| | | | |  | | By Sejal Govindarao | With help from Brakkton Booker, Ella Creamer, Jesse Naranjo and Teresa Wiltz
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State Sen. Aisha Wahab listens with others at a news conference where she proposed SB 403 on March 22 in Sacramento, Calif. | POLITICO illustration/Photo by AP | What’s up, Recast fam! Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is sentenced to 22 years for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 insurrection, a deadly Russian strike targets eastern Ukraine as Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Kyiv and the Justice Department takes Google to court. But today, we’re talking caste discrimination in the Golden State. It didn’t take long for state Sen. Aisha Wahab to make waves in Sacramento. The first-term lawmaker from the East Bay came out of the gate with a bill that would have forced Capitol staff to wait two years, instead of one, to work for lobbyists. Then the Democrat spearheaded a politically explosive debate over caste discrimination. The first bill was shelved amid objections from advocates for victims of sexual harassment who said it could make it harder for people to quickly leave hostile jobs. Meanwhile, her caste discrimination bill brought hundreds of protesters to Sacramento — including many from her own district — angered by legislation they argued is unnecessary and unfairly tarnishes people from India. California lawmakers passed the bill today. If Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signs it into law, California will become the first state to outlaw caste-based discrimination in housing and employment. The caste system is an ancient hierarchical system with roots in South Asia that dictates what jobs and schooling people can access.
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After introducing the legislation, Wahab received death threats and now faces a recall for “loss of confidence and breach of trust” and “collaborating with special interests and introducing bills that could lead to profiling and increased bullying in schools.”
Wahab, the first Afghan American and one of the first Muslims elected to the state Legislature, comes to this role with an adversity-laden past. Her father was killed when she was a small child growing up in Queens, N.Y. — one reason she’s become a gun control advocate — and her mother died not long after. Wahab and her sister were raised in foster care until they were later adopted by an Afghan couple in California, and she has faced financial struggles over the years. As the session enters its final stretch, we checked in on the lawmaker to see what she makes of what’s become an unusually eventful first term. The following has been edited for clarity and concision. THE RECAST: I know you’ve faced vitriol and harassment, as well as a recall campaign in these past few months. How are you doing? WAHAB: It's genuinely emotionally taxing. We're just trying to do good work and focus on the issues at hand. And a lot of the attacks are unwarranted, unnecessary, deeply vile in so many ways. If you take a look at just my Twitter feed, and what I'm tagged in, it is extremely racist. It's extremely sexist. It's extremely disrespectful. And a lot of the opposition for the caste bill, in fact, is not based on the merits of the actual bill. It's a lot of fearmongering and misinformation. And I think that's problematic to the community and society as a whole. THE RECAST: What political lessons have you learned from the caste bill? WAHAB: Genuinely, I do think that a civil rights bill will always have opposition. The opposition is often rooted in fear and power, and the moment that you try to balance power, opposition will always try to fearmonger. And I think that when you take a look at the potential the bill has, at the end of the day, it's just an anti-discrimination bill. Nobody in California should be opposed to it, right?
|  | | THE RECAST: What did you make of the opposition to the revolving door bill? WAHAB: I was deeply disappointed that the committee watered down the bill so significantly to appease certain groups and so forth. And the honest truth is that big money has a huge influence in our day-to-day politics, whether we're talking about Citizens United or we're talking about more from a state level or even a local level. And dark money does not belong in politics, let alone some of the things that we can do in regards to lobbying reform needs to happen. And I think the larger public 100 percent supports that. In regards to the opposition, again, it was inaccurate. Some of the things that I've read and some of the statements that were made when I presented the bill, it was a mirrored bill to what the state Legislature deals with. It was a 12-month cooling off period. That's how it was presented. We do see a literal revolving door. They quit in the state Legislature, and within 24 hours, they're back in the state Legislature in the Capitol on behalf of a lobbying interest. THE RECAST: Some first-year lawmakers try to get the lay of the land before taking on contentious policy fights. Why did you go in the opposite direction?
