would still exist if Measure A passes, Strickland said.

Measure B focuses on the city’s flag policy, requiring unanimous votes by the City Council to fly new flags not already designated. Under Measure B, the city could fly flags representing the United States, the state, county, city, military flags and the Olympic flag.

During a campaign event against the measures, former Mayor Connie Boardman said it was trying to make it as hard as possible to fly the Pride Flag at City Hall.

Burns, who’s led the charge for the amendment, has said the flags the city flies should represent all residents.

“It’s to protect the abuse of display and keep it simple that we are not playing identity politics,” Burns said previously. “Government flags are what we put on our properties.”

Council appointments to fill vacancies on the dais would no longer be for the remainder of the term, under Measure C, but instead would only be until the next general municipal election. Measure C would also move the city to a two-year budget cycle and allow the mayor to cancel council meetings.

Two-year budget cycles give the city more stability, Strickland said.

The most concerning part for opponents of Measure C is giving the mayor the ability to cancel council meetings.

“Well, when you cancel a meeting you have many people, including consultants, but just ordinary people who want to speak to council. And so suddenly, they find the meeting they plan to attend is to be canceled and by one person alone,” former Mayor Shirley Dettloff said. “That just doesn’t seem right to do it in that way.”

The Registrar of Voters will begin mailing ballots to registered voters on Feb. 5. The first vote centers will open on Feb. 24 and more will open as election day on March 5 draws nearer. For more information visit ocvote.gov.

JUPITER, Fla. — Donald Trump’s private jet, emblazoned with his last name in bold white letters, was parked nearby when Air Force One landed in Florida, where President Joe Biden labeled his predecessor and potential opponent in this year’s campaign as a “loser” while raising money for his reelection on Tuesday.

It was a typical jab from Biden, but it came with extra punch on Trump’s home turf. The first fundraiser of the day was held at the Pelican Club in Jupiter, a wealthy enclave less than an hour from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

“You’re the reason Donald Trump’s the defeated president,” Biden told donors. “And you’re the reason we’re going to make him a loser again.”

Biden said Republicans were determined to undo his administration’s progress, such as limiting the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs, and he accused Trump of “threatening our very democracy.”

RELATED: Biden, eager for a 2020 rematch in November, is quick to anoint Trump as his 2024 rival

A second fundraiser is scheduled for the evening in Miami. Biden has been buoyed by positive economic news as fears of a recession have faded. Now he’s eager to stockpile campaign cash to help him promote his record and target Trump in what is expected to be a grueling and expensive election year.

Although Florida’s wealthy donors make the state an important stop for Biden, it’s unlikely to swing his way in November. President Barack Obama won Florida in 2008 and 2012, but Trump carried the state in 2016 and 2020.

In addition, Republicans routed Democrats in Florida in the 2022 midterm elections, when they won campaigns for governor, U.S. Senate and other statewide positions by about 20 percentage points across the board. Voter registration, which favored Democrats by 600,000 a little more than a decade ago, now shows Republicans with an 800,000-voter margin.

RELATED: Trump’s insults and rants mask a ruthlessly efficient campaign

Biden nevertheless expressed optimism about his chances here.

“I think we can win Florida,” he said in Jupiter.

Florida’s rightward lean reflects the arrival of retirees from the Midwest and Northeast who generally favor Republicans, but also the political preferences of the state’s Latino population. AP VoteCast found that Biden won just 54% of the state’s Latino voters in 2020, down substantially from his national average of 63%.

Inflation is also much more of a challenge in Florida, where residents tend to drive more and the economy depends on tourism. Although consumer sentiment has improved and inflation has eased, higher prices have been a persistent weight on Biden’s approval numbers. The consumer price index for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area jumped 5.7% in December from a year ago, compared to 3.4% nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Still, White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One that Florida’s economy had benefited from Biden’s policies, saying they have led to infrastructure projects and spurred $9 billion in private sector investment. She noted that Florida’s unemployment rate is below the national average at 3% but was 5.9% when Biden took office.

Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political science professor who runs the Palm Beach County school’s polling operation, said Biden has a chance in Florida given the high number of independents, who make up about a quarter of the electorate.

Wagner also said the inability of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s former rival for the Republican nomination, and the state legislature to rein in Florida’s skyrocketing housing prices and insurance rates could cost the party votes.

“The assumption that Florida will necessarily be an easy victory for Republicans is questionable,” Wagner said.

Both Florida parties have been hit by infighting. The Republicans recently ousted their state party chair, Christian Ziegler, after he got caught up in a sex scandal.

“President Biden can keep visiting Florida all he wants, but I hope while he is here he learns from the policies here that are working. We look forward to retiring him and his failed administration in November,” the party’s new chair, Evan Power, said in a statement.

The state Democratic Party has long been plagued by disorganization. After the 2020 election, party employees learned that their medical insurance had not been paid, leaving them uncovered and some with significant doctor bills.

Former state agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried was elected party chair last year in response to the 2022 trouncing. Fried is the only Democrat to win a statewide race in the last decade when she won in 2018, but so far hasn’t been able to stem the party’s voter registration slide.

Fried said proposals that would restrict abortion and legalize marijuana could be on the ballot, driving up turnout among Democrats and left-leaning independents.

“Florida is in play and is worth fighting for,” she said.

Spencer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Chris Megerian contributed to this report from Washington.

For Proposition 1, voters are asked whether to authorize a nearly $6.4 billion bond for facilities for mental health or substance abuse treatment.

It is not a new tax; instead, the measure shifts about $140 million in existing tax revenue from counties to the state for mental health, drug and alcohol treatment, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office summary.

Since 2005, California has collected a tax from people with incomes over $1 million and used that money — between $2 billion and $3.5 billion every year — on mental health services. Under this, called the Mental Health Services Act, 95% of that money goes directly to counties to spend on certain types of services.

