May 2, 2013 By John Hrabe Two more state legislators that participated in a spring break trip to Cuba with an influential Sacramento lobbyist have been identified. Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly member Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, have confirmed through their...
Politics and ElectionsTwo more legislators ID’d who went on lobbyist-organized Cuba junketThursday, May 2nd, 2013Sec State Bowen tweets why she failed to disclose campaign data onlineWednesday, May 1st, 2013May 1, 2013 By John Hrabe Last week, two nonpartisan organizations interested in government transparency had a seemingly simple request for California Secretary of State Debra Bowen: share the state’s campaign finance database in a single, accessible file. The request shouldn’t have been t... Gerrymander backfires on Dems in PasadenaTuesday, April 23rd, 2013 April 23, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi Gerrymandering is a strategy to manipulate political district boundaries to split the voting population in favor of the group in power. But sometimes gerrymandering is subject to the Law of Unintended Consequences and results in the opposite of what was inten... Shawnda Westly sparks CA Democratic Party victoriesTuesday, April 23rd, 2013Editor’s Note: This is Part Two of a two-part series. Part One is here. April 23, 2013 By John Hrabe In addition to her victorious campaign strategies in 2012, California Democrat Party officials recognize Democratic Party Executive Director Shawnda Westly’s critical role in the state o... CA Dems’ mega weapon: Shawnda WestlyMonday, April 22nd, 2013 Editor's Note: This is Part One of a two-part series. Part two is here. April 22, 2013 By John Hrabe The second night of the 2013 state convention earlier this month, California Democrats shared the downtown convention center with two Sacramento-area high schools hosting their junior-senior... CA response to Boston terror attack mostly measured, mutedWednesday, April 17th, 2013 April 17, 2013 By Chris Reed Unlike officials in New York, Washington and some other cities in the Northeast, elected leaders and law-enforcement officials in California took a generally measured and in some cases muted response to Monday's terrorist attack at the iconic Boston Marathon. Th... How your CA legislators spent spring breakWednesday, April 3rd, 2013 April 3, 2013 By John Hrabe California state legislators returned to the Capitol this week after a week-long spring vacation. The Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Alert already pointed out that spring break is “something California legislators and college students have in common.” That made us t... Will Silicon Valley’s elite take on public sector unions?Wednesday, March 27th, 2013 March 27, 2013 By Ed Ring The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most liberal metropolitan areas in America. Democrats are typically favored over Republicans in elections by margins up to 50 percentage points. The SF Bay is also perhaps the wealthiest region in America, with a GDP of over $... Neighborhood Legislature could restore accountabilityWednesday, March 27th, 2013 March 27, 2013 By Katy Grimes Big spending on California politics has become one of the state’s largest industries. But the return on investment is lousy. California’s political system has become so heavily manipulated by labor unions and other big money interests that the system is bro... CA voter rolls: Reps take bigger hit than DemsTuesday, March 26th, 2013March 26, 2013 By John Seiler Californians still are shunning political parties more than in the past. But Republicans are losing registered voters faster than Democrats. According to the new report by Secretary of State Debra Bowen: "The percentage of California voters registered with a poli... |