SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Gavin Newsom " 255 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Which version of Gavin Newsom will voters see if he runs for president?
Gavin Newsom has been trying to adjust his national image, but that can be tricky in an era of political volatility.
Why Congressman Vince Fong is urging the Trump administration to reject a health tax in California
Congressman Vince Fong has voiced strong opposition to Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed changes to California’s Managed Care Organization tax, arguing that the plan misuses resources and worsens the state’s affordability crisis.
Why Congressman Vince Fong is urging the Trump administration to reject a health tax in California
Congressman Vince Fong has voiced strong opposition to Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed changes to California’s Managed Care Organization tax, arguing that the plan misuses resources and worsens the state’s affordability crisis.
Experts say Newsom's tax returns don't show full picture of his wealth
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom released their tax returns this week, covering the years 2021 to 2024, as federal investigations reportedly focus on their nonprofits.
Newsom and Trump agree on one way to address AI's impact
Gov. Gavin Newsom, President Donald Trump, Sen. Bernie Sanders, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and others are uniting around the idea of “universal basic capital.”
Gavin Newsom Reportedly Concerned About Paramount, WB Merger State Suit
In a Friday report, sources told The Wall Street Journal that California's governor has said if the merger is blocked due to the lawsuit, state employment will suffer, and that "Newsom’s office has encouraged Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which has independent authority to file such suits, to find a resolution out of court."
DHS agent calls raid outside Newsom event a 'stunt' in court documents
A federal immigration agent said in newly publicized court documents that an immigration raid outside a political rally hosted by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year was a “stunt.”
Valladares joins bipartisan coalition aiming to protect entertainment industry jobs
News release State Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Acton, joined 38 of her legislative colleagues in sending a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, urging them to protect […]
Newsom's populist act: Oppose state billionaire tax, embrace federal one
Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the California wealth tax measure and supports one nationally. But there’s another tax-the-rich measure on the state ballot.
Trump administration deferring Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota
California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom accused the administration of targeting it for political reasons
Trump administration deferring Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota
California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom accused the administration of targeting it for political reasons
Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process
[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
State legislators warn of threat to film and TV tax credit program
More than three dozen state legislators have sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and state government leaders warning of a threat to the film and TV tax credit program.
Inside California Politics: National view on Newsom ahead of 2028
(Inside California Politics) — With Gavin Newsom drawing closer to a seemingly-inevitable presidential run, host Nikki Laurenzo spoke with a top national journalist about how the California governo…
Newsom blames Trump for DOJ probe, but reports say investigation predates his administration
Reports suggest the federal probe into Gavin Newsom's orbit began during the Biden administration, complicating his claims of a Trump-directed attack.
Gavin Newsom Signs Law Limiting Mental Health Diversion for People Accused of Crimes
A new California law gives just more flexibility to keep defendants in jail rather than releasing them to community-based mental health treatment programs.
Democrats Clash With Trump, as Political Tensions Rise on America’s 250th
Gavin Newsom and Wes Moore, potential 2028 contenders, cast President Trump’s record as a betrayal of American ideals, while the president disparaged their party as extreme.
Newsom faces criticism for state's stance on trans athletes in girls' sports after SCOTUS ruling
Gavin Newsom's office says California will keep allowing trans athletes in girls sports despite the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling upholding bans.
Newsom Vowed To Transform Kids’ Mental Health. Many California Schools Are Still Waiting.
Gov. Gavin Newsom launched an ambitious initiative to make public schools the epicenter of mental health services for young people. Five years after he promised transformation, many schools have struggled to get the program up and running, and hundreds more have yet to try.
Newsom signs bill to give judges more power to deny mental health diversion
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to overhaul the state's mental health diversion program. Assembly Bill 46, authored by Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, addresses concerns about public safety and accountability.
Newsom approves measure to expand judicial power over mental health diversion
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 46, allowing judges to exercise greater discretion over inmates’ release through mental health diversion program
Gavin Newsom signs law limiting mental health diversion for people accused of crimes
A new California law gives just more flexibility to keep defendants in jail rather than releasing them to community-based mental health treatment programs.
Newsom's office touts Anthropic 'partnership,' 50% discount on Claude AI for California agencies, localities
Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom's office indicated that state agencies and local governments may access Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence platform at a 50% discount.
What if the economy gets better and it doesn’t help the GOP?: From the Politics Desk
Plus, Gavin Newsom’s next move in the billionaire tax fight.
Newsom urges a national 'billionaires' tax' while fighting one in California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for a national “billionaires' tax” and suggests the U.S. government should own a stake in AI companies.
Gavin Newsom opposes a California wealth tax. He’s proposing a national billionaire tax instead
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday proposed a national tax on billionaires that he says is the first part of an “economic reset for America” agenda, which aides explicitly say is part of his considering to launch a presidential campaign.
