Elections

Documents obtained by CalMatters reveal a behind-the-scenes look at a controversial no-bid contract — and a showdown between two of California's most ambitious politicians.

Alice Huffman was paid millions by corporate ballot measure campaigns that her historic civil rights organization endorsed, while many Black leaders took opposing positions.

You can’t always get what you want, but for special interests in California politics, spending $34 million sure does help. That’s the amount of unrestricted political spending that industries and unions with regular business in the capitol pumped into Legislative races across the state this year. As CalMatters reported before Election Day, the oil industry, […]

Two years ago, Democratic newcomers across the state were swept into Congress atop a frothing “blue wave” of anti-Trump fervor — a result that only became apparent late in the vote count. This year’s election has been playing out a little like 2018 in reverse.  This time the Democrats led early on, only to see their […]

The measure would have brought billions to California’s cash-strapped schools and community colleges, though not in time to help deal with immediate financial crises.

With the failure of Proposition 15, the $140 million campaign to hike property taxes on businesses across the state finally comes to a close. Now begins a new statewide competition to explain what the results really mean.  For opponents, which include large business groups, commercial landlords and low-tax advocates, the lesson is clear: Forty years […]

 Lea este artículo en español. As if permanent markers didn’t already make enough of a mess, enter #sharpiegate. With votes for Biden mounting, a group of Trump supporters showed up to a ballot counting facility in Arizona’s Maricopa County last Wednesday and cried foul. Their claim: Poll workers were encouraging voters to mark their ballots with […]

California is home to the first woman vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, and first female House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. So why does it lag on women holding power in the statehouse?

In the corner of California where Vice President-elect Kamala Harris grew up and launched her political career, residents cheered, danced, honked horns, donned American flags and popped champagne to celebrate the Democratic ticket’s victory over President Donald Trump. As the news broke early Saturday morning, revelers took to the streets wearing bathrobes, banging pots and […]

Goodbye, state of resistance. Hello, state of influence.  California’s status has shifted dramatically with the inauguration of Joe Biden as the next president. The reasons are both political — deep blue California will have more inroads to a White House controlled by Democrats — and personal: For just the second time in American history, a […]