California Politics & News
Stay updated with California news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on state government, progressive overreach, and the conservative response to Golden State policies.
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opinion
If 2 Dems Advance in CA Gov’s Race, Conservative Vote Split Will Be a Key Factor
Tuesday is decision day in California. Voters head to the polls in the state’s top-two “jungle” primary, a system in which every candidate competes on a single ballot and only the top two vote-getters advance to November—regardless of party affiliation. Designed to produce more moderate outcomes, the jungle primary instead often functions as a trap for… -
news
Democrats Are Ditching Karen Bass—and Rallying Behind Spencer Pratt
Democrats are abandoning Mayor Karen Bass as the June 2 primary approaches. A new poll shows Spencer Pratt has taken a narrow lead in the Los Angeles mayoral race, receiving 30.1% support among likely voters. The poll, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates in conjunction with the California Post, has Bass in second, at 29.5%, followed… -
opinion
Newsom’s Reign of Madness: California’s Modern-Day Caligula
Just as the deranged Roman emperors—Caligula, Nero, and Commodus—turned the empire’s treasury and laws into weapons against their own people, Gov. Gavin Newsom now seeks to seize 100% of any federal compensation awarded to Californians harmed by government weaponization. Insulated by absolute power, these rulers squandered vast resources on vendettas, bizarre decrees, and self-glorification while… -
news
City of Los Angeles Paid Alleged 18th Street Gang Member $58K as a ‘Peace Ambassador’
A convicted murderer and alleged gang member was being paid by Los Angeles taxpayers to patrol neighborhoods as a “peace ambassador” until federal authorities arrested him Friday morning. Now, city leaders are facing questions about how he got the job in the first place. Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, aka “Diablo,” was arrested on Friday during… -
opinion
California’s June 2 Elections Offer Rare Potential for Conservative Gains
As Californians count their primary votes Tuesday night, three results could advance conservatism in the once-Golden State. If Spencer Pratt secures first or second place in Los Angeles’ mayoral race, the former villain of MTV’s “The Hills” will emerge as a hero to Angelenos desperate to liberate City Hall from the feeble, fumbling, feckless Karen Bass. My birthplace has devolved… -
news
Skid Row Residents Say Mayor Karen Bass Doesn’t Deserve Reelection
LOS ANGELES—With voters set to decide who will lead California’s largest city for the next four years, some residents who live on the streets of Los Angeles, or have been affected by homelessness, spoke out against the current leadership, calling for change. Angelenos have less than a week to decide who their next mayor will… -
news
California Dem Congressman Starts Prison Sentence for Fraud Conviction
Former Democrat Rep. TJ Cox of California started his yearlong prison sentence Wednesday after being convicted of wire fraud last December. His surrender date was scheduled to allow him to attend his child’s graduation. Cox, who represented California’s 21st Congressional District from 2019 to 2021, was found guilty of setting up illegal bank accounts between… -
news
California Advances Controversial ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’
California Assembly Bill 2624, dubbed by critics the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” passed the California Assembly on Tuesday, raising concerns among opponents that undercover journalism and fraud investigations could be restricted—including investigations conducted by independent journalist Nick Shirley. Shirley, who uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars of daycare fraud in Minnesota and hospice fraud in… -
news
Congress Investigates Alleged Taxpayer-Funded Prison Sex Scandal Newsom Funded
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an investigation to determine whether Democrats are using American taxpayer dollars to fund an online, abusive sex scandal catering to inmates on death row. All California prisoners are given “free” government-issued tablets meant for “education, rehabilitation, family communication, and reentry support proven to reduce crime,”… -
opinion
Why California Proves the Extreme Left Is Now the Democrat Mainstream
The Democratic Party did not merely drift left over the decades, as some still politely maintain. It was captured, body and soul, by its radical socialist wing—hijacked, thrown into the trunk, and driven straight off the cliff into the ideological abyss. The old moderates are extinct, reduced to fossils of a bygone order that once… -
opinion
The Steyer Smear
Billionaire Tom Steyer used his money to attack a lone climate researcher. Roger Pielke Jr.’s research on climate and disaster policy wins awards and is cited by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “My views are entirely mainstream,” says Pielke. “My work is cited by all three working groups of the IPCC. There’s… -
opinion
What Democrats Could Say, but Aren’t. What They Are Saying, but Shouldn’t.
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for the Daily Signal. The midterm elections are about five months away, and we’re having here in California a hotly contested governor’s race. And of course, everybody’s heard about… -
exclusive
Newsom Expanded Medi-Cal While California Kids Lost Local Pediatric Beds, Report Reveals
Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom expanding Medi-Cal to record levels, community hospitals across California have been closing pediatric inpatient units, according to a new report from Defend Forgotten America. Since Newsom took office, total Medi-Cal spending has roughly doubled and is now approaching $200 billion annually. Yet multiple community hospitals have eliminated their inpatient pediatric departments in recent years. In… -
news
New California Bill Aims to Close Loophole in Child Online Extortion Cases
A growing crime, where adults extort minors using other minors, has increased significantly in recent years, catching the attention of state Sen. Tony Strickland and Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, and motivating them to introduce a bill to stop it. “This is a growing crime, in fact, it has grown over 125 percent—adults using minors… -
news
As Fires Spread, Sen. Alvarado-Gil Says California Is Unprepared
Fire season is ramping up across California, with the Sandy Fire in Ventura County and the Bain and Verona fires in Riverside County raising new concerns about wildfire preparedness and prevention. In Sacramento, the Daily Signal spoke with state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil about whether California is doing enough to prepare for another dangerous wildfire season…. -
opinion
Newsom’s Budget Houdini Act: All Smoke, Mirrors, and Wishful Thinking
Gavin Newsom has once again pulled off a dazzling feat of financial gymnastics. In his May 14 revised budget for fiscal year 2026-27, California’s governor stood tall and declared victory: no deficit this year, no deficit next year, and the dreaded structural deficit magically erased through July 2028. With general fund spending at $246.6 billion and a… -
news
California Gas Prices Could Surge to $10 a Gallon, Lawmaker Warns
California could see gas prices spike as high as $10 per gallon due to multiple refinery shutdowns and U.S. involvement in the Middle East, a state lawmaker is warning. “I believe we could very easily be around $10 gas. … It’s about to get worse if we don’t do anything about it,” Assemblyman David Tangipa,… -
opinion
San Diego Mosque Shooting Exposes the Left’s Two-Tiered Outrage Machine
Monday’s massacre at the Islamic Center of San Diego was pure evil. Two teenage suspects reportedly opened fire outside the mosque at 11:43 a.m., and a school with kindergarten through third-grade children was on the grounds. Three men are dead, including a heroic security guard who stood his ground to protect those little kids inside. The shooters… -
exclusive
California School District Spends $300K to Partner With LGBTQ Center
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A California school district spent $300,000 to partner with an LGBTQ+ center that provides “affirming programs, resources, and community care” to minors ages 12 and up. Pomona Unified School District in Pomona, California, signed a memorandum of understanding for the 2024-2025 school year for a “mentoring program” with Pomona Valley Pride. … -
opinion
Anarcho-Tyranny in LA: City Leaders Look to Crack Down on Barbecues, Ignore Encampment Fires
Summer is nearly here and a hard-left Los Angeles city councilmember has proposed something that the people have surely been yearning for: banning backyard barbecues. Yes, really. Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who is also running for mayor, introduced a motion on Wednesday to ban backyard barbecues during certain high fire danger days in…