California voters on election day casting their ballots in Los Angeles. (Photo: Josephn Sohm, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: This, too, shall pass: There will come a day in the not-too-distant future when we’ll be able to sit down in front of our television sets or computer screens without being subject to political campaign commercials. Hallelujah!
The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Adonis Villanueva, via Shutterstock) PPIC Survey: In the closing weeks of the fall campaign, Gavin Newsom holds an 11-point lead among likely voters in the governor’s race and Dianne Feinstein is ahead by 16 points in the U.S. Senate election. Two closely watched ballot measures—one to repeal the recent gas tax increase and another to expand local authority to enact rent control—are trailing.
Condos in San Francisco, which has a local rent control ordinance. (Photo: Stephen VanHorn, via Shutterstock)What neither side predicted is that some California tenants faced a nightmare scenario before a single vote was cast. Rent was being increased at one building, the manager said, because “we’re facing rent control and more importantly, the likelihood of controls on increasing rent after vacancies.”
A sign outside a Los Angeles voting location in 10 languages. (Photo: Underawesternsky, via Shutterstock)Moves to make voting easier in California have caused yet another divide between Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans say they are worried because the door to voter fraud might swing wide open. Democrats say California needs greater civic participation by groups who have historically shown lackluster voting turnouts, and automatic vote-by-mail and electronic registration will help.
A powerful wave on a storm-tossed ocean. (Image: Andrey Polivanov, via Shutterstock)California is at the epicenter of what could be a Democratic wave, and that’s amazing. In this election cycle, we are seeing something really astounding, yet many are treating it as if it was normal. Californians are poised to give Democrats anywhere from two to five — or even more — of the 24 Republican congressional seats across the country that Democrats need to win control of the House of Representatives.
A photo illustration of ballot-box voting. (Photo: I'm Friday, via Shutterstock)California’s elections are three weeks away, but voters already are casting ballots – via the mail box, not the ballot box. Five counties – Madera, Napa, Nevada, Sacramento and San Mateo – have done away with traditional polling places and are instead asking voters to send their ballots in the mail or leave them in a drop box or at a vote center.
Samantha Corbin (in green), John Howard and Caity Maple taping Politics on Tap at the Brasserie Capitale on K Street. (Photo: Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)An unusual anniversary: It’s been one year since the distribution of an open letter in which scores of women detailed allegations of sexual misconduct over a period of years involving lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists and others in the state Capitol community.
Tom Hannigan and his daughter Erin, a Solano County supervisor. (Photo: Erin Hannigan Facebook page)Tom Hannigan, formerly a major legislative leader, director of California’s Department of Water Resources and an avid marathon runner, has died of natural causes. He was 78. Hannigan, a Marine Corps veteran who fought in the Vietnam war, is the father of Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan, who announced his death on her Facebook page.
Children at a "Day Without an Immigrant" rally in Los Angeles. (Photo: Krista Kennell, via Shutterstock)California has hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children that cannot be accounted for. They are among the estimated 45,704 unaccompanied undocumented minors who were apprehended by federal authorities between Oct. 1, 2017 and Aug. 31, 2018 as they tried to enter California through its southern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Renewable energy: Windmills line a ridge near Palm Springs at sunset. (Photo: Joe Belanger, via Shutterstock)The California Public Utilities Commission is poised to decide the formula that determines how much consumers are charged by the big investor-owned utility companies, or IOUs—such as Pacific Gas & Electric or Edison, for example—when the customers switch to local community energy programs. It’s a complex issue, but one with major implications for consumers’ pocketbooks.