Illustration of a California voter casting a ballot by mail. (Image: Vepar 5, via Shutterstock)In the March 3 primary election, Super Tuesday, we are expecting to see an earlier vote than ever before. Over 15 million California ballots are being mailed, mostly today, and we are expecting to see a ton come back in the first week or 10 days. With three-quarters of the electorate being mailed ballots, we know records will be broken.
Elizabeth Warren addresses Democrats earlier this year at a state party convention in San Francisco. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)Our November tracking poll for California’s 2020 presidential primary election shows some significant changes in the field, with the national field gelling around four major candidates and the potential havoc of new candidates entering the race. The poll, in the field since April, has now surveyed over 7,500 likely voters, utilizing data supplied by Political Data Inc. It uses an online survey emailed directly to voters deemed likely to vote in the March Democratic primary.
A liquid nitrogen bank containing stem cells.(Photo: Alena Pavlovich, via Shutterstock) The 29 directors of the California stem cell agency are hearing a warning this week that certain types of their possible activities on behalf of a proposed $5.5 billion ballot initiative could lead to a criminal investigation by state or local law enforcement agencies. While that would seem to be an unlikely event, it has caught up another California public enterprise (the Bay Area Rapid Transit District).
A sign designating a polling place during the 2016 election in Ventura County. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: Last week the Sacramento Bee ran a story of voter registration and how the type of registration, and timing of it, can provide a hint as to whether a voter will participate in an upcoming election. And, if a voter does turn out, whether it will be a one-time exercise, or whether that voter will be a more permanent voter.
Stem cell research using what's known as a PCR strip. (Image: Science Photo via Shutterstock) Backers of a California ballot initiative to provide $5.5 billion more for the state’s cash-strapped stem cell agency say they will take their first official step by the end of this month.That’s when they will submit the proposed measure to California election officials and trigger a many-months-long process. The effort is aimed at ensuring that the nearly 15-year-old research effort survives in a meaningful way beyond next year.
Rusty Hicks, new chair of the California Democratic Party, at the party's June convention in San Francisco. (Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press)California’s Democratic Party is enjoying unprecedented prosperity, with command of the Legislature, all statewide offices, most of the state’s congressional delegation and a heavy registration advantage. And the party’s new leader wants to spread the wealth. “California will play an ever more important role nationally because of our early primary,” said newly elected Chairman Rusty Hicks.
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.”
An illustration of data privacy and the internet. <i(Image: Green Tech, via Shutterstock) With only hours to spare, Gov. Jerry Brown headed off what was sure to be a multimillion-dollar initiative battle and signed legislation boosting the rights of consumers over how internet companies use their personal data. Brown’s signing Thursday afternoon came after a scramble in the Legislature to get the measure passed in the face of a tight deadline.
An illustration of internet security, a padlock on a digital background. (Image: Titima Ongkantong, via Shutterstock)The pressure is on: High-stakes, closed-door maneuvering involving lawmakers and the fate of a November ballot initiative is roiling the Capitol. The initiative would boost privacy rights for millions of online customers. But it won’t go directly to voters at all, the sponsor promises, if a bill emerges from the Legislature and makes it to the governor’s desk by Thursday, June 28.
Robert Klein addresses a meeting of two governing board committees of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (Photo: David Jensen, California Stem Cell Report)Facing the likelihood of a slow and withering death, the California stem cell agency is edging gingerly forward on a path of “cuts” and risky fund-raising in hopes that its research results will soon generate voter support for more billions of dollars. Two governing board committees of the $3 billion agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), on Monday. Nov. 27, recommended that the full board “entertain” the proposals at its Dec. 14 meeting.