Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Governor Newsom and Democratic allies announced Thursday that they will propose a constitutional amendment — The Election Rigging Response Act — to counter Texas and other Red states’ mid-decade redistricting plans. Our guest today is California political data and redistricting whiz Paul Mitchell, who was tasked with coming up with the new maps just two weeks ago. Mitchell described the process of drawing the new maps, why the redistricting effort was necessary, and tells us which seats will see the most changes.
Capitol Spotlight
Niesha Fritz’s career path began when she was young, with an electric typewriter gifted to her by her late grandfather and a pension for asking questions. Polishing her writing skills through contests her mother encouraged her to apply for, Fritz eventually settled on journalism. “It was the storytelling I really enjoyed, the process of gathering the details, and then sitting down and weaving them together into something that could be compelling,” she said. “I just sort of fell in love with the craft of it.”
Capitol Briefs
This week was overwhelmed by the battle over redistricting, but there were other things going on as well.
Micheli Minute
Lobbyist, professor, and author Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week in Sacramento.
Micheli Files
The California Legislature has a combined 55 standing committees, with 32 in the Assembly and 23 in the Senate. In today’s Micheli Files lobbyist and law professor Chris Micheli breaks down the original bill referrals to policy committees during the 2025 Session (meaning the first committee that received a bill from the Rules Committee).
News
No. 100 Melody Gutierrez and Alene Tchekmedyian
Like Nick Gerda, these two intrepid Los Angeles Times investigative reporters produced work in the last year that has spurred legislation. In this case, Gutierrez and Tchekmedyian exposed an underground market of dogs and cats being brought into California by out-of-state mass breeders who then claim to be
News
No. 99 April Manatt
Bipartisanship in the Legislature is like the probably apocryphal line credited to Mark Twain: “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Well, you can’t say that about April Manatt, who is most definitely doing something about fostering more bipartisanship in the Legislature via her role as Executive
News
No. 98 Leah Barros
Barros has quietly become one the head of the most effective boutique lobbying shops in Sacramento, with a client list that includes the California Hospital Association, NRG, Planned Parenthood and AT&T among others. Not too shabby for a small, two-person firm. Barros has had a hand in several significant social justice
News
No. 96. Stephanie Roberson
Lobbyist Stephanie Roberson is a new entrant to the Top 100, but she’s hardly a newbie to the Capitol community. The owner of Stephanie Roberson Strategies, “a boutique, black-owned single member firm,” Roberson got her start in 1999 working for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, then quickly transitioned to the Legislature where
News
No. 91 Nick Gerda
It is every investigative reporter’s dream to see their work have a real positive impact on society. For LAist reporter Nick Gerda, the dream is reality. Gerda’s dogged reporting on Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do resulted in Do’s arrest and eventual conviction on charges of funneling millions of dollars in taxpayer
Governor Newsom, flanked by Democratic allies, announces his push for the Election Rigging Response Act. Screen capture from livestream of press conference