Political watchdog fines Newsom for failing to report $5.5M in solicited donations on time
The California Fair Political Practices Commission said most of the violations were for failing to report that Gov. Gavin Newsom and his his staff directed inquiries from companies and foundations to offer help after the Los Angeles wildfires to the California Fire Foundation.
Prediction markets are skeptical of California's billionaire tax
Kalshi and Polymarket bettors are unsure if California Gov. Gavin Newsom can prevent a proposed billionaire tax from reaching voters.
Newsom sees Trump DOJ investigation as a political gift
An investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) could have put California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on defense. Instead, it is giving Newsom, seen as a leading Democratic White House contender…
Sensing opportunity, Newsom touts investigation he says is Trump's doing
As he eyes a run for president in 2028, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California is taking advantage of a federal investigation into him and his wife to boost his national profile.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says Trump's Justice Department is investigating him and his wife
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and longtime political rival of Republican President Donald Trump, said Monday the president ordered the Justice Department to investigate him and his wife.
Newsom says he's on Trump's 'hit list' as Justice Department interviews governor's friends
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Trump administration appears to be investigating him and his wife. The Democrat said agents interviewed his friends and associates.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says Trump's Justice Department is investigating him and his wife
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the Justice Department is investigating him and his wife, accusing the Trump administration of targeting him for political purposes as he weighs a presidential bid
Gavin Newsom says Trump Justice Department is investigating him
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the Department of Justice is investigating him, claiming that President Donald Trump is targeting a “political enemy” despite no evidence the Democratic potential 2028 presidential contender has committed a crime.
Newsom handpicked a generation of California politicians. Can they help him run for president?
An entire generation of California elected officials owe their current jobs and their political prospects to Gavin Newsom.
Steve Hilton slams California politicians over lack of ‘energy’ and ‘pride’ in vote counting
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy discusses California’s chaotic primary election process and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ‘break the glass’ remarks on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’
'It gives us less faith moving forward': State Sen. Tony Strickland slams Newsom's changes to High-Speed Rail Board
Republican State Sen. Tony Strickland slammed the newest leader of California's High-Speed Rail Authority Board after Gov. Gavin Newsom made abrupt changes to the group of people who oversee one of the most expensive transportation construction projects in the world.
Transactional politics or far-left planning? Either way, California’s next governor will be terrible.
Whoever wins, we can only hope they clean up the mess left by Gov. Gavin Newsom and can at least not make things worse.
Here are the top candidates for California governor in Tuesday's primary
California voters face a crowded ballot with 61 names during Tuesday’s primary to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom
Here are the top candidates for California governor in Tuesday's primary
California voters face a crowded ballot with 61 names during Tuesday's primary to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Here are the top candidates for California governor in Tuesday's primary
California voters face a crowded ballot with 61 names during Tuesday's primary to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom’s climate rules bend to gas price politics
California is changing its climate policies in the face of affordability concerns as Gavin Newsom looks toward 2028.
Newsom wants to claw back Trump fund cash as California burns billions on rail and other boondoggles
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes a 100% tax on Californians who receive money from Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund, calling it a reward for Jan. 6 rioters.
Former CA lieutenant governor on Gavin Newsom: ‘The poor guy wants to be president so bad’
Opinion: Follow California’s lead in protecting workers from AI displacement
By an Executive Order, Gov. Gavin Newsom seeks to fill a gaping public policy void on a bread-and-butter issue for workers. Illinois and Gov. JB Pritzker would do well to follow suit.
Giving Workers a Stake in A.I. Gains Traction
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has floated a policy idea that’s getting attention in Silicon Valley: let workers own a piece of technology disruption.
Republican state senator says Gov. Newsom's proposal won't leave California with a "clean budget"
California Politics 360 host Ashley Zavala sits down with Republican State Sen. Roger Niello after Gov. Gavin Newsom outlined his proposed budget.
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Governor & lawmakers debate proposed spending plan
This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom outlined his priorities, proposing to spend $349 billion. On California Politics 360, Ashley Zavala sits down with Republican State Sen. Roger Niello.
Gavin Newsom targets California businesses with new digital software tax
‘The Big Money Show’ discusses Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed new tax on digital software purchases as Silicon Valley faces mounting pressure from AI disruption and Wall Street volatility.
Gavin Newsom proposes a California digital software tax
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said it's unfair how some people avoid paying the state sales tax when buying software.
Gavin Newsom Beats The Drum For Nationwide Entertainment Industry Incentives, And Dances Around His Presidential Aspirations
Throughout his decades in politics, Gavin Newsom has been called everything under the California sun by friends and foes alike, but there is one moniker the two-term Golden State governor embraces, th...
