Photo by Thomas Bullock via iStockHousing and affordability remain the top concerns for most Californians. To no surprise, when the California state legislature convened for the 2026 session, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) called on his colleagues to “renew the California Dream by focusing on affordability,” including housing.
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Image by Yuliya Hrelik via iStock.For the past 20-plus years, Californians John Koza and Barry Fadem have been on the seemingly quixotic quest of electing presidents based not solely on the Electoral College but rather on which candidate gets the most votes. After last Tuesday’s Democratic landslide, their idea suddenly was no longer pie-in-the-sky.
Image by leonello via iStock. Special interests paid lobbying firms more $94.8 million to lobby state government in the seventh quarter of the 2025-26 cycle, topping the previous quarter for the most spent during a three-month period since Capitol Weekly started analyzing lobbying firm reports at the beginning of the last cycle.
Image by alarich via iStock. In today’s edition of the Micheli Files intrepid lobbyist, law professor and regular Capitol Weekly contributor Chris Micheli provides commentary regarding the specific provisions of Article XXI of the California Constitution, which deal with redistricting of Senate, Assembly, Congressional, and Board of Equalization Districts in this state.
Image by Dilok Klaisataporn, iStock Images.California’s environmental community hit a home run in this year’s elections
Image by jittawit.21, iStock Images.Texas prescribed-burn laws offer California a solution for creating an ecosystem of AI safety.
"Blue Wave or Washout" a panel A Post-Mortem of the 2026 Election, November 5, 2026. L-R: Andre Levesque, Gilliard Blanning and Levesque, Lindsay Hopkins, SEIU California, Sean Clegg, Bearstar Strategies; Rusty Hicks, California Democratic Party, journalist and author Dan Morain. Photo by Joha Harrison, Capitol Weekly.CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This is a Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast, recorded live in Sacramento at A Post-Mortem of the 2026 ElectioN on Thursday, November 5, 2026.
This episode we present Panel 1, The Blue Wave. Republicans paid a historic price at the ballot box on Tuesday, losing both houses of congress by huge margins. Democrats now hold a majority of Governorships, and they expanded their margins in statehouses across the country, including California. What to make of this ‘Blue Tsunami’ – and what impact did Proposition 50 – which redrew California’s congressional districts – play?
Panelists: Sean Clegg, Bearstar Strategies; Rusty Hicks, California Democratic Party; Lindsay Hopkins, SEIU California; Andre Levesque, Gilliard Blanning and Levesque. The panel was moderated by journalist and Author Dan Morain.
Image by NanoStockk, iStock Images.Did the training actually lead to employment? That’s the key question.
San Quentin execution chamber. Photo by AP. Forty years ago, voters upended the California Supreme Court over capital punishment. On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a lifelong opponent of capital punishment, took a step that would have been unthinkable in 1986 by commuting the death sentences of California’s 548 condemned inmates, likely relegating them to life in prison without parole.