Kevin McCarthy

In recent years, California Republicans wielded far more influence in Congress than in the state Legislature, thanks to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. But since his ouster, and now under Prop. 50 maps, the GOP is increasingly isolated.

A judge rules that the Bakersfield Republican is eligible to run in the 2024 election for Congress even though he had already filed to run for his state Assembly seat.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield announces he will leave Congress at the end of the year after fellow Republicans booted him as House speaker. Who might run for his seat? Could one candidate be former Rep. Devin Nunes?

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.

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu: Two Californians made history Tuesday in our nation’s capital — one starting a new job, the other losing theirs. Laphonza Butler took the oath of office as a U.S. senator, succeeding the late Dianne Feinstein and becoming the first Black and openly LGBTQ woman to serve in the […]

With Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, voters in Kern County and across California can expect more theatrics and little relief for our most pressing issues.

Programming note: I’m Sameea Kamal, politics reporter at CalMatters, and I’ll be in your inbox on Mondays for the next few weeks. You may have seen my bylines covering the Capitol or the 2021 redistricting process. Reply to this email to let me know what’ll make your Monday newsletter the most informative. Please also add […]

Over the next few days, very different events will take place in downtown Sacramento. Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to march to the state Capitol with a group of ticketed supporters before being sworn into office for his second term, according to an invitation enclosed in a late December campaign email. About 1,000 people […]

One shared takeaway from the otherwise very different starts to new legislative sessions in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.: What a difference 20 votes make. The Legislature that reconvened Wednesday in the California Capitol is the most diverse in state history, with a record 50 women — although there’s still a slim possibility that number could […]

“We are mindful that we’re going to have to be more proactive as a state in terms of our efforts in Washington, D.C.” That was Gov. Gavin Newsom’s delicately worded assessment of how California might fare differently under Kevin McCarthy — the Bakersfield Republican positioned to take over as speaker of the U.S. House of […]