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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)

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Latest Stories

A person, with long brown hair and wearing a pink and white fleece jacket, inserts a pink envelope into a pink ballot box inside of a building with other people in the background.
An overhead view of people waiting in line to vote on Election Night outside a vote center at a college campus. The line forms next to a row of bushes, where a yellow polling place sign can be seen.
Female doctor using touchpad or tablet computer while consulting man patient in hospital.
A split-image that shows two people speaking at separate events. On the left, a person in a dark suit and glasses gestures with both hands. On the right, a bald person with a gray beard holds up two fists while speaking.
A person wearing a blue shirt and glasses is working on a laptop at a kitchen table, with books and school materials scattered around, in the corner of a kitchen in a home. In the background, a framed painting hangs directly above the person as they work, while in the foreground is a view of a kitchen cabinet.
A person wearing glasses and a dark suit speaks at a podium on a stage, gesturing with one hand as they address an audience. A microphone is positioned in front of them, and a blue sign on the podium reads “CADEM California Democratic Party.” An American flag stands blurred in the background, and a teleprompter screen is visible off to the side.

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