Gavin Newsom Lobbies For Entertainment Industry & Maybe More
Gavin Newsom is openly on the stump for nationwide entertainment industry incentives, but he's not confirming he wants to replace President Trump.
Gov. Newsom to propose tax cut for new small businesses with May Revise budget
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to propose a 50% tax cut for hundreds of thousands of small businesses, as part of his revised budget presentation on Thursday. The proposal to benefit an estimated 250,000 new businesses each year is part of the updated look at Newsom's budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, known as the May Revise.
Governor Newsom Taps Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to Lead New Business and Consumer Super‑Agency in California
Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of Rohit Chopra, former Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
New poll shows major shift in California governor’s race
(Inside California Politics) — New polling shows yet another new frontrunner in the tumultuous California governor’s race. The contest to succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom was thr…
California babies are getting a free diaper stash at birth
California will give new parents 400 free diapers at select hospitals under a new Gavin Newsom-backed program launching this summer.
As 2028 looms, Jennifer Siebel Newsom faces increased conservative attacks
Conservative media outlets and GOP operatives are churning out an array of content attacking California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife.
Gavin Newsom slow-rolled single-payer healthcare, leaving it to a successor
Gov. Gavin Newsom edged away from his campaign pledge to adopt single-payer healthcare. He got UCLA to study it and instead expanded Medi-Cal coverage.
Gavin Newsom Fast Facts
Here is a look at the life of Gavin Newsom, governor of California.
Gavin Newsom, Early Champion of Single-Payer, Moderates in the Face of Fiscal Limits
By Angela Hart | KFF Health News SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In his earliest days in the governor’s office, Democrat Gavin Newsom huddled with his advisers to consider how to realize a key campaign promise: transforming a healthcare system replete with insurance company intermediaries into the nation’s ...
Google co-founder Sergey Brin confronted Gavin Newsom — then launched a political war
In a treehouse nestled in redwoods north of San Francisco, Gov.
Plans to fix gaps in Newsom’s mental health court reopen divisions over involuntary care
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court struggles to serve Californians in acute mental health crises. Two bills are moving forward to change that.
Sergey Brin confronted Gavin Newsom at a treehouse party — then launched a political war
Brin has spent more than $58 million in the last four months, but more importantly has helped mobilize a network of fellow tech titans in a push to sway state issues.
Sergey Brin Confronted Gavin Newsom at a Treehouse Party — Then Launched a Political War
In a treehouse nestled in redwoods north of San Francisco, California Governor Gavin Newsom stood cold and hungry as Sergey Brin, the world’s fourth-richest man, and his wellness-influencer girlfriend told him they were leaving the state.
Xavier Becerra explains why he should be California's next governor
The former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden is running as a Democrat in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out at the end of 2026.
Newsom demands answers from RFK Jr. over past comments about Black children on ADHD meds being ‘re-parented’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday said he demands answers from Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding comments the secretary made in an interview in 2024…
Newsom PAC bought thousands of memoir copies about his hardships, juicing sales
Campaign finance filings reveal Gavin Newsom's PAC bought 67,000 copies of his memoir for over $1.5 million amid his 2024 presidential positioning.
Gavin Newsom chooses the wrong side of gender politics again
Sex changes for illegal immigrants might sound like a Republican ad, but it’s California policy.
Gavin Newsom faces growing pressure to intervene in a scrambled California governor’s race
The scrambled race for California governor left in the wake of Eric Swalwell’s sexual misconduct allegations isn’t officially Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mess. But it’s one that many top Democrats want him to consider trying to clean up.
Meet Steve Hilton, the Former U.K. Political Strategist Trump Is Endorsing for California Governor
Hilton is one of two Republican candidates in a highly competitive race to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Dem ADMITS party 'lost the plot' amid woke politics push
2028 Democratic contenders are distancing themselves from 'woke' rhetoric, with Gov. Gavin Newsom claiming his office never used the term 'Latinx' despite video evidence as Rahm Emanuel admits the party is on the 'losing side' of the culture war.
Trump endorses Republican Steve Hilton in California governor’s race
President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Republican Steve Hilton in the California governor’s race, potentially shaking up a crowded race to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom.
CA lawmakers prompted to address federal CalFresh eligibility cuts
The County Welfare Directors Association of California is urging state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to help as food assistance programs face major changes that could result in food insecurity and strained food banks.
Newsom Taunts Critics as Gay or Effeminate in Trolling Online Posts
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s aides said that their online insults were meant to ridicule figures on the right. But some critics say they are homophobic.
Defiant Democratic candidates in California governors race dig in
State Democratic Party leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, appear unwilling to force lower-polling Democrats out of the race.
Newsom says he regrets earlier comments likening Israel to an ‘apartheid state’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he regretted using the word “apartheid” to describe the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians, though he warned “that’s a word you may hear others use” if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes for territorial gains.
