Yes they do. A politician that had no problem with what the private company was doing for months, became mad at the private company as soon as there were political consequences (and not a moment sooner!).

It is unsurprising to me that a politician cares about politics and doesn't give a shit about the law.

And as soon as this stuff went to court the politician would have lost, because the law is very clear on this.

But it would have delayed things for a year or 2. And Uber was perfectly able to just move to Arizona.

But it is no matter. Eventually this stuff will go to court and the politician who doesn't care about the law will lose.

Since when is the DMV "a politician?"

The Director of the CA DMV is a position appointed by the Governor. While it's not an elected position, that certainly qualifies as a political office. The DMV itself may not be a politician, but it's made up of people that happen to have a politician as their boss.