With enough signatures filed to force a recall election for Sen. Josh Newman the governor must call for the election from 60 to 80 days from when the recall is certified by the Secretary of State. Here’s a prediction that the recall will fall on Halloween, Tuesday October 31. Democrats in the legislature hoped to […]
In a March commentary on this page I defended Disney CEO Robert Iger for deciding to stay on President Donald Trump’s business advisory committee so that he would have an opportunity to influence the president on important economic issues. It has become clear, however, that Trump doesn’t listen to advice and business leaders are abandoning […]
In the beginning there was Ross Johnson. He was one of the first legislators I met when I got into the political game and I admired his tenacity, his political instincts, and his ability to battle his opponents but treat them with respect and friendship. Ross Johnson passed away yesterday at age 77. As Republican […]
The Fair Political Practices Commission decision on Thursday about whether elected officials can exceed limits to help in a recall campaign became more urgent for Sen. Josh Newman when a Court of Appeal froze the new law that would have delayed the recall. The lawsuit brought by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association challenged recent changes […]
As state politics is scrambled from the left and the right, it is appropriate to wonder where the big business community comes down when donating to candidates in the next statewide election. There is a revolt in both parties. Republican activists want the Assembly leader, Chad Mayes, to give up his leadership post—indeed some want […]
In a Zocalo Public Square session in Los Angeles that was supposed to examine the strength and weaknesses of the Republican Party it was the two party system that got an examination. And the diagnosis was not hopeful. Republican consultant Mike Madrid of Grassroots Lab said a transformation was coming to America’s political system and […]
Is a blacklist back in fashion in the town that made term “blacklist” famous? One gets that feeling when the Los Angeles City Council voted this week to draft a law that will ask contractors to disclose if they have been hired to work on the wall between the U.S. and Mexico. What could be […]
To use an analogy that surfer (and assemblyman) Travis Allen might appreciate, can the ballot measure he champions to repeal the gas tax be the surfboard he needs to carve over the choppy waves of a governor’s race and get him safely to shore. The Huntington Beach Republican is putting his hopes on the gas […]
Gov. Jerry Brown says he wants changes to the sanctuary state law working its way through the legislature. While conjecture is that he wants to make sure that criminal immigrants don’t get protection under the law, there may also be a sense of gaining consistency in the state’s viewpoint of the on-going rhetorical battle with […]
In yesterday’s Politico California Playbook, Carla Marinucci remembered the day 14 years ago that Arnold Schwarzenegger caught the world by surprise in announcing for governor in the 2003 recall. Carla linked to the article she wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle at the time about what happened that night on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show.” The story brought […]
