WhatMatters

The complaints and questions surface after every election: It takes California way too long to count all the votes. It’s unfair to candidates and their supporters in close races to make them wait. Is there something nefarious going on? It’s all happening again, further eroding public confidence in elections: In California’s 45th Congressional District, Republican […]

Two weeks after Election Day, the results on two of the 10 statewide propositions remain undecided. But opponents and supporters aren’t waiting around. Prop. 32 opponents declare victory: Despite no official call by the Associated Press, opponents said voters delivered a “historic” rejection of the statewide ballot measure to raise the hourly minimum wage from […]

A major rule change under the Biden administration allows certain undocumented immigrants to purchase subsidized health plans through California’s insurance marketplace. But with a Republican-led effort to halt this expansion, and President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge of mass deportations, California health leaders worry that the gains the state achieved in coverage could be undone, writes CalMatters […]

California is still counting votes (1.5 million yet to go), but some noteworthy trends are becoming clearer:  Latino voters: Although the extent is still uncertain, polls show that support for President-elect Donald Trump among Latinos has grown nationwide. In California, a CalMatters analysis found that a larger share of votes in at least nine of […]

The incoming Trump administration will likely mean huge changes across a wide range of policies in California. CalMatters reporters are talking to officials, experts and advocates about many of them:  Reproductive rights advocates and Democratic leaders are also concerned that a Trump presidency will severely restrict abortion access. The Markup, which is part of CalMatters, […]

Between July and October last year, Google spent $120,000 on lobbying California’s government. In those same three months this year, the tech giant put in a lot more — $10.7 million. The big difference? The Legislature was debating a major bill with direct impact on Google’s bottom line — a media funding proposal — explain […]

Immigration advocates are sounding the alarm over the prospect of mass deportations upending California immigrant communities, which Donald Trump has vowed to initiate when he returns to the White House in January. But smaller programs are also at risk, writes CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang. To ensure that labor laws are being enforced, a federal […]

Scheduling note: WhatMatters is honoring our veterans on Monday and will return to your inboxes on Tuesday. California Democrats and their allies are battening down the hatches for Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January. On Thursday Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a special session to prepare the state for likely legal challenges […]

Politicians and pundits are reading the tea leaves from the sweeping Democratic defeats nationally, as well as the California election results. To California Republicans, the passage of Proposition 36 — coupled with the recall of Alameda County’s district attorney and the defeat of Los Angeles County’s district attorney — offers clear evidence that voters reject […]

Election Day has come and gone, but the suspense is far from over. Voting went relatively smoothly, as election officials across California reported they were confident about counting votes in the face of minor technical challenges. A new survey by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that only 14% of Californians planned to […]