Elections

A new poll released finds Californians feeling positive about Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's priorities and the new Legislature. And a second poll issued the same day indicates that the state's junior U.S. senator, Kamala Harris, has an early home state advantage—just as long as more high-profile Democrats don’t jump into the race.

As Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara will oversee a department with 1,325 employees, a budget of $287 million and a significant law enforcement operation. His transition team includes a man who until last month lobbied for a drug company that received a subpoena from the Department of Insurance.

State Sen. Kevin de León, who lost to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in November, now says he's considering a run for chairman of the California Democratic Party.

Universal preschool. Top ranked per-pupil spending. Data tracking from toddlerhood to universities. Newsom is giving schools a tough assignment for 2019.

Many California are eager for change and a majority are downright pessimistic about California's future, according to a new survey from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Jason Kinney has made a lucrative and powerful career in Sacramento by moving from government to campaigns to industry lobbyist to, now, advisor to Gavin Newsom's transition team. The question is whether he is working for an incoming administration that he will soon seek to influence, as he leaves the lobbying firm, Capitol Strategies.

These maps illustrate how California counties split over the midterm ballot propositions.

In every single congressional district that featured a face-off between a Democrat and Republican in this midterm and the last, the California electorate shifted further blue. The average Democratic gain was 9 percentage points.

The data shows how California's top-two primary left GOP voters with few good options—or an option they couldn't stomach—in several key races. 

The midterm elections whittled away all the purple sections of the state now represented by the GOP, leaving only the bleeding-red core.