Crowded Democratic Race for California Governor Could Open Door for Republicans
By Joseph Ax and Costas Pitas March 24 (Reuters) - By many measures, California is the center of the Democratic Party's political universe. The most populous U.S. state, it is home to both the party's last presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, and possibly its future one, Governor Gavin Newsom. But ...
Steve Hilton: The business model in California ‘depends on fraud’
California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton says he will be the ‘exact opposite’ of Gov. Gavin Newsom in his approach to fraud allegations on ‘The Bottom Line.’
GOP candidate cites ‘failure’ of Newsom, Dems as new poll shows Republicans leading crowded California field
Steve Hilton, a Republican running for governor, said that the “absolute failure" by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats means that the GOP has a real shot at victory this year.
Trump repeatedly suggests Newsom can’t be president because he has dyslexia
President Donald Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Democratic rival and possible 2028 presidential candidate Gavin Newsom. But lately, he’s become fixated on saying the California governor cannot be president due to his “learning disability.”
10 projects from Newsom’s mental health bond were supposed to open in 2025. That didn’t happen
No project expected in 2025 under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health ballot measure have opened. He says the bond is exceeding its goals.
Gavin Newsom promised over one hundred mental health projects — many are still abandoned
10 projects from Newsom’s mental health bond were supposed to open in 2025. That didn’t happen
CalMatters reports that California’s $6.4 billion mental health bond has not opened any of its first projects, even as Gov. Gavin Newsom says it is beating its goals. The state has missed its target...
Gov. Gavin Newsom says no ‘imminent threat’ to California after FBI memo on possible Iran drone attacks
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday there is no “imminent threat” to the state following reports that federal authorities had alerted state officials of unverified claims by Iranian-affiliated actors desiring to conduct potential drone attacks.
Newsom announces $1B in Prop 1 funding for health facilities
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the final round of Prop 1 funding, which will support 'significantly under-resourced' regions in the state.
A game of pin-the-gas-price-on-the-politician
Oil price spikes spurred by the war in Iran have created a political opportunity for Gavin Newsom.
California Democrats Have Made a Mess of the Governor’s Race
As the California Democratic Party gathered in San Francisco last month for its convention, reporters had a frequent question for the retiring political king- (and queen-) maker, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Was her state really on the verge of electing a Republican to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom, as a growing number of partisans had begun to fear?
California cut health care for undocumented immigrants. One lawmaker wants it back
Democrats and Republicans criticize Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of health care for undocumented immigrants for different reasons. One lawmaker is trying to restore health care services he cut.
Newsom's fight with Trump and RFK Jr. on public health
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has positioned himself as a national public health leader by staking out science-backed policies in contrast with the Trump administration.
Newsom Picks a Dogfight With Trump and RFK Jr. on Public Health
Scientists are cheering California Gov. Gavin Newsom as he builds a public health bulwark against health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance and President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Still, federal cuts have sapped morale and left local health departments less prepared for outbreaks.
In new memoir, Gov. Gavin Newsom reflects on his political rise
As California’s governor – and a topic of discussion among some as a possible 2028 presidential candidate – Gavin Newsom is an exceedingly public figure with a busy schedule to match. His new memoir, Young Man in a Hurry, provides a glimpse into Newsom’s rise to political prominence and his ongoing goal of self-discovery. In today’s episode, Newsom sits down with NPR’s Ailsa Chang to discuss his book, the question of his own relatability, and why he uses “playground insults”’ on social media to push back against the Trump administration.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
‘Where We Keep the Light’ by Josh Shapiro
Plus “Young Man in a Hurry” by Gavin Newsom and “Stand” by Cory Booker.
‘Firing her is not enough’: Democrats celebrate Kristi Noem departure but say she must be ‘held accountable’
Gavin Newsom among those celebrating Noem’s ousting, as Democrats warn pressure must be kept up against ICE
Newsom threatens California counties for failing to use his new mental health court
Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to pull funding from counties that aren’t taking advantage of a new program intended to help people with severe mental illness.
MAGA Calling Newsom Racist? That’s Rich
Gavin Newsom has been reveling in the attention that comes with being the early frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. But the California governor also seems to understand that he has work to do to convince voters that he’s more than just a slick-talking, coastal elite with progressive politics and a pretty face. To that end, he spent much of last week in the South promoting his new memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.”
‘Trump’s not enough. And he knows he’s not enough’: California governor Gavin Newsom on populism, ‘purity tests’ and whether he’ll run for the presidency
He’s the Democratic politician with movie-star looks and a picture-perfect family, dogged by accusations of being a smooth‑talking elitist. Can he really unite the American left and win the most powerful office in the world?