An illustration of digital balance and justice. (Image: Anna Kepa, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California has long been at the forefront of Internet innovation. Now California stands to be the leader in a different way, substituting litigation for innovation. If legislation pending in the California Senate that would impose state level network neutrality requirements passes, it will almost certainly be struck down by the courts.
Diana Dooley, newly named as the executive secretary of Gov. Brown's office, speaks at a 2017 health care conference
sponsored by Capitol Weekly. (Photo: Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly)Diana Dooley, California’s top health official since 2011, has been named executive secretary of Gov. Brown’s office, the top administrative post in state government and, effectively, the governor’s chief of staff with broad control over the bureaucracy.
Image: California Secretary of StateThere’s a lot going on here: A fifth of the electorate has already voted by mail, and more mailed ballots are coming in all the time. A lot of millennials got signed up through the registration program at the DMV, but what impact will that have on the contests? It looks like the SF Bay Area will outperform — again — L.A., and it’s still not clear whether a gaggle of GOP congressional incumbents are really vulnerable.
Lt. Gov. Gavin in ad for his gubernatorial campaign. (Screen capture)OPINION: With ballots in the mail and primary day a week away, Gavin Newsom recently ran a TV spot aimed at one of his five gubernatorial opponents – Republican John Cox. The broadside focused on guns and called attention to Cox’s support for the National Rifle Association and his opposition to gun control. Smart move, you say.
Photo of a voter registration banner in California. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)For the first time, California’s voter registration figures show independent voters surpassing Republicans, the culmination of a trend that has been building for decades. Updated numbers from California’s 58 counties showed decline-to-state voters, those who don’t state a party preference, had reached 25.5% in the weeks before the June 5 election. Republican registration, meanwhile, was put at 25.1%.
A voter casts a ballot in the 2016 election in Ventura County. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)The chatter online and in the media is all about the June 5 Primary Election. But, for those of us working in these races, the election has been ongoing for weeks. In fact, as of Memorial Day weekend, 1.25 million California voters have cast ballots, approximately 20% of the expected total turnout of by-mail and poll voters.
Photo of candidate Steve Poizner from his official websiteThe first person to hold statewide office in California without aligning with a political party could be Steve Poizner. He is vying for the seat left open by Dave Jones, who is running for state attorney general. Poizner’s main opponents are Democrats Sen. Ricardo Lara and physician Asif Mahmood. The Department of Insurance has more than 1,300 employees and a $250 million budget. It oversees the state’s $300 billion insurance market, the largest in the country.
Jodi Hicks at her office in Sacramento in November 2017. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)Sacramento lobbyist Jodi Hicks, a specialist in health care issues and a partner in DiMare, Brown Hicks and Kessler, is leaving DBHK to take a ranking position at Mercury Public Affairs. Hicks will become a national co-chair of Mercury, the first woman to hold that position.
Police officers deployed at a Los Angeles parade. (Photo: Betto Rodrigues)OPINION: California’s Assembly Bill 931, which would modify the state legal standard governing police officers’ use of deadly force, is a promising advance on existing law, but the current proposal is deeply flawed. To meaningfully reform police practices and properly regulate the use of deadly force, some significant amendments are necessary.
A California political rally during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)Democrat Gavin Newsom remains the top choice among likely voters in the state’s gubernatorial primary, and Republican John Cox is in a close race with Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa to gain the second spot on November’s general election ballot. Senator Dianne Feinstein holds a double-digit lead over fellow Democrat Kevin de León.