June 1, 2018

Legislators whipped through hundreds of bills in the last two weeks as they confronted critical deadlines. But these Senate and Assembly bills failed to clear their chamber of origin—so barring some unusual resuscitation, they're goners this year.

It finally happened. For years Republicans in California has been steadily falling as a share of registered voters. At the same time, “no party preference” voters—those who don’t align themselves with any political party—has been ticking up and up. This morning, the California Secretary of State’s office made the announcement: Those two lines finally crossed. […]

At stake in a California recall race is more than the short tenure of a state lawmaker. The fate of Sen. Josh Newman will provide an object lesson to politicians of all stripes on what happens to vulnerable politicians who take controversial votes—and how well parties and other interest groups can (or can’t) protect them from ticked off voters.

With California’s primary just days away, here’s a sampling of some of the players spending big to influence your vote.