Politics and Elections
Back to homepage
Changing CA politics: What’s the biggest potential shift?
The open-primary success of relatively moderate GOP candidates in statewide races has prompted lots of thumbsucker punditry lately. For example, Dan Walters sees Tuesday’s results as suggesting a mild GOP comeback. There’s also the evidence that the Legislature isn’t as
Read More
Fewer statewide offices would help
How embarrassing. State Sen. Leland Yee, D-Sacramento, came in third in the race for controller, with almost 300,000 votes, even though earlier this year he was indicted on federal corruption charges and dropped out of the race. In the L.A.
Read More
GOP poised to reclaim 1/3 control in State Senate
In recent years, California Senate Democrats have been their own worst enemy. In 2012, the Senate Democratic Caucus ran the tables, winning every contested race. With Fran Pavley, Richard Roth and Cathleen Galgiani added to his caucus, Senate President President Pro Tem Darrell
Read More
Why did Brown take high road and pass on fixing GOP race?
In the summer of 2001, Gov. Gray Davis was in trouble for a trillion reasons, only starting with his feckless response to the winter 2000-01 rolling blackouts and energy crisis. He was facing a formidable 2002 re-election challenge from Los
Read More
Can Kashkari win?
No question Neel Kashkari has a tough road ahead in his battle to defeat Gov. Jerry Brown in the November gubernatorial election. Brown is running what I have called his “Morning in California” campaign. It emphasize how he ended the
Read More
Why Swearengin’s finish in controller’s race is deceptive
The fact that Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin finished first in the state controller’s primary and that another Republican — David Evans — was running a strong third surprised just about all California GOPers and may lead them to unrealistic confidence
Read More
Election: Dems could lose 2/3 Assembly control
Democrats, who seized two-thirds control of the California Assembly in 2012, will have a tough time repeating the task this November. In Tuesday’s low turnout primary election, more than a half dozen members of the State Assembly — all Democrats — fell below
Read More
CA Dems may finally have CTA vs. Latino showdown
As I’ve written many times over the years — here’s one example — the stability and durability of the California Democratic coalition is downright peculiar. Why? Because the interests of its richest, most powerful faction — the California Teachers Association
Read More
Aftermath: Kashkari faces tough battle with Brown
Now is the hard part for Neel Kashkari: Facing the formidable Gov. Jerry Brown. The Republican Kashkari finished second in yesterday’s Top Two primary, at 19 percent, well behind Brown’s 55 percent. The first problem is that Brown currently is highly
Read More
Where’s Arnold in the governor’s race?
Where’s ex-Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the primary election races decided today? By far the most successful GOP candidate in California in the last 15 years, he is nowhere to be seen in this important election. He has endorsed nobody for
Read More