Left to right: Controller Betty Yee, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Treasurer Fiona Ma at the Sacramento Press Club. (Photo: Press Club)All three women holding statewide offices in California say they’ll run for governor. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Treasurer Fiona Ma and Controller Betty Yee — all Democrats — appeared together at a we’re-all-friends lunchtime panel discussion sponsored by the Sacramento Press Club.
Gabriel Petek, the new head of the Office of the Legislative Analyst, or LAO. (Photo: Courtesy of Gabriel Petek)A Wall Street public finance expert who says analyzing California’s fiscal condition was the “defining passion” of his career is the state’s new legislative analyst. He is Gabriel Petek, 47, who until recently was Standard and Poor’s chief credit analyst covering California from an office in San Francisco.
Political buttons emblazoned with a message for voters. (Photo illustration: Digital Storm, via Shutterstock)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.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and friend at the Rose Parade on Jan. 1 in Pasadena. (Photo: Karl_Sonnenberg)He runs an entity that boasts more population than 21 states plus Puerto Rico. He is good-looking, well-spoken, and he’s thinking about running for president. He is, of course, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Collection of Jerry Brown campaign pins found on eBay.Longtime friend, journalist and Jerry Brown biographer Chuck McFadden joins the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about Brown’s 16th — and final — State of the State address, his legacy and what may lie ahead for the 79-year old governor.
In this Oct. 17 photo, Marcos Morales, co-founder of the cannabis company Legion of Bloom, stands on the ruins of a state-of-the-art drying shed in Glen Ellen, Calif., where 1,600 pounds of ready-to-ship cannabis were destroyed in a fire. (Associated Press/Paul Elias)It’s being called the Wine Country Fire, but the fatal October fires that blackened nearly 200,000 acres across Northern California might also be called the Cannabis Country Fire. While most of the coverage has focused on damage to the losses of homes, business structures and the wine industry, marijuana growers were also hit hard.