Dan Walters

Once again, California poverty ranks number one in the nation due partly to high costs for essentials like housing, gas and electricity.

Conflicting Superior Court decisions will force the state Supreme Court to clear up the uncertainty it created over the vote requirement for some local tax increases.

Politics in San Diego, California's second largest city, is turning more Democratic and is likely to see a few upcoming high-stakes competitions.

Despite a voter-approved ban on public financing of campaigns, the Legislature passed a bill three years ago to authorize it. Now a state appellate court has invalidated the legislation.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mea culpa for a broken campaign promise, but still get a warning.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is playing dealmaker in the declining days of his first legislative session, but the long-term effects of his deals are uncertain.

Charter school advocates, having been on the losing side of last year's elections, knew they would be targeted by their foes in the education establishment. But a new compromise bill spares them from death.

While California's labor unions have achieved near total power in politics, they continue to see a decline in union membership.

Sen. Kamala Harris is trying to join the very few Californians who have won the presidency, but she seems to be fading.

When the state Supreme Court tightened the legal rules defining work, it touched off an epic political battle now nearing a climactic point.