Politics and Elections

Trump’s Mexico-baiting roils CA, GOP

Donald Trump’s primary victory in California came along with a big cost to his campaign, as the presumptive Republican nominee’s sustained attacks and insinuations against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans roiled the Golden State and slowed the party’s move to consolidate around him.

Lawmaker gives award to brother, political consultant

Matt Fleming June 9, 2016

In deciding which small business from her district should win an award for “Small Business of the Year,” Assemblymember Nora Campos didn’t have to look far. The San Jose Democrat chose Voler Strategic Advisers, a fledgling political strategy firm that

CA GOP shut out of U.S. Senate race

James Poulos June 9, 2016

California Republicans emerged from a bruising primary election day without a candidate in the runoff race to replace outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer — triggering an unprecedented new political calculus in which GOP voters will be courted by the underdog Democrat. “Democratic Orange

Divided Democrats look to Brown for lessons

James Poulos June 7, 2016

Waiting until nearly the last possible moment, Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, highlighting both the limits of his room for political maneuver as California’s top Democrat and his quiet prominence as a leader strangely suggestive of the party’s

Poll: Republicans to be shut out of Senate general election

Matt Fleming June 3, 2016

Attorney General Kamala Harris still leads a crowded field in the race to replace Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in Washington, with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, a fellow Democrat, in a relatively close second, according to a new Field Poll. The state’s

Legislator wants domestic violence, political intimidation denounced equally

Matt Fleming June 3, 2016

Following renewed calls from members of the legislature’s women’s caucus for Assemblyman Roger Hernández to step down amid domestic violence allegations, one legislator is criticizing what she claims is the group’s uneven response on issues, after the group failed to denounce her political

Clinton, Sanders virtually tied in CA, both lead Trump

Matt Fleming May 25, 2016

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are virtually tied in their quest for the Democratic presidential nomination among likely voters in California, with both leading the prospective Republican nominee, Donald Trump, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released

Bernie Sanders goes for broke leading up to CA primary

James Poulos May 24, 2016

With California the final battleground in his insurgent campaign to beat Hillary Clinton for the Democrats’ nomination for president, Sen. Bernie Sanders has pulled out the stops, barnstorming the state and demanding a final televised debate, which Clinton has now declined,

Democrats launch anti-Trump attacks on down-ticket GOP candidates

Matt Fleming May 18, 2016

The Trump effect has begun. It’s what Republicans fear and Democrats embrace: How the controversial presumptive nomination of Donald Trump as the GOP’s presidential candidate will affect races further down the ballot. Democrats are hoping to tie Trump around the necks of Republican candidates

Three Democratic lawmakers make intentions for statewide office Twitterficial

Matt Fleming May 17, 2016

Nothing is official until it’s on Twitter, which is why several Democrats today announced their candidacies for higher office Tuesday in the Twittersphere. Treasurer John Chiang made it official that he would be running for governor after announcing he was