Inside Golden State Politics

We discuss the impact of the left- leaning Democratic Socialists on national and local elections.  We advise candidates to do opposition research on themselves before jumping into the fray.

Democrats and Republicans fumed over  two different SCOTUS bombshell decisions: birthright citizenship and campaign finance.   Meanwhile, Democratic divisions over Israel grew more intense.

We offer our reflections on the Reflecting Pool. We pinpoint shifting attitudes toward Israel In U.S. politics. We wonder whether Trump will declare a state of emergency before the November elections.

Trump applies cage fight politics to a prime foe, California Gov. Gavin Newsom. And we apply cage fight politics to each other, arguing over California's slow vote count.

With our guest, Mike Bonin, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute For Public  Affairs and a former Los Angeles City Council member, we take on the election results and discuss what they could  mean for the future of Los Angeles.

We examine the still-unfinished California primary election.  We look at the attacks by the Trump administration on the news magazine "60 Minutes" and the rest of the mainstream news media.

We wonder how Trump's revenge-tour primary victories will impact the November elections. And Los Angeles and the rest of California await the results of heated and confusing elections for California governor and mayor of Los Angeles.

It’s time to celebrate. Inside Golden State Politics has over 50,000 podcast downloads. This week we explain how artificial intelligence is changing political communications, using the Los Angeles mayor's race as an example. President Trump scores big in the recent GOP primaries.  We worry about a U.S. invasion of Cuba.    

When is old too old to run? Should  we ditch the top two primary?  What's stoking the gubernatorial campaign and the Los Angeles mayor's race? Let's discuss.

We dig into the California gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral  debates.  The candidates  skimmed over the issues.   In the end, there were no winners.

We share our observations about the disappointing California governor's  debate. We argue about the impact of prediction markets on the American political  process. 

Longtime California Republican strategist Jon Fleischman  guides us through the messy California governor's race and offers  his views on the future of the California Republican party.

We watch the campaigns for California governor and L.A. mayor dive into mud wrestling, a sport that leaves everybody dirty.

Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley Institute Of Governmental Studies poll, shares his thoughts on the state of polling and the governor's race.  Could California elect its first Republican governor in decades?

We explore the unexpected electoral challenge  to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass by Councilmember Nithya Raman.  Are the Democratic Socialists a new force in Los Angeles politics?

We're so overwhelmed with news that we'll skip Epstein and the Iran War. We discuss the controversial  voter ID legislation.   We talk about the mayors of Los Angeles and New York and their solutions to the housing problem.  

We check in on the status of the California governor's race  and the war in Iran.

President Trump's State Of The Union speech-- little in the way of policy but lots of politics.

Did the  Trump administration's attempts to muzzle late night hosts backfire? Also, we take a look at the final field of the Los Angeles mayoral race.

UCLA Law School Professor Richard Hasen,  a renowned expert on election law, guides us through an analysis of proposed election law reforms.   

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tells ICE to get out of Los Angeles. The arrest of two reporters heightens concern over freedom of the press.

We discuss Trump's proposal to take over reconstruction of SoCal's wildfire- damaged areas. We ponder the arrival  of the tabloid Caliornia Post.

Real estate developer Rick Caruso announces his exit from California electoral politics. The world watches Trump go TACO.

H.D. Palmer, deputy director of California's Department of Finance, walks us through Gov. Gavin Newsom's 2026-27  budget proposal. He's optimistic about the plan but concedes there are uncertainties.

Journalist and author Pilar Marrero takes us on a political tour of her Venezuela homeland's stormy present and uncertain future.