WhatMatters

Gavin Newsom reminded everyone that he’s still the governor on Thursday when he handed down a historic commutation of every California death sentence. We have more on that below.  It was a big day in Los Angeles, too, where the city ousted Mayor Karen Bass and elected democratic socialist Nithya Raman.  Come along with us […]

To win control of the U.S. House, Democrats needed to secure at least 218 seats. By Wednesday night, the party won at least 240 — picking up more than two dozen additional seats, and flipping the Senate too. A year ago Democrats were far less confident they could pull off the blue wave. Back then, […]

The blue tsunami was bigger than almost any Democrat could dream up. Democrats not only reclaimed control of the House by a decisive margin, but they flipped the Senate too, claiming seats in deep red states like Kansas, South Carolina, and Texas. That gives the party a powerful check on President Donald Trump in his […]

Election Day is here and it’s an exciting one. Tonight we’ll start to learn which party controls Congress in the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term, whether Californians want to tax billionaires and if Democrats will continue a run that dates to 2010 of winning every statewide office. We have reporters all over […]

Some California counties are issuing guidelines restricting the press from documenting Election Day proceedings at polling places in ways that appear to violate state statutes and the First Amendment.  A coalition of media outlets, led by CalMatters, and a First Amendment advocacy group sent a letter to Kern County raising these concerns, after county elections […]

How do you distinguish between the two Democrats running for insurance commissioner? Well, one of them wants state-backed public insurance. We have more on that, as well as details on a move campaigns are using to dodge spending limits this fall. But we have more than election news in your inbox today. California employers scored […]

We’ve got so much news in today’s WhatMatters: The latest homeless numbers, a brand new tool and the passing of an icon whose work transcended the California farmworker movement and became a worldwide symbol for human rights. We also have some breaking news this morning. The head of California’s high-speed rail agency resigned late last […]

Californians’ appetite for a first-in-the-nation wealth tax appears to be waning. With less than a week before Election Day, support for Proposition 40, a proposed billionaire tax, is now under water, according to the latest poll by Public Policy Institute of California. Published Tuesday, the survey found that 46% of 1,086 likely voters support the […]

Democrats are ahead in the polls and appear to be on track to flip at least one branch of Congress next week. But if they win, would Republicans refuse to accept the results? That may sound impossible, but memories of Jan. 6 led a bipartisan pair of federal lawmakers to urge their colleagues in Congress […]

Does more housing mean more sprawl? Traditional supporters of building more homes are split over a ballot measure that backers say would create more California homes. As CalMatters’ Ben Christopher explains, Proposition 45 would limit environmental reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act. It would help developers advance projects they deem as “essential” faster and […]