California Elections

Voting booths in front of an altar for Dias de los Muertos during the Latino Mock Voting event organized by The League of United Latin American Citizens in Tulare on Nov. 1, 2023. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters

Politics

Many Latino Californians aren’t voting. Can U.S. Senate candidates motivate them?

Latino voters are up for grabs in the 2024 California election, and could help decide who wins the U.S. Senate seat. But will the campaigns do enough outreach to convince them?

By

Yue Stella Yu

• November 16, 2023

Vice President Kamala Harris swears in Laphonza Butler to the U.S. Senate at the Capitol in Washington D.C. on on Oct. 3, 2023.

Commentary

Why Newsom’s Senate appointment gives California voters more power in the 2024 election

A bill in Congress would bar California governors from appointing senators and instead require an accelerated special election. But history shows that appointments routinely lose elections, giving voters the rare opportunity to pick a new U.S. senator.

By Joshua Spivak • November 13, 2023

Kevin McCarthy, Congressman from Bakersfield and House Majority Leader photographed in the lobby of his childhood elementary school in Bakersfield. Photo by Brian L. Frank

Commentary

Kevin McCarthy’s ouster leaves California’s GOP House delegation politically vulnerable

When Republicans recaptured four California congressional seats in 2022, it helped the GOP win control of the House and Kevin McCarthy become speaker. But McCarthy has been ousted and the state's congressional Republicans are now more vulnerable.

By

Dan Walters

• October 31, 2023

U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, a Democrat from California, smiles during the weekly Senate Democrat leadership press conference at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 4, 2023. Photo by Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA, Reuters

Politics

Laphonza Butler skips the U.S. Senate race: What you need to know

California’s new U.S. senator says she won’t seek a full term in 2024. She says she can better serve the state by focusing on key issues, not a campaign.

By

Yue Stella Yu

• October 19, 2023

RedistrictingPartners, the consulting firm hired to help the Long Beach Independent Redistricting Commission, share insights on the newly drawn political lines in Long Beach, during a commission meeting held at city hall, on Oct. 20, 2021. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

Politics

Why California politicians will keep drawing their own election districts

Gov. Newsom vetoed the most sweeping bill to require cities and counties to create independent redistricting commissions. He cited budget concerns, but the bill's supporters aren't convinced.

By

Sameea Kamal

• October 11, 2023

Polling workers empty a curbside ballot box in Santa Monica, June 2, 2022. Photo by Lucy Nichols, REUTERS

Commentary

Progressive Santa Monica fights to maintain its regressive voting system

Santa Monica, a bastion of progressive politics, is fighting an effort to change the way it elects city council members, with allegations that the city minimizes nonwhite representation.

By

Dan Walters

• October 9, 2023

Voters register and receive their ballots at the San Francisco voting center at City Hall on Nov. 3, 2002. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Commentary

California’s electorate doesn’t reflect the state’s diversity. It’s time to fix that

Voters in California are disproportionately older, richer, more educated and whiter than the overall population. Fully automatic voter registration and consistent investments in voter engagement could help California's political system better reflect its diversity.

By

Guest Commentary

• September 15, 2023

People sit on the sidewalk of G Street in a small homeless encampment in the Chinatown neighborhood of Fresno on Feb. 10, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters

Mental Health

Gavin Newsom’s mental health plan is going to voters. Here’s what you need to know

California collects a special tax on high incomes to fund mental health services. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to change how the money is spent so a share of it can be used to fund housing for homeless people with mental illnesses.

By

Kristen Hwang

• September 15, 2023

Assemblymember Robert Rivas (center)and other legislators talk on the assembly floor in the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 19, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters

Commentary

California Democrats emulate Ohio GOP to undermine tax limit ballot measure

A chess move by California Capitol leadership last week could undercut a pending ballot measure seeking to restrict new taxes. A similar strategy was used by Republicans in Ohio attempting to restrict abortion rights.

By

Dan Walters

• August 22, 2023

Bonnie Metcalf lights sage during her morning routine at her Sacramento home on July 20, 2023. Metcalf spreads the smoke to entrance and exit points to clear negative energy and promote relaxation. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters

WhatMatters

Are California’s medical marijuana patients getting left behind?

After California legalized medical marijuana in 1996 and then recreational cannabis two decades later, one might think that for many patients, the state would be a sanctuary for seeking treatment. But as CalMatters’ state Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff explains, those who rely on cannabis to treat pain, seizures, glaucoma and other ailments say that despite […]

By

Lynn La

• August 1, 2023