Capitol Weekly’s Top 100

Each year since 2009, Capitol Weekly has published an annual list of the one hundred most powerful movers and shakers in California politics and public policy: The Top 100.

We don’t include elected officials. Instead, we look at those who devote their professional lives to fighting for – or against – issues of state politics and policy, including Capitol staffers, lobbyists, bureaucrats, activists, Labor leaders, fundraisers, Agency heads, trade group presidents, and even journalists.

When we put out the first Top 100 list, we wanted to give a behind-the-scenes view of players in state politics that the public usually doesn’t see. Your high school civics class may have explained the legislative and electoral processes, but likely did not mention lobbyists, committee consultants or campaign strategists. We do.

Described as “the barometer of Capitol power,” The Top 100 has become an institution, and the release of each year’s Top 100 is an eagerly anticipated event.

We’ll release the 2025 Top 100 on August 26 at a special reception at the Sutter Club.  For details, click here.

In 2024 we introduced the Top 100 Hall of Fame, spotlighting those who have a track record of influence so impressive that we acknowledge them in a way that stands the test of time.

The 2025 Top 100 will be released at CapitolWeekly.net on August 27, and the print edition, The 2025 Capitol Weekly Top 100 Book will be unveiled at a special in-person reception, The Top 100 Party, on Tuesday, August 26, at the Sutter Club in Sacramento.

If you haven’t seen The Top 100 Book, here’s a link to a flipbook of the 2024 edition. In addition to the copies available at the Top 100 Party, we distribute the Top 100 Book to every office in the state capitol, to state agency offices, to our supporters, and to California’s representatives in DC – 1500 copies in all.

Copies of The 2025 Capitol Weekly Top 100 Book will be available for purchase after August 26, 2025. Individual copies are available at $20 plus shipping, while they last.

To order a copy, please email [email protected] or call Melody Gere at 916 444 7665. Contact us for a quote on bulk orders.