Avatar photo

Lynn La

Newsletter Writer

Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter with more than 150,000 subscribers.    

In the newsletter, Lynn analyzes the state’s policy issues for a broader audience, through original reporting and by summarizing and compiling stories from CalMatters and other news sources. Recently, she has reported on bills to address California’s worsening fentanyl epidemic, tackle retail theft and legislate happiness. She also reveals more about lawmakers by interviewing them for an occasional series on first-term legislators in 2023 and new committee chairpersons in 2024. 

Through WhatMatters, Lynn also plays a crucial role in CalMatters election coverage, helping to keep track of daily developments in key campaigns, including legislative and congressional races and ballot measures.  

Prior to joining CalMatters in March 2023, she wrote for the education technology startup Guild and was a senior editor at CNET. She also covered public health at The Sacramento Bee as a Kaiser media fellow and was an intern reporter at Capitol Weekly. 

Lynn is based in the Bay Area. She graduated from UC Davis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Other languages spoken: Vietnamese (basic)

Contact

Email

Latest Stories

Small and thin irrigation ditch with water sits in between farmland and empty agricultural fields. The ditch is lined with electrical towers that lead towards a soft pink and blue gradient sunset in the distance.
A sign that reads “Uber” on the glass window on the side of an office building.
A worker wearing gloves sorts stacks of pink election ballots on a table. Piles of ballots fill the foreground and background, while the worker reaches across the table inside a brightly lit ballot-processing facility.
Traffic on Highway 50 in Sacramento on June 30, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
A close-up view of a white, black and red sign placed on the lawn of a house near a sidewalk. The sign reads, "No data center in Monterey Park!" in English and Mandarin. The sign also includes an illustration of a red dragon wrapping itself around a building and breaking it in half. More law signs can lining the street can be seen in the blurry background.
A side-by-side split image showing two men in suits, each standing in front of a blurred background. On the left, a man with light hair and a red tie looks directly ahead with a serious expression. On the right, a man with darker, slicked-back hair and a navy blue tie looks slightly off to the side with a focused expression.
A crowd of demonstrators gathers outdoors holding protest signs. A large yellow sign in the foreground reads “Hands Off Medicaid! Democracy,” while nearby signs call for protecting immigrants, veterans services, schools and other public programs. Participants stand closely together in bright daylight during the rally.
A client peruses the cannabis products for sale at the Barbary Coast cannabis dispensary in San Francisco on Jan. 28, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
A side view of a person with blonde hair and wearing a blue shirt and shorts, sits in front of a blue voting booth while filling out their ballot. Other blue and white voting booths can be seen in the background.

Gift this article