Capitol Weekly Podcast

Political Data expert Paul Mitchell and pollster Ruth Bernstein stop by the Capitol Weekly office to talk about Paul's latest CA120 column, which looks at results from a new EMC Research/Capitol Weekly poll of 2016 new voters. Historically, new voters who register in a presidential election year are likely to skip mid-term elections - will 2016 new voters follow that pattern, or will they break th...

Fifty years ago this week, Black Panther Party leader Bobby Seale led an armed delegation of Oakland Panthers into the California state capitol in a bid to derail a proposed gun control bill. The event made international news, and photos of black-clad Panthers brandishing shotguns and other long guns were published around the world. George Skelton, then a young news reporter, was in the capitol wh...

California political data expert Paul Mitchell sits down with Capitol Weekly editor John Howard to talk about his latest #CA120 column. Digital spending boomed in campaigns in 2016 - consultants and candidates are sending real dollars into the digital realm. Paul digs into the realities of online campaigning in 2017, including Geo Fencing and Digital Terrorism. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz com...

The California Channel may not be the flashiest option on your TV dial, but among California politicos and policy wonks it is "must-see-TV." Capitol Weekly sits down with CalChannel president John Hancock - a capitol insider who knows everyone in the biz - to talk about his 25+ years heading the station. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about...

California Political data whiz Paul Mitchell stopped by the Capitol Weekly office to chat about the upcoming #CA34 special election (to replace now-AG Xavier Becerra in congress), Darrell Issa's recent shimmy to the left, and the early read on the 2018 governor's race. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ad...

Longtime California political journalist Dave Lesher stopped by the Capitol Weekly office to talk about his latest gig: Editor and CEO of CALmatters, an ambitious nonprofit news startup that has quickly put together one of the largest political news bureaus in the state. We talk about that venture, and the status of political media in 2017. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz...

The Capitol Weekly Podcast crew crosses the Yolo Causeway to sit down with UC Davis prof. Jay Lund. One of the most respected voices in California water, Lund discusses the evolution of the Central Valley's water storage and delivery systems, and the state of our water infrastructure, including what to watch as storms and snowmelt continue to threaten the Oroville Dam. Hosted by Simplecast, an Ads...

As floods ravage San Jose and the spillway of the Oroville Dam continues to erode, we're joined by California's essential water policy blogger, Chris Austin, of Maven's Notebook, to talk about water storage, conveyance, subsidence, aquifers, the Yolo Causeway and of course, the Twin Tunnels project. And we find out why one of the state's most closely read water policy blogs has such an odd name. H...

John Howard and Tim Foster take a short tour of the California state capitol with "unofficial" legislative historian Alex Vassar. Alex shares some tales from his new book, "California Lawmaker," about a few of the 4,424 people who have served in legislature since the state's inception. Alex serves up stabbings, shootings and fistfights on the floor - and that's all from just on...

Capitol Weekly headed over to the California Endowment's offices on K Street to chat with Endowment VP Daniel Zingale about what a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would mean for California. Zingale also weighs in on other health-related topics including Universal Health Care, how your neighborhood affects your health and EXACTLY how bad soda ("it's mostly chemicals") is for you. We con...

Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster sit down with Anthony Wright of Health Access California to talk about the impact of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare. Is it happening? If so, when? How much will it cost Californians? And, what's the significance of February 20? All this and more on the latest Capitol Weekly Podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm....

UC Davis College Republicans pulled the plug on a January 13 speaking event featuring far-right firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos and pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli after protests against the duo's appearance overwhelmed campus security. The event was destined to court controversy - Breitbart editor Yiannopoulos is a vocal opponent of feminism and was banned from Twitter for conducting a harass...

Midway into the inauguration week of president-elect Donald Trump, Capitol Weekly sits down with Democratic communications guru Jason Kinney of California Strategies. Kinney weighs in what he sees as California’s role as the anti-Trump, “Beacon of Opportunity,” takes note of the Calexit crowd, and even drops a reference to "Cool Hand Luke.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.ad...

We kick off 2017 with a visit to lobbyist David Quintana, the brains behind the Back to Session Bash - the hottest political party of the season - which is on track for Thursday, January 12. We get the lowdown on the origin of the bash, the best and worst moments of past Bashes, what, exactly, Coolio was buying at Rite Aid while he was supposed to be performing - and dig for details about this yea...

Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster head over to the coffee shop for a chat with data whiz and CA120 columnist Paul Mitchell. Paul expands on the ideas in his latest column, breaks down how Californians voted in 2016 (now that the final numbers are in)and what it might portend for 2018 and beyond. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our colle...

Capitol Weekly chats with veteran GOP strategist Mike Madrid, who offers his thoughts on the impact of the Latino vote in the 2016 election - and how and why the 'sleeping giant' failed to deliver for Clinton. While the numbers this cycle were good nationally for Trump, and for Dems in California, Madrid has cautionary words for both parties moving forward. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company...

Capitol Weekly sits down with Donald Trump's man in California, Tim Clark. Clark ran Trump's west coast operation out of his Auburn, California offices, directing thousands of volunteers and staff. One and a half million phone calls later, Donald Trump was the winner of the 2016 election. Clark talks about his work on the Trump campaign and his next steps as he heads to Washington DC to work on th...

On the day before the 2016 election, California Fair Political Practices Commission Chair Jodi Remke stops by The Ambrosia Cafe to chat with Capitol Weekly about campaign violations, money in politics, and what, exactly, the 80 person staff of the CA FPPC does. Join us! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for a...

Capitol Weekly heads down to Ambrosia Cafe at 11th and K to sit down with Congressman Xavier Becerra, the ranking Latino in Congress, who has been stumping for Democratic candidates across the country and is now spending the final days of #election2016 in his home state. The Sacramento native talks about the campaign trail, the prospects for Dem pickups in the California house delegation - and his...

With the election just four weeks away, Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster sit down with Buffy Wicks, Democratic strategist and California State Director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 primary campaign. Wicks got her start as a congressional campaign volunteer in 1996 and parlayed that experience into significant roles in Howard Dean and Barack Obama's campaigns, later serving as a Deputy Dir...

Former congressman Doug Ose was one of the first prominent California Republicans to endorse the candidacy Donald J. Trump. Capitol Weekly visited Doug at his office at Gibson Ranch Monday to chat about the state of the race, following a wild week for the Republican candidate. Ose weighs in on Trump's taxes, the role of the media, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend - and casually namechecks more world lead...

Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster pay a visit to Sacramento political consultants Steven Maviglio and Ray McNally who just got back from Moscow. Their mission: explain American politics to the Russians. Their problem: who could explain THIS crazy election? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adver...

It's Election Day in California (and five other states) - but the AP already called the Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton yesterday. How did that happen? Tim Foster chats with Capitol Weekly editor John Howard - for many years a top political reporter for the AP - who explains how the process works... and how it might affect today's results. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.a...

The annual California Roast is nearly upon us and Roast head honcho Jim Muldavin stops by to talk about the history of the event (34 years!) and the Capitol Focus youth programs the Roast supports. Jim arrived loaded with plenty of anecdotes, including a story about the time he was placed under arrest by then Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Unlike the Roast, this podcast is SFW... Hosted by Simplec...

Join Capitol Weekly's John Howard as we take the podcast on the road to the 2016 California Republican Convention in Burlingame. No, we didn't get to interview Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or even John Kasich, but we did chat with a variety of fascinating folks on the floor, including GOP candidate for US Senate Ron Unz, GOP political strategists Mike Madrid and Kevin Spillane, CalChamber VP Marty Wilso...