Welcome to Axis ProRata, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the conclusion of tech, business, and politics.

Presented by Bridge Bank. Be safe. Venture wisely. I'm Dan for Mac. On today's show, the presidential betting market in why this Thursday matters for pandemic impaired mergers.

But first, Elon Musk versus California.

So on Saturday, Tesla Motors filed suit against California's Alameda County, which has been

blocking the electric carmaker's efforts to reopen its manufacturing facility in Fremont.

The basic backstory?

California Governor Gavin Newsom last Thursday

announced that manufacturing could resume in his state so long as certain social distancing

and safety guidelines were followed. But Alameda County has decided to move more cautiously,

and specifically officials want their stay-at-home orders to run through the end of May.

This raised the ire of Tesla boss Elon Musk, who has spent much of

the past two months tweeting about how lockdown orders are to draconian, and who is now threatening

to move both future manufacturing for Tesla and Tesla's headquarters out of California. Why it

matters is threefold. First, Tesla is the only automaker left in California, so if it takes

off, there will be none.

Two, this case could become a high-profile precursor to other large battles between businesses and

local authorities over public health measures. And three, Musk's threat to leave California entirely

could presage an era in which states compete for businesses based on COVID regulations,

kind of like they've historically done on tax incentives and labor law.

The bottom line, no one likes picking a fight more than Elon Musk, but this is one of the few

times that his efforts could have consequences well beyond his company and his own reputation.

In 20 seconds, we'll go deeper with TechCrunch Transportation reporter Kirsten Koresak.

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