Elections

Charter school supporters may be an effective counterbalance to the prevailing influence public-employee unions have long exerted on Democratic politics in California. But the billions in campaign donations by pro-charter tycoons also points to the outsized sway personal wealth can have on elections.

The top candidates hoping to be the next governor of California all agree on this: The state is failing those who suffer from mental illness. Watch to see how they say they'll fix the state’s broken mental health system.

After losing in California courts, three lead paint companies are asking voters to overturn the ruling that says they must pay to clean up toxic lead paint in older homes.

On stage for 90 minutes tonight in San Jose, the top six contenders to be California’s next governor echoed existing positions, with no one managing to score a breakout moment or strike a fatal blow. And there isn’t much time left. California’s “top two” primary on June 5 will weed out all but the first […]

As our own Jessica Calefati has reported, California public schools tell a tale of two education systems. The achievement gap that separates well-off and needy students mirror the socioeconomic and racial disparities across the state. In 2017, 44 percent of white eighth-graders were deemed “proficient” or above on state math tests, while only 10 percent […]

Party leaders say they've found the secret to winning this year: Keep it local.

The results are in. Delegates of the California Republican Party have cast their votes to endorse a candidate in the governor’s race. And their choice is…no one. Businessman John Cox and Assemblyman Travis Allen were both competing for the party’s seal of approval. To get it, either one would have needed the support of more […]

The two leading Republican candidates for governor took the stage at the state party convention in San Diego this afternoon, touting their conservative credentials and seeking the party’s endorsement. John Cox, a businessman from Chicago, and Travis Allen, an assemblyman from Huntington Beach, were given 12 minutes each to make a case to the packed crowd […]

Bill Essayli says his candidacy “destroys the Democrat Party’s narrative.” That’s not because of his policy positions, though his campaign against Riverside Democratic Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes is built around his opposition to the recent increase in California’s gas tax. It’s also not because he’s 32, though the state’s Grand Old Party, which has assembled in […]