Articles by Susannah Kopecky

Photo: facebook.com/greggimus Whichever candidate wins in the November top two runoff, California's 8th Congressional District will have a Republican representative in the US House for the 113th Congress. Republican voters, however, may not decide this election. The race for the seat comes down to State Assembly staffer Gregg Imus and Assemblyman Paul Cook, and to win, Cook and Imus must each appeal to Democrats and independents. As a result of California's new open primary this year, it is no...

As Republican Todd Zink challenges incumbent Democrat Fran Pavley for her state senate seat in California, independent voters in the district have an interesting set of choices. The California State Senate race in the 27th District overlaps with the race for California's 30th Congressional District between two Democrats, Howard Berman and Brad Sherman. It may surprise some to learn that, even in a heavily Democratic-leaning state like California, two Democrats, and not a Democrat and a Republic...

Photo courtesy of brewbooks, Flickr. Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Lois Capps is in a very close race with her Republican challenger for Congressional District 24, Abel Maldonado. Capps and Maldonado are considered nearly equal in their chances at representing CD 24, which covers such Central California regions as Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Orcutt, Atascadero, Lompoc, Templeton, Isla Vista and Morro Bay. Capps has faced little serious opposition since 1998 (when CD 24 wa...

It’s been a rough year for California.  Between a massive budgetary shortfall, student protests at the university  level and a continued exodus of business from the state, things haven’t  been quite as rosy as they should have. The budget remains a mess and college  fees are rising for students, but there is hope. If state leaders are  able to wrap their minds around the idea that business leaders can be  tapped as powerful partners, rather than entities to be taxed, good  times may yet be arou...

California’s public transportation  system has made for ripe comedic fodder for many years. Particularly  in Southern California, the transit system is a joke on wheels. Over  the last year, however, state leaders have been working to obtain funding  for a high speed rail project to run the length of the state. On November 23, Governor Schwarzenegger’s  Office informed the public that he, alongside California’s two Democratic  senators, sent a letter to President Obama in an attempt to speed th...

On June 8, the voters of California chose their party nominees for this November’s statewide and national elections. According to official and unofficial tallies, certain candidates absolutely cleaned up at the polls. According to the Secretary of State’s office, Meg Whitman was one of those individuals. For governor, California Republicans overwhelmingly favored Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, giving her over 64% of the vote.  Shortly after her win, Whitman wasted no time responding to De...

Like numerous other state Assembly races this fall, the competition for Assemblyman Chuck DeVore’s 70th District seat is stiff.  This district includes such beautiful spots as Newport Beach, Dana Beach, Irvine and Aliso Viejo. There are four widely known contenders for the Republican nomination, with the winner slated to face a Democratic nominee; however, District 70 has a history of receiving more conservative representatives. The conservative Republican DeVore currently has his eyes on the U...

As Democrat challengers seek to knock one another out of the running, 19-year-old Brian A. Gutierrez is looking to claim victory in the race for the 57th Assembly District seat.  This particular district serves a number of areas around the vicinity of West Covina, Azusa, La Puente, City of Industry, Baldwin Park and North Whittier. The West Covina resident and high school graduate is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Rowland Unified School District Foundation, and is the Republican...

Thousand Oaks resident John A. Davidson is looking to create an upset this year and unseat longtime serving Congresswoman Lois Capps. Davidson, a Republican, is running for the California House of Representatives seat which Capps, a Democrat, has held for over 10 years, since 1998. District 23 covers a swath of land stretching across Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Issues wise, Davidson describes a commitment to “lowering taxes and regulations on business” and a desire to ...