CalWatchdog Morning Read – October 21

• Sanchez hits Harris’ record on mortgage settlement …
• But Harris has Obama in a campaign ad
• Experts: Border war in SD going nowhere even with legal pot
• Political spending reaches new high
• What is Prop. 51? 

Good morning. TGIF. As Election Day gets closer, the race for Senate becomes more interesting — a stark contrast from the summer, when the race was deemed a snoozefest.

Loretta Sanchez on Thursday attacked Kamala Harris’ record on the 2012 mortgage crisis settlement, saying it was not the major accomplishment the state’s attorney general claims.

The two Democrats are running for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. With the election rapidly approaching, and lagging in both fundraising and polling, the Orange County congresswoman has increasingly been on the attack, even calling for another debate, which the Harris campaign quickly rejected.

Harris has said throughout the campaign that she’d played a key role in the settlement negotiation with the banks that won around $20 billion for California homeowners. But, citing multiple media reports, Sanchez said Harris did not lead in the talks, deferring to New York and Delaware, was not tough enough on banks and failed to protect the settlement from being raided by the state government.

“Despite pledging to get tough on the banks, Kamala Harris did not lead the charge as she claims and never filed charges against a single bank,” Sanchez said in a statement. “That is why consumer groups have criticized Ms. Harris for her failure to follow-up on the mortgage settlement.” 

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• If Harris is taking the high road at all, it’s at least partially because she has POTUS on her side. President Barack Obama stars in a new Harris campaign ad, touting her accomplishments, according to The Sacramento Bee.

• “So what happens if California voters decide to legalize recreational marijuana on Nov. 8? Would a legal marijuana market cut into the profits of the Mexican drug cartels enough to cripple them? Or would it make it easier for traffickers to grow pot in the United States under the shadow of legitimacy? The answers are a game of speculation, experts acknowledge. … One thing the experts do agree on: The battle over drugs at our border will rage on regardless.” The San Diego Union-Tribune has more.

• “Political donors have spent a record $450 million on 17 statewide November ballot initiatives in California, beating the state’s own record for the most spent on propositions appearing on state ballots in a single year, campaign reports filed Thursday show.” The San Jose Mercury News/AP has more.

• “California voters have a decision to make on the general election ballot: approve $9 billion dollars in bonds for school and community college construction projects and modernization, or reject it to avoid adding to the state debt,” reports Capital Public Radio.

Legislature:

• Gone till December.

Gov. Brown: 

• At a Yale class reunion. 

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