California state Sen. Tom Umberg. a former federal prosecutor, is one of the most prominent Democrats to break with Gov. Gavin Newsom on the governor’s decision this week to put the death penalty on hold in the Golden State.
Dennis Mangers (Photo: Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)We sat down with Mangers to chat about the changes that have turned Orange County blue (or maybe purple) and about life after elected office. These days Mangers, a former lobbyist and president of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association, is an adviser to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and is busy supporting the nonprofit Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists.
Political messaging in the city of Vista in the 49th Congressional District prior to election day. (Photo: Simone Hogan, via Shutterstock)On election night, California’s closely watched congressional races, viewed as crucial to Democrats’ attempts to capture the House, were largely irrelevant, after all. Democrats needed to pick up 23 seats nationally to reach a House majority and they got 26 before Golden State voters even weighed in — far short of the number predicted by numerous campaign strategists but still enough to give Democrats control.
Voters at a political rally in Santa Monica during the 2016 election campaign. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)A Capitol Weekly survey of California’s early vote-by-mail balloting shows Democrats Gavin Newsom and Dianne Feinstein ahead by double-digit margins in their races for governor and U.S. Senate, respectively. Regarding three of California’s most controversial ballot propositions, the most closely divided was Proposition 6, which would repeal the state’s newly imposed fuel tax: 42 percent opposed the repeal, 38 percent favored it.
A sign outside a Los Angeles voting location in 10 languages. (Photo: Underawesternsky, via Shutterstock)Moves to make voting easier in California have caused yet another divide between Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans say they are worried because the door to voter fraud might swing wide open. Democrats say California needs greater civic participation by groups who have historically shown lackluster voting turnouts, and automatic vote-by-mail and electronic registration will help.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrest an undocumented immigrant in California. (Photo: ICE, 2017)Two California counties profit from a loophole in the “sanctuary state” law, while most others have canceled their ICE contracts under public pressure or let them expire. When California’s sanctuary state law, Senate Bill 54, was approved, the public assumed that local law enforcement would be prevented from cooperating with ICE agents except when dealing with people “convicted of a serious or violent felony,” such as murder, rape, child abuse or battery.
Dear Editor: I respectfully disagree with Paul Mitchell’s opinion in the April 24, 2018, Capitol Weekly article,“CA120: Political intrigue: BOE’s redistricting and the gas tax.” My vote against raising the gas tax was a matter of policy, not politics.
The old 6th Street bridge in Los Angeles over the L.A. viaduct. (Photo: trekandshoot, vis Shutterstock)This legislation might be hard to swallow: Lawmakers are considering a bill that would clear the way for California communities to put highly treated wastewater directly into the drinking water supply. “The media likes to start off with the catchy phrase toilet to tap,” said Jennifer West, managing director of Water Reuse, about the intensive purification process. “But there’s a lot that goes on between toilet and tap.”
State Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Garden Grove. (Photo: Screen capture, California Channel)In a remarkable confrontation, a Republican state senator of Vietnamese descent was hustled off the Senate floor Thursday, after majority Democrats said she was out of order for trying to make disparaging comments about the late political activist Tom Hayden.
Nursing home patients receiving medication. (Photo: ChameleonsEye)OPINION: In the past decade, California has invested billions in improving nursing home care, yet for too many nursing home residents that investment hasn’t amounted to any improvement at all in the quality of the care they receive. How is this possible? According to nursing home caregivers of SEIU, the dollars haven’t consistently translated into improved staffing levels.