This week, a temblor reshaped California politics
1 year, 2 months ago

This week, a temblor reshaped California politics

LA Times  

Laphonza Butler, from left, wife Neneki Lee and Vice President Kamala Harris reenact the swearing-in of Butler as the successor of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. On the Democratic side, four people “dominated California politics for the last 50 years,” said former State Controller Steve Westly, pointing to former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Gov. “It’s refreshing to have a new face in California politics.” A few hours after the House voted, 216 to 210, to declare the speakership vacant, with eight Republicans deserting McCarthy, the longtime congressman from Bakersfield announced he would not seek reelection to the speaker’s office. “The party in California has been shrinking” for years, but “it would be far worse without the leadership he’s exercised,” Stutzman said. Asked about the potential loss of clout, Rep. Ro Khanna replied: “I’m not aware of what benefits California has gotten out of McCarthy’s speakership.” If Democrats retake control of the House in 2024, the state would regain a spot in the House’s senior leadership, with Rep. Pete Aguilar of Redlands, now the third-ranking Democrat in the House.

Politics Speaker California Democrats Republican State House Gop Mccarthy Feinstein Republicans Butler Rep Stutzman California Politics Laphonza Butler  speaker  butler  week  state  states  california  mccarthy  temblor  rep  politics  republican  feinstein  reshaped

History of this topic

After years of partisan feuding, California’s new generation of Congress members tries to get along. Will it work?
7 months, 2 weeks ago

After years of partisan feuding, California’s new generation of Congress members tries to get along. Will it work?

LA Times  

Rep. Jay Obernolte, right, organized a bipartisan dinner party for California House members. “There’s maybe an opportunity there as there’s a generational shift in the California delegation … to have a fresh look at ways to actually build bridges,“ said Rep. Kevin Mullin, who was elected in 2022. “Even though it’s the largest delegation in the House of Representatives, the …

How bashing California became a requirement for conservative politicians
8 months, 3 weeks ago

How bashing California became a requirement for conservative politicians

LA Times  

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, residents of the rest of the country often saw California as the place their wacky or adventurous or beautiful cousin went to seek gold, celebrity, sunny beaches, sexual freedom, and maybe a new identity, away from the family and the baggage in St. Paul, Philadelphia or Levittown. “Some of it, from a …

Column: Trump has big plans for California if he wins a second term. Fasten your seatbelts
9 months ago

Column: Trump has big plans for California if he wins a second term. Fasten your seatbelts

LA Times  

“The place is failing,” former President Trump said of California at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland last month. We’ll give you a mansion.” Under its current policies, Trump charged, the state can “take children away from their parents and sterilize them.” “He’s destroyed California,” Trump said of the governor, whom he recently gave a new and strikingly unattractive …

California holds the key to GOP power in the House. McCarthy’s retirement makes everything harder
1 year ago

California holds the key to GOP power in the House. McCarthy’s retirement makes everything harder

LA Times  

With Kevin McCarthy heading for the exits, his Republican colleagues are bracing for a falloff in campaign support and loss of granular institutional knowledge that could leave them at a disadvantage heading into next fall’s elections. The CLF and AAN raised a combined total of $16 million in the first 10 days of Johnson’s speakership.. Crenshaw said that major GOP …

California, a liberal bastion, may give Donald Trump an unlikely boost in 2024
1 year, 2 months ago

California, a liberal bastion, may give Donald Trump an unlikely boost in 2024

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — Few corners of the U.S. may be less hospitable to Donald Trump than California, where he lost by more than 5 million votes in the 2020 election. A state GOP rule change has opened the possibility that Trump could sweep each of the state’s 169 delegates on March 5, when California is among more than a dozen …

For ultraconservatives in McCarthy’s red California district, speaker drama in D.C. was welcome
1 year, 11 months ago

For ultraconservatives in McCarthy’s red California district, speaker drama in D.C. was welcome

LA Times  

At an Elks Lodge in the Central Valley, Larry Faria stood before a grassroots conservative group called the 1776 Sons of Liberty and asked for a show of hands. “He will be a tremendous advocate for the Central Valley and all Californians to get our country moving in the right direction, stopping inflation, stopping overspending, advocating for hardworking families, dealing …

Kevin McCarthy wins his dream job, but at a humiliating and stifling cost
1 year, 11 months ago

Kevin McCarthy wins his dream job, but at a humiliating and stifling cost

LA Times  

He raised the money. That pressure became more personal and pronounced as the voting defeats mounted, with Gaetz calling McCarthy a “squatter” for using the speaker’s office before winning the post. “While he is very good at being really personable, you can’t be everything to everyone all the time,” Sacramento GOP strategist Beth Miller said of McCarthy, whom she has …

California races could determine control of US House
2 years, 1 month ago

California races could determine control of US House

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The stakes were spotlighted last week, when President Joe Biden traveled to Southern California …

News Analysis: After primaries, California takes on crucial role in battle for control of Congress
2 years, 6 months ago

News Analysis: After primaries, California takes on crucial role in battle for control of Congress

LA Times  

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield must defend several incumbent Republicans in tough districts in his home state. Tuesday’s election results elsewhere in the state — the recall of Chesa Boudin, San Francisco’s progressive top prosecutor, and a strong showing in the Los Angeles mayoral race by Rick Caruso, a mega-developer and onetime Republican — have some national Democrats …

California Republicans are convening. What to know as the state GOP tries to flip its fortunes
2 years, 8 months ago

California Republicans are convening. What to know as the state GOP tries to flip its fortunes

LA Times  

President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan ride horses at their Santa Barbara ranch, Rancho del Cielo, in 1982. The launching pad for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, the state remains home to many of the party’s wealthiest donors as well as nearly 5.3 million registered GOP voters. Politics House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy backs away from blaming Trump …

Dire warning from Newsom helped turn California recall tide
3 years, 3 months ago

Dire warning from Newsom helped turn California recall tide

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — An ominous four-word message issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign on the morning of Aug. 5 served as the shock Democrats needed to take seriously a recall election that could remove him from office: “This recall is close.” Newsom’s warning in a fundraising email came just days after a poll indicated the once-popular Democratic governor who …

How Trump-hating California got a slate of recall candidates who supported Trump
3 years, 4 months ago

How Trump-hating California got a slate of recall candidates who supported Trump

LA Times  

Candidates running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election include, clockwise from top left: Larry Elder, businessman John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and Caitlyn Jenner. California Republican recall hopefuls seek to differentiate themselves in San Francisco debate Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Cox and Assemblyman Kevin …

Column: The California exodus is a myth. But that doesn’t stop the haters
3 years, 8 months ago

Column: The California exodus is a myth. But that doesn’t stop the haters

LA Times  

Early in the 1990s, Time magazine published a lurid cover — the sun setting into a blood-red sea — fronting a special edition devoted to the decline and fall of the great Golden State. Half of registered voters surveyed in a 2019 Berkeley IGS poll described the state as “one of the best places to live,” and 25% said California …

GOP infighting in post-Trump era threatens California recall
3 years, 10 months ago

GOP infighting in post-Trump era threatens California recall

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — California Republicans eager to recall Democratic Gov. “This is California’s version of the national battle for the soul and the future of the Republican Party,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego. But Frank, her rival to lead the party, said the now-withdrawn proposal showed Patterson “was literally trying to …

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