Podcast
In the wake of declining registration numbers and a devastating election in November, California Republicans are searching for a path back to relevance. Many Latino Republicans have voiced strong opposition to the GOP’s current direction, decrying the nationalist-leaning “Trump Wing” of the Party that has embraced loaded racial rhetoric and calls for a wall between California and Mexico.
News
Because it’s set an earlier date for primary election voting, California is now destined to play a more important role in 2020’s presidential campaigns. Candidates who ignore that new fact of political life will “get their asses kicked,” says one of the state’s top political consultants. “People in California are voting on the morning of the Iowa caucuses,” added campaign strategist Ace Smith.
News
Brian K. Landsberg, a professor emeritus at the McGeorge School of Law where he has been teaching since 1986, served during the 1960s as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he went to court to protect the voting rights of African Americans in Alabama. His work included the historic case that recognized the right to march from Selma to Montgomery to protest racial discrimination in voter registration.
Analysis
ANALYSIS: The 2018 election should have been a breeze for California Republicans. But three simultaneous forces, all moving toward Democrats, blew those prospects away. While one might think things can only get better for the GOP, there are some serious short- and mid-term obstacles to their recovery.
News
With the recently concluded 2017-18 legislative session, it is valuable to look at some of the key data, including bill introductions, the fate of those bills, the work of the committees, the lawmakers’ legislation and the actions of the governor. So let’s crunch some numbers: We’ll look at the Senate first.
News
Eleni Kounalakis bristles at the suggestion that she won the election for California lieutenant governor because of her wealthy father’s support. It’s true that her father Angelo Tsakopoulos is a very rich land developer. But his mother couldn’t read or write and he spent his early years working in the fields after arriving in this country from Greece.
Analysis
ANALYSIS: The California stem cell agency this week is tooting a $150 million horn and heralding its efforts to assist stem cell businesses with development of therapies that could ease the travails of everything from cancer to blindness. It is all about a financial “valley of death” that can imperil biotech firms as they seek to turn research into an actual product that can be used by patients.
News
A huge piece of political spending involves the payments by well-heeled interest groups to lobbyists – there are about 1,800 lobbyists registered in California — who represent their clients before the Legislature and state government. In 2017, these groups spent about $339 million. Dave Middleton, a local programmer and former political operative has created what he says will be a useful, open-source tool to help researchers and journalists to follow the money.
Podcast
We sat down with Mangers to chat about the changes that have turned Orange County blue (or maybe purple) and about life after elected office. These days Mangers, a former lobbyist and president of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association, is an adviser to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and is busy supporting the nonprofit Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists.
News
Though recreational marijuana has been legal in the state since January, good luck trying to open a marijuana business in much of the state. The state gives local jurisdictions the power to decide what type and how much cannabis businesses to allow. While big cities like San Francisco and San Jose allowed commercial activity right away, many other communities have banned it or are still debating how much to let in
Close-up of a vintage California Republican Party button
