Image by Jacob LundOPINION – By December, 73 out of 120 state legislators will have left the building in just two years. As term limit reform kicks in, some critics have grumbled that this turnover is damaging, because we’re losing established leaders and decades of accumulated experience. What’s being overlooked is the leadership and experience we’re gaining.
Cassidy Denny, image by Scott Duncan PhotographyCassidy Denny, Legislative Director to Senator Angelique Ashby, did not envision joining the policy world when she was recruited to Colorado State University to play volleyball as an undergraduate. It wasn’t until Denny learned about the policies behind slavery and other tragedies involving Black history on a learn and serve trip to Ghana that Denny realized that she wanted to pursue a career in justice.
Sean Porter, photo by Scott Duncan PhotographyPorter, who is the legislative director for Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, enjoys negotiating with the governor’s office, working with sponsors and committees and planning how best to get legislation approved.
Image by retrorocket via shutterstockWomen have never achieved parity with their male colleagues in the California Legislature. Many advocates believe that could change before the end of the decade, but getting there is hardly a given.
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. Photo by Scott DuncanAdvocates for greater gender parity in California politics believe that women could reach 50 percent – or beyond – before the end of the decade. On Election Day 2022, women took 11 seats previously held by men, three in the Senate and eight in the Assembly, bringing the total number of women in the Legislature to 50, or 42 percent of the membership.
An artist's photo illustration of a RINO -- Republican in Name Only. (Image: Jim Larkin, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Maybe there should be a RINO Party. You know—Republicans in Name Only. A number of Republican individuals are taunted by hard core fellow Republicans for not living up to the perceived standards that make one a Republican nowadays. Nuanced or mixed beliefs are not allowed. If you have a different position on a controversial issue or are willing to talk compromise, you are labeled a RINO — you don’t belong in the party.
Demonstrators in Beverly Hills advocating the recall of Gov., Newsom. (Photo: MSPhotographic, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Will an embattled Gov. Gavin Newsom be able to persuade voters that he deserves to stay? Will an ambitious Democrat break party ranks and seek to position themselves as an alternative to Newsom? Will the election devolve into the cacophonous circus that we saw during the recall of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003?
Tom Ammiano at a gay rights rally in 2011. (Photo: Pax Ahimsa Gethen, Wikipedia Commons)Tom Ammiano is a San Francisco icon. The first openly gay teacher in San Francisco, he served on the board of San Francisco Unified School District and in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, with future mayor, lieutenant governor and governor Gavin Newsom. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor several times and made his way to Sacramento, where he served in the Assembly from 2008 to 2014.
Jackie Fielder, candidate in the 11th Senate District. (Photo: Fielder campaign)Jackie Fielder is an activist and educator with her sights set on California’s 11th Senate District, hoping in an uphill race to topple incumbent state Sen. Scott Wiener, a fellow Democrat. Fielder is young (25), educated (Stanford University), a person of color (both Native American and Latina), an environmental protester and an activist with a background in grassroots organizing. She describes herself as a Democratic Socialist.
Housing under construction in Riverside. (Photo: Orange Grove, via Shutterstock)OPINION:Instead of moving forward with progressive and innovative policies that would expedite new housing or encourage Californians to take the risk and buy their first rental property, legislative leaders have decided to shelve most of those proposals and support failed policies that have been rejected by voters and communities for years.