|  Wahab, center, huddles with fellow Democratic state Sens. Susan Rubio, left, and Nancy Skinner on July 10 at the Capitol in Sacramento. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo | WAHAB: My obligation is for the 40 million Californians. That is my obligation, let alone primarily to my district. So for me, I'm not going to waste the time, power and privilege I hold when people elected me to do good work, right? One, I learn the most when I'm doing the things that I care about. I'm far more engaged, far more interested, far more focused on doing the work that I want to do for my district and for the state of California. THE RECAST: What have you learned about the process of championing a bill and building relationships in the Capitol? WAHAB: I think that there's a lot of lessons learned. I work with every single person that is willing to have a conversation. I have an open door policy. I meet with Republicans, I meet with advocates, I meet with anybody willing to have a conversation. In fact, roughly 80 percent of my bills are bipartisan bills. … I focus on the policy issue, not necessarily the politics. That's one of the biggest differences I've seen just being able to assess myself versus how things really work. The first two weeks [in office], I felt that I had to do things the way that everyone has been telling me. I have to do it, right? Whether that's hitting the circuit in the evenings, whether that's meeting with certain groups and so forth. And I realized that that's just not me. So, yes, I do show up differently. But I also show up and I'm far more confident in the work I'm able to do because I am approaching it as myself. | | 
Wahab poses with supporters following the March news conference where she proposed the bill. | José Luis Villegas/AP Photo | | Yes, that's not going to be the most politically correct thing to do. It's not going to be the most advantageous when it comes to doing things how other people do it or what's expected of you. But this is when I talk about representation. Representation doesn't just mean checking a box; it also means advocating for issues that are different, showing up as yourself and really being true to your core beliefs. I think that I've been doing it and I'm actually far more comfortable and confident in myself showing up that way, than any other way. THE RECAST: Is there anything that you would do differently looking back? WAHAB: I don't believe so, because even if you take a look at something and think of it as a mistake, the value of learning from that is far more important to me than anything else.
| | | ALABAMA REDISTRICTING MAP STRUCK DOWN
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A map of a GOP proposal to redraw Alabama's congressional districts is displayed at the Alabama Statehouse, July 18, 2023, in Montgomery. | Kim Chandler/AP Photo | | A federal court struck down the newly proposed congressional map drawn in Alabama after its Republican-led Legislature defied a mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court to create a second majority-minority district. The Recast’s Brakkton Booker has this update: In an order released Tuesday, a three-judge panel said it does “not take lightly federal intrusion” in matters typically reserved to the state Legislature. But, the panel added, “we are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the State readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires.” As my colleague Zach Montellaro points out, this same federal court ruled last year that the state should draw an additional majority-Black district so Alabama would be in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s ruling in June. The saga over Alabama’s 2024 congressional map now moves to an independent court-appointed expert. That, however, does not mean the legal maneuvering has been exhausted. Shortly after the lower court’s ruling Tuesday morning, the state signaled it plans to ask the high court to intervene – again. A formal request to grant a stay could come as soon as Thursday. The central argument of the case is whether Alabama’s congressional map violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits procedures that discriminate on the basis of race. Alabama’s GOP-led Legislature has long argued that it drew district lines that were “race neutral.” Democrats and the courts disagreed, pointing out that more than a quarter of Alabama’s population is Black, but that the majority of the African American population is lumped into the state’s 7th Congressional District represented by Rep. Terri Sewell, the only Democrat in Alabama’s congressional delegation. “[Tuesday’s] decision is yet another victory for Black voters in Alabama and for the promise of fair representation,” Sewell said in a statement.
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Gabe Amo is likely poised to become the first person of color in Rhode Island's congressional delegation. | Amo Campaign via AP | On the Verge of History — Gabe Amo, a former Biden White House official, secured the Democratic nomination for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday. As POLITICO’s Madison Fernandez reports, in this safe Democratic seat, Amo is almost assured victory in the fall and will become the first person of color in the state’s congressional delegation. Jam Session — Ever wonder what White House hopefuls rock out to? POLITICO Magazine’s got you covered. Spoilers: “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince & the Revolution is on Chris Christie’s list. “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama makes Nikki Haley’s cut, and for Will Hurd, he’s all about “The Crossroads” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Hard Time — The former head of the Proud Boys was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney breaks down the long sentence and what it means.
| | | THE RECAST RECOMMENDS Novelist Han Kang talks about the books that capture the essence of her hometown, Seoul, including Bora Chung’s “Cursed Bunny,” translated by Anton Hur. The final chapter of the “Equalizer” franchise, starring Denzel Washington as retired Marine Robert McCall, is in cinemas now. In this installment, Robert takes on the regional Italian mafia.
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| Inspired by the salons of the Harlem Renaissance, Hulu’s “The Conversations Project” invites highly successful Black figures — an astronaut, business owners, professors, entertainers — to dinner parties and follows their unscripted conversations. Omar Apollo’s “Ice Slippin” is a tender piano ballad inspired by the artist’s experience coming out to his family.
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| Halloween is a ways away, but Doja Cat is ahead of the game as she haunts a house in the freaky video (or mini horror movie) for “Demons.” TikTok of the Day: Look of love
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