If Prop 1 is successful in the primary election, the state would get more of that funding (about 5% more) and would have to spend some on increasing the amount of mental health care workers in the state as well as drug and alcohol prevention measures, according to the LAO. Counties would be required to spend more on housing and personalized support services.

An estimated 4,350 housing units (with half earmarked for veterans) and 6,800 spaces for people to receive mental health services would be created if the measure is approved — as well as about 26,700 outpatient treatment slots, according to the California Budget & Policy Center.

The state would have to repay the bonds by $310 million each year for 30 years — a potentially unpalatable figure when the state is already grappling with a nearly $38 billion budget deficit.

Arguments for Prop 1

The Governor’s Office calls it a “re-focus of billions of dollars in existing funds to prioritize Californians with the deepest mental health needs, living in encampments or suffering the worst substance use issues.”

The goal, supporters say, is to emphasize housing in tandem with mental health care.

“These reforms, and this new investment in behavioral health housing, will help California make good on promises made decades ago,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “We see the signs of our broken system every day — too many Californians suffering from mental health needs or substance use disorders and unable to get (the) support or care they need.”

Proponents say the measure will expand community-based services that will help an estimated tens of thousands of residents a year and prioritize treatments for those who are struggling rather than incarceration.

Proponents also say the measure will earmark $1 billion for veterans experiencing homelessness, substance abuse issues or mental health challenges.

“When you see people in the street, they’re covered in urine or covered in feces and they’re dirty and they’re pacing and they’re talking or screaming at each other … what you are witnessing is human pain and suffering,” Brian Rice with the California Professional Firefighters Association said at a recent rally in support of Prop 1 in Los Angeles.

“We can’t keep doing this,” Rice said.

Other supporters of the measure include the National Alliance on Mental Illness – California, the California Chamber of Commerce and the Orange County Coalition of Police and Sheriffs.

A December survey found 68% of likely voters said they would support Prop 1, compared to 30% who said they were a no and 2% who were undecided. That Public Policy Institute of California poll found the measure was more popular among registered Democrats: 85% of Democrats said they’d vote yes along with 40% of Republicans and 66% of independents.

Arguments against Prop 1

Those opposed to the ballot measure argue that it reallocates funds used for other mental health services offered by counties, like crisis response and outreach efforts. The measure could, according to the League of Women Voters, ultimately hamper “counties’ ability to set priorities based on local needs for mental health services.”

There are concerns, too, that the measure could amplify forced treatment — something else — and curtail crucial services the MHSA has provided for historically underserved communities, like LGBTQ+ or communities of color, according to the Budget & Policy Center.

“Any variances that may allow counties to spend more or less on specific categories would increase their administrative costs and do not erase the lack of flexibility they would have to meet specific needs,” the League of Women Voters said.

In its argument against the measure, a group of mental health organizations argued that the provisions wouldn’t provide long-term housing or solutions for unhoused Californians.

“Two-thirds of the money is for time-limited and potentially ‘locked’ treatment beds, not permanent housing. When people leave treatment, they’ll be back on the streets, still disabled, unable to work, again without housing,” said Mental Health America of California CEO Heidi Strunk and California Association of Mental Health Peer-Run Executive Director Andrea Wagner.

The League of Women Voters also contends that the measure was rushed through the legislative process last year — meaning debate from community-based organizations and civil rights advocates was stifled. Budgetary decisions, the group argues, should be made by the legislature and not a ballot initiative.

Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, and Sen. Brian Jones, R-San Diego, are also opposed to the measure.

Councilmembers, on Tuesday, asked city staffers to develop a new law to limit debt fundraising and one that would set a cap of $100,000 on personal loans a candidate can make to their campaign.

The action is part of the council’s continued discussions on changes the city should make following the release of an independent investigation into City Hall last summer that recommended a variety of reforms.

The council will have to vote on final wording for an ordinance at a meeting later in the year. It would only apply to candidates running for city offices.

Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said setting a limit is important.

“I can name five candidates right now that we had that had multiple campaign committees open, fundraising into all of them,” she said. “You’re not really restricted on what you can do.”

The state has a law – it doesn’t apply to Anaheim – that sets candidates own loans to their campaigns at no more than $100,000. Under that law, candidates can’t charge interest.

The council debated at length on the considerations behind several campaign reform ideas. Some concerns were raised for candidates not being able to get contributions to help pay down campaign debt if they lose an election, but ultimately the six councilmembers present supported the ideas, with Councilmember Jose Diaz absent during that portion of the meeting.

Debt reduction for campaigns is already subject to contribution limits, according to a memo provided to the City Council that was prepared by Craig Steele, an attorney advising Anaheim as it navigates its reforms.

Steele wrote in the memo that other cities have set a post-election period for how long fundraising is allowed.

Meanwhile, the council was split 3-3 on asking staff to work on developing a law to require independent expenditure political groups to give the city copies of campaign materials, such as mailers or phone banking scripts, that would then be posted online for the public. The idea was inspired by what’s done in Los Angeles.

Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava said she doesn’t want political material on the city’s website, saying it would empower independent expenditures, which can’t coordinate with candidates, and would let people post the material easily on social media.

“I don’t think that helps solve any of the transparency problems that we have had in the past at the city of Anaheim,” Rubalcava said. “I just don’t feel comfortable empowering the independent expenditures.”

Councilmember Stephen Faessel did vote for the idea, but said he was uncomfortable with city staff having access to the material before the public does. He said when independent expenditures have supported him in the past, he found out when he got the postcard in his mailbox.

Aiken said it was important for people to have easy access to the information, even if it’s disinformation. Diaz did not vote on the item, but questioned why Anaheim would want to follow the city of Los Angeles.