Elections

California Millennials Surging: Their votes could be decisive—especially on marijuana

As they come of age and register to vote, Millennials—that enormous generation born since 1981—are surging so fast they’re on the verge of overtaking the Baby Boomer behemoth as a share of the California electorate. And new evidence confirms that, so far at least, the GOP is losing them. Fewer than 1 out of every […]

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• July 27, 2016

Elections

Ballot of the Bulge: Why a new law isn’t shrinking the ballot much – yet

Protracted policy questions. Big-money battles. Contradictory proposals that are difficult to discern. It’s shaping up to be an all-too-typical fall election—once again confronting California voters with an unwieldy ballot. This wasn’t supposed to happen. After polls confirmed that California voters were frustrated by ballot overload, lawmakers two years ago made changes aimed at pre-empting at […]

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• July 20, 2016

Elections

Sex, drugs and a controversial AIDS activist

As an AIDS activist 30 years ago, Michael Weinstein helped defeat an inflammatory ballot measure that could have quarantined Californians with the disease. Today, Weinstein has turned to the ballot to advance his own controversial vision for public health. President of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has clinics around the world, Weinstein is […]

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• July 13, 2016

Elections

Candidate Questionnaires

Questionnaires for candidates are a staple of electoral politics. Many interest groups use them in evaluating whether to endorse contestants or spend money to support their campaigns. The stakes are high on both sides, and the process raises some ethical questions. Here is a sampling of questionnaires given to this year’s candidates for the Legislature. […]

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• May 24, 2016