💅 Wednesday, they hate to see us coming.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny with highs in the mid-70s, lows around 57.

🎧 Sounds like: "BbY WOW" by Karol G.

Today’s newsletter is 963 words — a 3.5-minute read.

It's time to vote for governor in California.

The big picture: Democrat Xavier Becerra is squaring off against Republican Steve Hilton to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.

State of play: Becerra, a former California attorney general and U.S. health and human services secretary, is pitching his decades of government experience as an asset while making affordability, housing and health care central to his campaign.

• Go here to read how Hilton plans to govern California.

While Becerra's team did not respond to Axios interview requests, here's where he stands on some of California's biggest issues.

💰 Cost of living: Becerra has framed affordability as a threat to what he calls the "California Dream," while rejecting Hilton's sweeping tax cut proposals. He is calling for lowering household costs, expanding child care support and cracking down on price gouging, among other proposals.

• He also opposes Proposition 40, the proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on California billionaires. He argued during last week's CNN debate that while the wealthy should pay their fair share, a one-time tax isn't a predictable or sustainable way to fund government.

🏠 Housing and homelessness: Becerra says California needs to accelerate construction and has proposed declaring a housing state of emergency on his first day in office, cutting permitting delays and more aggressively enforcing state housing requirements.

• On homelessness, Becerra has called for clearing encampments and holding local governments accountable while investing in mental health and substance use treatment.
• He's also emphasized prevention, arguing it's cheaper to help Californians remain housed after a job loss or medical emergency than to help them once they're on the streets.

🩺 Health care: Becerra has leaned heavily on his experience leading HHS and pledged to protect Californians from losing coverage as federal Medicaid cuts take effect.

• He's warned that the changes could threaten hospitals and community health centers and said he wouldn't allow eligible Californians to be unjustly pushed off Medi-Cal.

🛂 Immigration: As the son of Mexican immigrants, Becerra supports regulating the border while arguing immigration enforcement must respect constitutional rights.

• He's sharply criticized the Trump administration's immigration raids and defended his own record overseeing the care of unaccompanied migrant children at HHS.

📚 Education: Becerra says California's education system isn't well coordinated and supports earlier intervention and tutoring for students who fall behind.

• He also opposes directing public education dollars toward private schools and says teachers should be paid and treated like professionals.

📬 What's next: Check your mailbox. Mail-in ballots started heading to voters this week.

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I recently asked to see your bookshelves as I searched for inspiration for my own post-move setup.

• The photos that landed in my inbox ranged from rainbow-organized collections to shelves where finding room for one more book has become its own kind of art form.
• Plus, thanks to all of you who also sent me book recommendations. Safe to say I have a full roster to keep me busy for the foreseeable future.

📚 Anna B. recently abandoned years of organizing by color and spent a weekend sorting her collection by theme instead.

• Her shelves now include California living, past and future travel destinations, books written by people she knows, geekier interests like crosswords and baseball, and two dense shelves of what she wants to read next.
• The books share space with a Billy Joel album, an RBG doll and a photo of her 100-year-old grandmother paddle boarding. Every bookshelf could use that kind of range.

🌪️ Tom S. says the chaos on his shelves "pretty much reflects the chaos of my reading pattern," with an emphasis on naval, medical and history.

😅 Meanwhile, Carlos G. knows the particular challenge of squeezing a book collection into San Francisco square footage. His shelves make use of nearly every available inch with books stacked vertically, horizontally and wherever else they'll fit.

📖 Your reading lists gave me plenty of material for filling my own shelves too.

• Carlos G. recommends Anna Wiener's "Uncanny Valley" for its still-relevant look at tech's influence on San Francisco, plus Ann Patchett's "These Precious Days" and Jia Tolentino's "Trick Mirror" for bite-sized essays.
• Jennifer M.'s favorite fiction book of the year so far is Lily King's "Heart the Lover."
• Aaron B. recommends Imani Perry's "South to America," Meg Wolitzer's "The Interestings" and Anthony Doerr's "Cloud Cuckoo Land."

🛒 T&T Supermarket will open its first San Francisco location on Nov. 5, bringing the popular Asian grocer to the long-vacant former Best Buy space at Geary and Masonic. (KRON4)

Employees of The Warfield described a chaotic night of fights, bear mace and panic before security guard Ulysses Tykee Davis, 47, was fatally shot outside the music venue early Saturday. (Mission Local)

⚖️ SFPD arrested five people accused of stealing nearly $20,000 in merchandise across dozens of thefts from the REI on Brannan Street. (CBS News)

A big thank you to everyone who joined us in Hayes Valley yesterday for our first-ever Axios Social Club.

• Social Club is our experiment in helping readers connect not just with Axios journalism, but with each other and where they call home.

As more of life moves online and AI reshapes how we consume information, we think good old-fashioned human connection is only becoming more valuable.

• Thanks again to those of you who came out for making our first one such a fun night!

🫶 Nadia had a great time meeting people IRL at Axios Social Club. She wishes her editor could've joined the fun, too! Next time.

This newsletter was edited by Geoff Ziezulewicz, who definitely plans to be there next time.