The Year the Woman Retires: California’s Aging Congressional Delegation
1992 was “The Year of the Woman.” 2016 could be “The Year the Woman Retires.” U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer‘s retirement announcement earlier this month kicks off a major demographic shift in California’s congressional delegation — as aging Democratic women move closer to retirement. The numbers don’t look good for Democratic women, who, after achieving parity with […]
Chiang Launches Program to Reclaim Lost Wages
John Chiang may be gearing up for his move to the state treasurer’s office. But that doesn’t mean he’s taking an early vacation from his job as state controller. Late last month, Chiang launched a new pilot program to aid victims of wage theft in California. The new program will use the state’s Unclaimed Property Law to recover […]
The Upside of Low Turnout
This election, your vote counted double. “When it’s 50 % turnout, your voting power is doubled #math,” Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc., the state’s top political data firm, tweeted on Election Day. Increased voting power — it’s one of several upsides to the state’s record low turnout in this month’s gubernatorial election. With fewer than […]
Gov. Brown Appoints Leondra Kruger to State Supreme Court
Governor Jerry Brown has nominated a U.S. Department of Justice official for a spot on the California Supreme Court. On Monday, Brown nominated Leondra R. Kruger, a Yale Law School graduate, to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Justice Joyce L. Kennard, who left the court in April. If confirmed by the Commission on […]
Does Chiang Top Field of Dem Hopefuls? (Part 2)
Going by the metrics, John Chiang may be the strongest candidate to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 or U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in 2016. You’d never know it by the way the media have zeroed in on Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Kamala Harris — even before the Nov. 4 election in which both were re-elected. […]
U.S. Senate 2016: Why John Chiang is a Top-Tier Democrat to Replace Barbara Boxer (Part 1)
We haven’t certified the 2014 election results, which can only mean one thing: It’s time to start looking at the 2016 election. All the buzz is that California’s 74-year-old U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer is retiring in 2016. She’s got less than $150,000 in the bank. If she doesn’t raise money fast, she’ll be vulnerable to an […]
State Assembly 39: Explaining Patty Lopez’s Potential Upset of Asm. Raul Bocanegra
Upsets happen every election cycle. But, every once in a while, there’s an upset so big that nobody – not even the underdog candidate- saw it coming. That happened last week in the 39th Assembly District, where Democrat Patty Lopez is leading incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra by just 32 votes. All the political professionals in […]
Secretary Of State 2014: Tight Race, Cautious Candidates
It’s one of the few competitive statewide races in California. And befitting a close contest, Democrat Alex Padilla and Republican Pete Peterson share remarkably close visions for the job of secretary of state. CalWatchdog.com asked the two candidates a half dozen questions about the job. The responses from both candidates, which are posted in their entirety below, show frequent […]
Gov. Brown Rebuilds Redevelopment
Reversing his 2011 abolition of redevelopment, on Monday Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law two bills that will revive it, Senate Bill 628 and Assembly Bill 229. He also vetoed a third redevelopment measure, AB2280, he believed went too far by codifying an anti-poverty program into redevelopment law. Property rights advocates opposed the trio of bills as bringing back eminent […]
Property Rights Group Urges Brown To Veto Redevelopment 2.0
An influential property rights group has released a new radio ad campaign urging Governor Jerry Brown to veto three bills that would bring back California’s abusive redevelopment agencies. The California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights, which praised Brown’s previous effort to abolish redevelopment agencies in California, is hoping to block a trio of redevelopment bills […]