Dan Walters

There's no escaping political fingerpointing as two killer wildfires strike in California.

While Gavin Newsom won't face a budget crisis when he is inaugurated in January, he will find a stack of leftover issues on his desk from outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown.

Gavin Newsom will be only the second governor in the last half-century to begin his first term without a major budget crisis to be solved. But keeping the state in the black may be difficult, particularly as he pursues an expansionist agenda.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

More than $1 billion was spent on California political campaigns this year, but the outcome of this month's election was pretty much preserving the status quo.

Outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown has been honored by the Tax Foundation for opposing new tax loopholes. However, his record on tax reform otherwise has been scant.

Contests for down-ballot state offices don't get much media attention, but their winners will affect Californians' lives.

California's state government and its 58 counties have had a rocky relationship for decades and a new flareup may be coming.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

The Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown enacted landmark legislation that eliminates cash bail for criminal defendants and substitutes a system of evaluating pre-trial flight risk. However, the legislation is just the opening salvo of a multi-front legal and political war over the issue.