Xavier Becerra

California election officials assure voters their ballot is safe in drop boxes and the mail, yet some voters are hand delivering anyway.

In a press conference seemingly designed to deescalate a week-long legal standoff, declare victory and profoundly confuse the California press corps, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Secretary of State Alex Padilla said they would not be taking legal action against the California Republican Party for its makeshift ballot box program.  But the two Democrats insisted […]

The political stakes of the ongoing face-off between the California Republican Party and some of the state’s top Democratic elected officials over “ballot harvesting” practices just got a lot higher. The California GOP said it would not stop collecting voter ballots in unofficial drop boxes in a Wednesday letter to Secretary of State Alex Padilla […]

The closer the November election gets, the tenser California’s political climate becomes. Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra — both Democrats — sent a cease-and-desist letter Monday to the California Republican Party, demanding it remove unofficial ballot drop boxes set up outside of churches and gun shops in several counties. The […]

After the electoral hammering California Republicans took in 2018, the party decided to put aside any misgivings it had about “ballot harvesting” and set up its own operation. In so doing, it’s now earned itself a cease-and-desist letter from California’s Democratic secretary of state. At issue: Unofficial ballot drop boxes that the state GOP purchased […]

Maybe you saw the video on Facebook before it was deleted: Glen Stailey, president of the state prison guards’ union, rails against “failed public safety policies” and “cheap political points” and announces that “it is time to bring accountability back to the state Capitol.” Cut to a shot of the union president, with a horseshoe […]

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, September 15. Golden State in the spotlight California took center stage on the national campaign trail Monday, with Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leveraging the state’s record-breaking fires to advance their respective political visions. The faceoff will likely continue today, with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala […]

Good morning, California. It’s Monday, August 31. Legislative session ends today The fate of hundreds of thousands of California renters teetering on the brink of eviction — and of the landlords who depend on their rent payments — hangs in the balance of a cliffhanger vote lawmakers will take today. Their vote on a controversial […]

The Merced County Health Department ordered the Foster Farms Livingston Facility to shut down over the largest and most severe COVID-19 outbreak in Merced County, according to a statement released on Thursday by the health department. The shutdown order came Wednesday. However, late Thursday, Mike North, Merced County’s spokesperson, said county officials issued a 48-hour […]

Brigades and beer As fires continue to rage across the state, stretching understaffed firefighting crews to the limit, some Californians are taking matters into their own hands and forming makeshift brigades to protect their communities. In the face of limited help from fire agencies, about 50 Bonny Doon residents defied evacuation orders to defend their […]