Gov. Gavin Newsom during a visit last fall to San Francisco. (Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova, via Shutterstock)Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared flatly that he is not interested in running for president. “I have sub-zero interest,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board recently. “It’s not even on my radar.” Right.
Signs at a site in San Francisco show the way to the polls. (Photo: Kevin McGovern, via Shutterstock)Going into this gubernatorial primary election, one could have rightly expected to see a pretty good turnout. There are more than 30 open legislative seats for the first time in nearly a decade and competitive congressional races after the shakeup of redistricting. But with just a few days to go, we are at just 13% total turnout statewide. In some key battlegrounds, like the hot L.A. Mayor’s race, turnout is even lower at just 10%,
We present a Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast, recorded live, Thursday May 26 at CALIFORNIA VOTES, A 2022 Election Preview. This episode explores the Referendum of SB 793, which banned the sale of most flavored tobacco products in California.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. (Photo: Rendon's Twitter feed.)Timing is crucial in politics, and the battle over the Assembly speakership is no exception. The clock is ticking. If Rendon continues through the end of the current two-year session, then any change in the speakership will be decided in the next session, following the November elections, when all 80 Assembly seats are up for election.
Assemblyman Robert Rivas, left, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. (Images: State Assembly and video screen capture, YouTube)Assemblymember Robert Rivas, a Salinas Democrat who grew up in a farm worker family, moved Friday to capture the Assembly speakership. A formal transfer of authority may come as early as next week. He told Rendon that “I have the votes,” adding that he hoped for an “orderly transition.”
Today we present a Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast, recorded live, Thursday May 26 at CALIFORNIA VOTES, A 2022 Election Preview. This episode focuses on two Ballot Initiatives that would make sports betting legal in California.
UCLA students at graduation ceremonies.(Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)Times are flush in the Golden State, fiscally speaking. With a total budget surplus of $97.5 billion, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget revision prioritizes the funding of higher education. Just ask Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who helms the California Community Colleges.
A laboratory pipette with fluid and test tubes for cancer research. (Photo: CI Photos, via Shutterstock)Call it “The Case of the Killer Cells.” It is an $8 million matter involving an effort by California’s ambitious stem cell agency to develop cures for particularly tenacious and fatal cancers. The cash is snarled in an “embarrassing” conflict of interest, however, not to mention an irregular vote on the application for research funding from the stem cell agency.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Today we present a Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast, featuring A Look at the June 7 Primary, with two of the state’s most respected political data experts, Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc., and Matt Rexroad of Redistricting Insights.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: With some 22 million ballots at large, should we be worried about voter fraud? When it comes to ballots and the California election process, Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation is the person to talk to. She joined us to talk about the upcoming Primary and California’s Vote-by-Mail process.