Californians rank making health care more affordable among their top overall priorities for the state’s new governor and legislature, with 45 percent citing it as “extremely important,” just behind improving public education (48%) and ahead of affordable housing (40%), finds a new KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation)/California Health Care Foundation poll […] Read more »
In Orange County, a Republican Fortress Turns Democratic
… The Democratic capture of four Republican-held congressional seats in Orange County in November — more than half the seven congressional seats Democrats won from Republicans in California — toppled what had long been a fortress of conservative Republicanism. The sweep stunned party leaders, among them Paul D. Ryan, the […] Read more »
California: Majorities Put High Priority on Universal Health Coverage, Free Community College
As Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom prepares to begin his first term, most Californians say universal health coverage and tuition-free community college should be high priorities for new state funding. This is among the key findings of a new statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). In […] Read more »
California Dominates Among House Democrats. What Does That Mean For The Next Congress?
… Nearly 20 percent of the incoming Democratic caucus will hail from California, and using data primarily from Gary Jacobson’s data set on House elections from 1946 to 2014, I found that no state has ever been responsible for a larger percentage of the majority party’s House caucus during the […] Read more »
What Effects Will California’s Earlier Primary Have on the 2020 Presidential Election?
Though only modestly discussed in the national media, California’s primary election will figure heavily in the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination process. That’s because California, normally an afterthought in presidential nominations with its June primary, has moved its contest to March 3rd. This could have a number of large effects on […] Read more »
One thing saving California Republicans from annihilation? An earlier wave of misunderstood migrants
With Orange County now blue, the last remaining Republican holdouts in California look pretty similar. Among their shared characteristics? Many were top destinations for Dust Bowl migrants of the 1930s. So-called “Okies” and “Arkies,” sporting once-insulting nicknames that Okies later reclaimed as their own, fled the natural and man-made ecological […] Read more »