Podcast
The high-stakes political battle over health care has gripped the Capitol and, ultimately, it is all but certain to play out in the state budget and in this year’s elections. A major figure in the debate is Anthony Wright, the executive director of Health Access California, which advocates for the expansion of reasonably priced, quality health care.
Podcast
Assemblyman Jim Cooper was on hand at Wednesday’s press conference announcing the capture of a suspect in the notorious East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker/Golden State Killer case had been arrested. Cooper, a 30-year veteran and former captain of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, sat down with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to chat about the crucial role of DNA collection in the solution of this and other cold-case crimes.
Podcast
Nothing ever really dies in the Capitol, as the saying goes, but sometimes you come across a knockout blow. And that’s what happened with SB 827, a sweeping bill aimed at addressing California’s housing crisis. To the surprise of just about everybody and after months of media attention, the measure was rejected decisively in its first committee hearing. Joining us today to take a look at all this is Louis Mirante of California YIMBY, who sat down with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to chat about the issue.
Podcast
Twenty two years ago this week, federal authorities arrested Ted Kaczynski — known as the Unabomber — in his remote cabin near Lincoln, Montana, ending a 17-year reign of terror. While the Unabomber had no strong ties to the Sacramento region, both his first and final murders occurred here. It was in 1995 that Kaczynski, a Harvard-trained mathematician and forest recluse, claimed his final victim, Sacramento timber lobbyist Gil Murray.
Podcast
To anyone who follows California politics, Mark DiCamillo is a familiar name indeed. He directed the Field Poll for decades, and he now heads the Berkeley IGS Poll at the Institute for Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. He sat down with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to talk about the latest trends in opinion surveying and how these may play out this election year.
Podcast
Political consultant-turned-author Joe Rodota joins the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about his new book: The Watergate – Inside America’s Most Infamous Address. The story of the Watergate break-in has been well-told, but in this “biography of a building,” Rodota weaves a fascinating history that includes more than just the events of June 17, 1972.
Podcast
Political Data’s Paul Mitchell joins the podcast to chat with John Howard and Tim Foster about Democrat Conor Lamb’s surprise victory in the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District — a district that the GOP has carried for years and Trump won in 2016 by 20 points. The big question: What does this win mean — if anything — for California?
Podcast
Veteran political consultant Wayne Johnson, who has handled well over 200 campaigns in California, the U.S. and across the world, joins the Podcast this week to chat about politics and technology with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster. Johnson, who handles mostly GOP candidates, is busy this year: He is working on Republican businessman John Cox’s gubernatorial campaign, which got a boost moments before we recorded the show when former Congressman Doug Ose abruptly exited the race.
Podcast
Veteran political journalist Dan Morain joins us to chat about Steve Poizner, California’s former insurance commissioner who announced this week he wants to get his old job back — only this time by running as an independent, not a Republican.
Podcast
The 2018 primary election is right around the corner. And with stories of higher turnout and a Democratic wave in states like Virginia and Alabama, many political consultants and observers are expecting to see some higher turnout in California this June, with a potentially strong Democratic and Latino surge.