Posts Tagged: Newsom

Brown OKs state-run pensions for private workers

The road ahead upon retirement. (Photo illustration: Gustavo Frazao, via Shutterstock.)

by JOHN HOWARD and ALEX MATTHEWS posted 09.30.2016

Gov. Brown has signed historic legislation to set up California’s first state-run pension plan for private-sector workers, allowing millions of employees to continuously build a retirement nest egg regardless of where they work. The governor’s decision means California joins seven other states that offer similar programs, although California’s plan, called Secure Choice, will automatically enroll about 6.8 million workers.

Treasurer John Chiang eyes run for governor

John Chiang, then state controller and now California treasurer, at a 2013 gathering. (Photo: Ryan Miller/Invision/AP )

by JOHN HOWARD posted 11.16.2015

State Treasurer John Chiang said Monday he is “very interested” in running for governor in 2018 and will decide early next year whether to launch a campaign. Chiang, who served two terms as state controller before being elected treasurer in 2o14, is the latest in a number of prominent Democrats who have announced their intention to run for governor or are at least considering the job.

Field Poll: Three Democrats –- former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti –- receive the largest proportions of early voter support. Greater than four in ten voters say they would be inclined to vote for Villaraigosa and Newsom, and nearly as many say this about Garcetti (36%) if they were to be candidates for Governor in 2018.

Vanishing breed: SoCal’s statewide contenders

The Los Angeles skyline late at night. (Photo: Songquang Deng, via Shutterstock)

by CHUCK MCFADDEN posted 05.28.2015

Where are the Southern Californians? We are at the beginning of the run-up to the 2016 political season; candidates and potential candidates for statewide office are beginning to make their presence known. But where are the candidates from the land of palm trees and Valley Girls? An outside observer could be forgiven for thinking Northern Californians are taking over the state’s politics, given the outsized disparity between Southern California’s population and its candidate offerings.

Criminal justice, sentencing reforms gain traction

An inmate gestures through the bars of his prison cell. (Photo: Sakhorn, Shutterstock)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 04.27.2015

For decades, Californians and their representatives in the state Capitol had a “lock-‘em-up-and-throw-away-the-key” approach to lawbreakers. But that view is changing. Following years of a steadily increasing prison population and some communities repeatedly being devastated by crime, public discussion has shifted in part toward reforming law enforcement’s approach to crime prevention.

A battle plan to ease the Democrats’ divisions

Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Attorney General Kamala Harris. (Photos, Shutterstock. Composite, Tim Foster)

by CHUCK MCFADDEN posted 02.17.2015

ANALYSIS: There are rumblings beneath the surface about the danger of a race-tinged political war breaking out within the California Democratic Party. Antonio Villaraigosa’s challenge is to rouse the big Latino population of Los Angeles and the rest of California on his behalf in a primary race against fellow Democrat Kamala Harris. He realizes more than anyone the huge, mostly untapped, potential of the Latino vote. Harris would have the Northern California Democratic establishment, and, presumably, the preponderance of African-American voters on her side.

Harris launches Senate campaign

State Attorney General at a Washington, D.C. conference on domestic violence. (Photo: DC Volunteer Lawyers Project)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 01.13.2015

State Attorney General Kamala Harris this morning announced her intention to run for the Senate to succeed Barbara Boxer, who earlier said she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2016 to a fifth term. Word of her decision started to surface Monday just hours after Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he wouldn’t enter the Senate race.

Boxer’s exit puts SCN consultants at center stage

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, speaking to her grandson, announced Thursday on YouTube that she won't seek a fifth term. (Photo: Screen capture, YouTube)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 01.08.2015

Ready, set, run! A firestorm of political speculation erupted Thursday across California after U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer announced she wouldn’t seek a fifth term, a move that prompted a close look at California’s new open primary. Two top contenders — Attorney General Kamala Harris and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom — are represented by the same consultants, SCN. Things are getting interesting.

He’s back — in his official portait

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger poses with his official portrait after it was unveiled at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. The photograph-like giant image of the former governor was done by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein and will hang on the third floor of the Capitol. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 09.08.2014

Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to the Capitol today for the first time since leaving office as governor nearly four years ago to unveil his official – and massive – executive portrait. The big painting — it’s about seven feet long by five feet wide — will be the largest portrait of a governor hanging on the walls of the state Capitol.

Bay Area advantage — Is being from LA a statewide political liability?

A view toward the Bay Bridge, via Chinatown. (Photo: Christian Mehlfuhrer)

by ANTHONY YORK posted 04.23.2014

ANALYSIS: Los Angeles County is home to more than 26% of all Californians. But when it comes to running for statewide office, being from Los Angeles may be more of an obstacle than a political advantage. While the people may be in Los Angeles, the largest chunk of the state’s voters – those who actually cast ballots — come from the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.