Capitol Weekly Podcast

Mindy Romero of the California Civic Engagement Project joins John Howard and Tim Foster of Capitol Weekly to talk about California's primary election turnout and what we -might- expect to see in November. We also ask about CCEP's recent move from UC Davis to USC. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adverti...

On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy we are joined by Steve Swatt, a veteran political analyst and former news reporter who at the age of 23 covered RFK's murder and the trial of the assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, for United Press International. Swatt shares memories of the intense days following the assassination and the three month trial that ended in a guilty verdict. Dur...

California political data guru Paul Mitchell joins John Howard of Capitol Weekly to talk about the early voting returns as we head into next week's primary, as well as new numbers from the Secretary of State that show the California Republican Party slipping into third place in California voter preference, behind the Democrats and No Party Preference. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See...

Those on all sides of the healthcare debate agree on one thing: healthcare costs continue to rise in California and across the country. We sat down with Carmela Coyle, President and CEO of the California Hospital Association, to talk about strategies for increasing the affordability of healthcare, including a new experiment in Maryland that seeks to replace per-patient payments with a single annua...

A package of over 20 healthcare bills and budget asks - called "Care For All California" - is now making its way through the legislature. Backed by a consortium of over 50 healthcare organizations, unions and nonprofits, the package would significantly reshape California's healthcare landscape and could bring the state's uninsured rate below 3%. Anthony Wright of Health Access California...

Assemblyman Jim Cooper was on hand at yesterday's press conference that announced that a suspect in the notorious East Area Rapist / Original Night Stalker / Golden State Killer case had been arrested. Cooper, a former Captain in the Elk Grove Sheriff's Department, spoke about the importance of DNA collection in the solution of cold case crimes and noted that an unforeseen outcome of Proposition 4...

Senate Bill 827, an ambitious and sweeping bill aimed at addressing California's housing crisis, died in its first committee hearing this week. The legislation, by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would have overridden local controls, forcing California cities to allow apartment buildings of up to five stories to be built near existing transit stops. SB 827 was sponsored by a new organization,...

Twenty two years ago this week, federal authorities arrested Ted Kaczynski - known as the Unabomber - in his remote Montana cabin, ending a 17 year reign of terror. While the Unabomber had no strong ties to the Sacramento region, both his first and final murders occurred here. It was 23 years ago this month that Kaczynski claimed his final victim, Sacramento timber lobbyist Gil Murray, who was kil...

Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll at the Institute of Governmental Studies, U.C. Berkeley, recently penned a CA120 column about big changes in polling as online queries supplant traditional telephone calls - he joins us this week to talk about the latest trends in opinion surveying. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection a...

Political consultant turned author Joe Rodota sits down with Capitol Weekly to talk about his new book: The Watergate - Inside America's Most Infamous Address. The story of the Watergate break-in has been well-told, but in this "biography of a building," Rodota weaves a fascinating history that includes more than just the events of June 17, 1972. The Watergate was home to myriad players...

Political Data Inc. head honcho Paul Mitchell joins us to talk about the political environment as we move toward the midterms. This week's upset special election in PA 18 - where Democrat Conor Lamb won in a GOP-leaning district that went for Trump by about 20 points - is being cited by many as further evidence that a Democratic wave is building. But what happens in California, where the national...

For today's episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast we are joined by Sacramento political consultant Wayne Johnson, a veteran of well over 200 campaigns - on multiple continents. These days he's working on Republican John Cox' campaign for California Governor, which got a boost moments before we recorded the show when former congressman Doug Ose abruptly exited the race. Wayne has served as Presiden...

Longtime political journalist Dan Morain joins us this week to chat about former Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner's surprise late entry into the current race for Insurance Commissioner as an independent candidate. Will the multimillionaire former Commissioner be able to shake the curse that has befuddled GOP statewide office-seekers in California by shedding the party label? Or, will his right...

Sacramento Bee reporter Alexei Koseff covers California politics and higher education for the Bee’s capitol bureau — and handles the state Assembly, too. Alexei joined Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to chat about the challenges facing UC — Alexei is a Stanford alumnus, by the way — and the unique, constitutionally protected position the institution occupies in California’s educational...

Longtime journalist and Jerry Brown biographer Chuck McFadden joins the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about Brown's 16th - and last - State of the State address, his legacy, and what may lie ahead for the 79-year old governor. Presidential run? Mayor of Colusa? Or, just the "Only adult in the room." All that and much more on today's Capitol Weekly Podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWi...

Southern California voter registration outweighs the north by big numbers, and some pundits are predicting that a surge of Southern California votes will boost Angelinos running for office in 2018, leaving NorCal candidates - like Gavin Newsom - at a disadvantage. 'Not so fast,' says political data whiz Paul Mitchell. He sat down with the CW Podcast for a deep dig about why the Bay Area outperform...

Bill Magavern of the Coalition for Clean Air declares 2018 "The Year of the Truck" as he joins us for the first Capitol Weekly Podcast of 2018. New, proposed legislation (SB 210) from Senator Connie Leyva would introduce clean air rules for big trucks, which - a surprise to us - do not have to undergo the same types of smog checks that have been required for passenger vehicles for many y...

Will California catch the wave? Last week’s elections in Virginia and elsewhere can only be categorized as a Democratic wave - a wave that swamped Republican candidates in once-safe GOP seats. Energized Democrats are hoping to retake congress in 2018, and have their sights set on seven California house districts which voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but are represented by Republicans. California...

Journalist, educator and now, documentary filmmaker Rob Gunnison joins us to talk about the new Open California Oral History project, which recently finished its first two projects: filmed interviews with Judge Thelton Henderson and George Steffes. Henderson, a civil rights lawyer who later joined the federal judiciary (and later took control of the state's prison health care system), is the defin...

Political Data's Paul Mitchell sits down with John Howard and Tim Foster to discuss his latest CA120 column, which examines changing - and not-so-changing - attitudes among California's Trump voters. How are the president's early supporters feeling about his time in office, the Republican majority in congress, and journalists? Listen here to find out! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See...

Longtime journalist Tom Chorneau joins us to talk about his debut novel, Enterprise Reporting, which follows one of the state's top political reporters and his lobbyist uncle as they game the system during Arnold Schwarzenegger's reign as California governor. Informed by Chorneau's real-life experiences covering Sacramento, and featuring thinly-veiled portraits of familiar capitol figures, the nov...

California Business Roundtable president Rob Lapsley joins us to talk about efforts to extend the state's cap-and-trade program, and the effect cap-and-trade has on California's business community. Earlier this month, the Assembly rejected AB378, a bill that would extend, and make changes to California's landmark cap-and-trade program. The legislation had earlier cleared the Senate, but strong opp...

The 2020 Census could have a big impact on California's political districts. Could changes in population - or an undercount - cost California a congressional seat? Or, will improved counting methods give California a 53rd seat in the House? Political Data's Paul Mitchell joins John Howard and Tim Foster to discuss the possibilities for the state's second round of redistricting since the creation o...

California political data guru Paul Mitchell sits down with Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster to talk about his latest CA120 column, which looks at changes in political polling. What does the decline of land lines, surge of cell phones and increased reliance on email mean for the future of California political polling? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for inf...

Recorded live, Saturday, May 20, 2017, at the California Democratic Party convention - Capitol Weekly editor John Howard talks with The Nooner's Scott Lay about the bitter battle over the party chairmanship between establishment Dems and "Berniecrats." Inspired by the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, the left wing of the party surged in activity during the 2016 election and has continued to...