L to R, Steve Swatt, Susie Swatt, Jeff Raimundo, Becky LaVally. Photo courtesy of Steve SwattJeff Raimundo – news reporter, political consultant, author and tireless community volunteer — passed away last week after a tough three-year battle with prostate cancer.
Kamala Harris on a campaign swing in New Hampshire, 2019. (Photo: Maverick Pictures, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Well, here we are, just milliseconds after the 2022 mid-term elections, and the inevitable speculation has already begun about who will run for president two years hence. For Democrats, that conjecturing almost necessarily includes whether Kamala Harris will run if President Joe Biden chooses to stand down. It might be a moot point, because Biden has sworn he is planning to run again in 2024 at the ripe old age of 81 — and has let drop that First Lady Jill Biden has given her assent.
Sacramento lobbyist George Steffes.When Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966, George Steffes joined his administration as legislative secretary and director of policy, a job he held until 1972. Steffes then helped form the first multi-partner lobbying firm in Sacramento. He is the senior partner of Capitol Partners.
In this 1974 photo, AP reporter Doug Willis, left, talks with then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. (AP Photo)Doug Willis, who for decades covered California politics for the Associated Press from his perch in Sacramento, was an amazing man – funny, balanced, sane, profoundly accurate, detail savvy and unflappable. He died Dec. 15 at the age of 77. He was my political mentor, friend and boss, hiring me in 1980 to come to Sacramento as news editor. I saw the move as a chance to report on state politics and learn from a master. I did both for 21 years.
Calpensions: A small but affluent Orange County city, with a current staff of only a half dozen employees, would have to pay about $3.6 million to leave CalPERS, the giant state pension system estimated two years ago. “I almost feel like just handing this to a reporter and saying, ‘Look at this.’