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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news
California Price at Pump Could Hit $8.44/Gallon in ’26 Due to Refinery Closures, Regulations
THE CENTER SQUARE—A new analysis has found California gasoline prices could rise to $8.44 per gallon by the end of 2026 after the pending closure of two refineries—one-fifth of the state’s refining capacity—and the onset of new state regulations. California gas prices are already the nation’s highest, at $4.78 per gallon for regular-grade gasoline Tuesday,… -
opinion
‘Fool’s Gold’: New Book Cautions Against Spreading California Policies Across US
A new book exposes how California’s leftist political machine is unraveling the Golden State—and, sadly, how socialist policies could be exported nationwide if Americans aren’t vigilant. The book is “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All,” co-authored by investigative journalists Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics… -
news
‘Obviously in Trouble’: 17 Years Later, California High-Speed Rail Leaders Sound Alarm Over Project Funding
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Leaders of California’s high-speed rail project are sounding the alarm on the project’s financial future after nearly 20 years of delays and billions of tax dollars spent, the Los Angeles Times first reported. After California’s High-Speed Rail Authority board members voted to approve new contracts for the Central Valley station and construction bids for… -
news
Illegal Immigrants Are My Constituents, California Democrat Says
Rep. Norma Torres said at a Wednesday press conference that every taxpayer in her district—including illegal immigrants—is her constituent. Torres, D-Calif., held the event to promote her Fairness to Freedom Act, which would require the government to pay for the legal defense of any immigrant facing deportation who cannot afford counsel. “Everyone living in my… -
news
DHS Official Condemns California Over Planned Early Prison Release of Illegal Alien Who Killed 2 Teens
The tragic deaths of two American teenagers at the hands of an illegal alien was “completely preventable,” according to a top Department of Homeland Security official. Illegal alien Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano was deported from the U.S. twice before being “convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, which resulted in the death of a young American… -
news
California Sues Trump Over Tariffs
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued on Wednesday to block President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The lawsuit states that California’s economy is “directly harmed” and alleges Trump’s effort to institute the tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) is unconstitutional. “President Trump’s new tariff regime has already had devastating impacts on the economy,… -
opinion
Farmers, Not Bureaucrats, Deserve Control of California’s Water: A Farmer’s Call for Stability
Farmers are at the heart of California’s water wars, but you wouldn’t know it from reading The New York Times. A recent feature on the removal of dams from the Klamath River highlighted environmental and tribal perspectives—yet it failed to incorporate the perspective of farmers like me who are directly affected by these decisions. This… -
news
California Democrats Defy Federal Law, Reject Bills to Protect Girls Sports
California Democrat lawmakers killed two bills meant to protect girls sports Tuesday despite pressure on Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom to limit girls and women’s sports in the state to biological females. Just this week, the state of Maine lost education funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violating federal law and President Donald… -
news
Biden-Era HHS Chief Becerra Announces Bid for California Governor
Former Biden administration Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced on Wednesday that he’s running for governor of California in 2026 to succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat. During his four years at HHS, Becerra drew criticism from within the Biden White House for his handling of both the COVID-19 pandemic response… -
news
California Funnels $18 Million Into the Left’s Dark Money Network Under Gavin Newsom
California under Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom has funneled around $18 million to the Tides Center, a dark money nonprofit that directs donor cash to various leftist projects, The Washington Free Beacon reported. The San Francisco-based Tides Center and its sister nonprofits, the Tides Foundation and Tides Advocacy, direct money to in-house projects known as “fiscal… -
news
‘Empire of Gender Secrecy Policies Is Going to Crumble’ After Trump Education Probe in California, Lawyer Says
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Education under President Donald Trump launched an investigation into the California Department of Education Thursday in a move that could prevent the Golden State bureaucracy from weaseling its way out of a key parental notification lawsuit. The lawsuit focuses on California school policies preventing teachers from notifying parents… -
news
Education Department’s Probe Into Anti-Parent California Law Could Help Affected Families, Legal Group Hopes
Aurora Regino was the last to know that her daughter's school district was secretly helping the 11-year-old identify as a boy. An elementary school guidance counselor at Chico Unified School District in California started referring to the little girl with a boy's name and boy's pronouns. Regino said her daughter told the counselor that she wanted… -
news
Border Patrol Recruiter Asked to Leave California High School Career Fair
A Border Patrol recruiter was asked to leave a college and career fair on Wednesday at a public high school in Southern California. A post on the El Centro Sector Facebook page described the incident and questioned if “Extremist Agendas in our Schools” played a role in the high school’s principal asking the Border Patrol… -
opinion
Gavin Newsom’s California in ‘Existential Free Fall’
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. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, as I had mentioned earlier, has had a series of podcast interviews and… -
news
California Poised to Disbar Trump 2020 Lawyer John Eastman
The irony is striking for John Eastman, a constitutional attorney and one of President Donald Trump’s lawyers in the litigated post-2020 election. One week before a California panel is set to hear an appeal regarding Eastman’s disbarment, a group of Democrat attorneys general claims a Trump executive order runs “roughshod over the First Amendment” and… -
opinion
It’s Time to Pull the Brake on California’s Bullet Train to Nowhere
The California bullet train to nowhere keeps going nowhere and the Trump administration might finally pull the emergency break. The California High Speed Rail project is no doubt one of the grandest boondoggles in American history. It was originally sold as an efficient, “green” method to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles. Since it was officially approved… -
news
California Bill Would Ban Private Firefighters From Using Hydrants, Cites Public Good
THE CENTER SQUARE—California lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban private firefighters, like those who saved many buildings in the Palisades and Eaton fires, from using public hydrants, saying firefighting is a “public good.” Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, introduced Assembly Bill 1075 with the support of the California Professional Firefighters Union, which claims private… -
opinion
Stop California Absurd Hydrogen Car Subsidies Before Approving Federal Fire Aid
Gov. Gavin Newsom has requested $40 billion in federal aid to assist California in the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires last month. As a Pacific Palisades resident, I can attest the devastation is catastrophic and funds are desperately needed. However, the Trump administration is poised, understandably, to tie a lot of strings to any… -
news
Ric Grenell Says He Will Run for Governor of California on Only One Condition
OXON HILL, Md.—Ric Grenell, former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration, said he might run for governor of California, but only under one condition. Dasha Burns, the White House bureau chief for Politico, interviewed Grenell on the main stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday…. -
opinion
Defensive Gun Uses Show Faulty Premise of California Gun Laws
As wildfires raged last month in California, tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes, often with just minutes of warning. To make matters worse, looters took advantage of the chaos and lack of police resources, showing up in droves to ransack evacuated areas—sometimes as helpless residents looked on in horror as…