Dan Walters

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst warns government spending could expand California's small budget deficit over the next few years.

California’s clout in both presidential and congressional elections is shrinking. It’s a stark reminder of the old adage that demography drives destiny.

There are three policy areas President-elect Donald Trump wants to change that are particularly important to California farmers. If he does what he has promised, one might benefit the industry and two might hurt it.

Los Angeles County voters approved a ballot measure to overhaul the Board of Supervisors. San Francisco, on the other hand, picked a new mayor but voted down a more meaningful reform.

The next political cycle begins with no clear frontrunners for California governor. There are at least a dozen potential candidates, plus one huge unknown factor: Vice President Kamala Harris’s career plans after losing her presidential bid.

Decades ago, Republicans and Democrats were evenly matched in California until the latter became the dominant party in the late 1990s. Last week's election moved the state's ideological needle a little to the right.

Gavin Newsom called a special session of the Legislature “to safeguard California values" from a Trump administration. The false declaration of urgency achieves what Newsom likely wants: national media coverage that probably wouldn’t happen otherwise.

California is one of the nation’s bluest states. However, the state’s voters engaged in some serious ticket-splitting this week, implying that they are not as wedded to the dominant party and its ideological causes as widely assumed.

There's no reason to believe that Donald Trump will not continue using California as a punching bag during his second stint as president. But many may wonder what Kamala Harris's defeat now means for Gavin Newsom's ambitions.

Three statewide ballot propositions and hundreds more local measures will test California voters' appetites for higher taxes and more debt for public works projects.