Search query: california

Louisiana’s New Voting System: Closed, Confusing, and Costly
Louisiana’s New Voting System: Closed, Confusing, and Costly
Louisiana is making the switch to closed partisan primaries for some elections in 2026, using a system that will no doubt confuse many of the state’s registered No Party voters, who are about to add approximately 151,000 people to their numbers. 
30 Jul, 2025
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6 min read
California’s Soft Sentencing Freed a Violent Offender -- Then He Walked Into a State Office and Killed a Parole Agent
California’s Soft Sentencing Freed a Violent Offender -- Then He Walked Into a State Office and Killed a Parole Agent
On July 17, a California state parole agent became the first CDCR officer killed in the line of duty since 2018 when he was shot inside a state parole office by a man who had been released just months earlier after serving only four years for randomly stabbing a stranger in the neck.
29 Jul, 2025
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7 min read
Trojan Horse: How CA Democrats Might Use Voter ID to Turn Back the Clock
Trojan Horse: How CA Democrats Might Use Voter ID to Turn Back the Clock
Voter IDs are a requirement in almost every democracy in the world from Europe to Mexico. But legitimate concerns over voter suppression efforts in the American south led to a different ethic inside Democratic Party circles. Over time, Voter ID plans have been presumptively conflated with claims of “voter suppression” without much analysis of the actual impact of proposals.
25 Jul, 2025
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3 min read
Democrats Might Embrace Voter ID, To Kill the Nonpartisan Primary
Democrats Might Embrace Voter ID, To Kill the Nonpartisan Primary
California’s nonpartisan top-two primary and independent redistricting commission are widely viewed as two of the most voter-centric reforms in modern American politics. Yet new polling in the field suggests a push to roll both reforms back, and the strategy behind that effort is telling.
25 Jul, 2025
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3 min read
California Is Doing What Congress Can't on Immigration
California Is Doing What Congress Can't on Immigration
In an era when immigration remains one of the most divisive issues in American politics, a bipartisan group of California lawmakers has done something rare: they’ve found unity.
24 Jul, 2025
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5 min read
How It Really Works: The Unfair Fight Between Legal Cannabis and Unregulated 'Gas‑Station' Hemp
How It Really Works: The Unfair Fight Between Legal Cannabis and Unregulated 'Gas‑Station' Hemp
When President Richard Nixon told the nation on June 17, 1971, that drug abuse was “public enemy number one,” he formally launched the War on Drugs and cemented cannabis in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. 
22 Jul, 2025
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10 min read
Don’t Blame Mamdani for Closed Primaries in New York City
Don’t Blame Mamdani for Closed Primaries in New York City
The NYC Charter Revision Commission (CRC) will hold its final meeting on July 21 to decide what reforms to city policy will appear on the November ballot. However, one proposal will not be on the commission’s docket – open primaries.
21 Jul, 2025
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10 min read
Just Say No: The Political Hit Job That Killed Cannabis
Just Say No: The Political Hit Job That Killed Cannabis
As cannabis use became more common in the late 1970s, the backlash grew even stronger. A political and religious conservative resurgence was underway after years of liberal ascendancy. That wave would soon bring former California Governor Ronald Reagan to the White House.
18 Jul, 2025
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8 min read
Trump and Newsom Engage in War to See Who Can Offend Voters the Most
Trump and Newsom Engage in War to See Who Can Offend Voters the Most
President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom are escalating a partisan tug-of-war match — each threatening to manipulate electoral maps for short-term advantage. However, their proposals are receiving significant pushback from voters, election reform advocates, even members of their own parties.
17 Jul, 2025
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4 min read
Unlikely Bedfellows: The Strange Alliance to Expose Epstein Files
Unlikely Bedfellows: The Strange Alliance to Expose Epstein Files
President Donald Trump is working hard to put a lid on the Jeffrey Epstein controversy roiling his party. So far, it isn’t working. One procedural tool in Congress, a little-used but powerful discharge petition, could push the issue out of Trump’s control.
17 Jul, 2025
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5 min read