California – Page 3

Trump and Clinton Lead In California

April 8, 2016 at 8:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 40 Comments

A new Field Poll in California finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 39%, followed by Ted Cruz at 32% and John Kasich at 18%.

Key finding: “The poll finds Trump holding the lead among likely GOP primary voters in two regions – the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, and those living in the nine-county Southern California region outside of Los Angeles County. Cruz is preferred over Trump among voters in Los Angeles County and those living in the state’s vast, but sparsely populated interior that includes the Central Valley and the Sierra mountain region.”

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 47% to 41%.

Trump Leads In California

March 27, 2016 at 10:49 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll in California finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 37%, followed by Ted Cruz at 30% and John Kasich at 12%.

Key point: “How many Californians will turn out remains hard to predict because the state has not seen a fully contested June Republican primary since 1964. Also hard to predict is how the overall support for the top candidates will translate into delegates to the Republican nominating convention this summer. The state’s GOP awards delegates to the winner of each congressional district, so a candidate could lose statewide but still pick up a significant number of delegates.”

Trump leads in most areas of the state except the Central Valley, where conservative voters put Cruz ahead. In Los Angeles County, the two are nearly tied.

Cruz Now Leads in California

January 5, 2016 at 2:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 88 Comments

A new Field Poll in California finds Ted Cruz has surged ahead of his GOP presidential rivals with 25%, followed by Donald Trump at 23%, Marco Rubio at 13%, Ben Carson at 9%, Rand Paul at 6%, and Jeb Bush at 4%.

Not only did Cruz catch Trump in first-choice rankings, but he is now twice as likely to be listed as a California Republicans’ second choice.

New Redistricting Boon to California Democrats

March 8, 2015 at 9:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

“A U.S. Supreme Court case that could force California to redraw its congressional districts has stirred up fears of a return to partisan gerrymandering, a divisive process that has been criticized for both cementing and crushing political careers,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“While the potential impact remains uncertain, both Democratic and Republican leaders agree that the ruling could solidify the Democrats’ tight grip on California’s 53-member House delegation, the largest of any state.”

“The issue stems from a lawsuit filed by Arizona’s Republican-led Legislature arguing that the Constitution gives state legislatures the exclusive responsibility for drawing congressional district boundaries. Arizona and California voters have passed measures removing that authority from lawmakers and handing it over to independent citizen commissions.”

California GOP Formally Welcomes Gays to Party

March 2, 2015 at 8:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“In a historic break with its past, the California Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Sunday to formally recognize a gay GOP group,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“The move, which drew the condemnation of some socially conservative GOP members, grants a charter to the Log Cabin Republicans’ California chapter, making it an official volunteer arm of the state party. It is among the first gay groups in the nation to be officially sanctioned by a state Republican party.”

Brown Tries Again to Reshape Court

December 26, 2014 at 7:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 3 Comments

“When Jerry Brown first served as governor of California, he set out to reshape the powerful California Supreme Court by appointing its first female chief justice. But his pick, Rose Bird, had never served as a judge before and came to be perceived as a liberal ideologue,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Bird, along with two other judges Mr. Brown named to the court, was recalled by voters in an election in 1986.”

“Nearly 40 years after he made that selection, Mr. Brown is again seeking to remake a court that to this day is viewed by legal scholars as among the most influential in the nation, with one study proclaiming it the state court most followed by other appellate judges. And once more, the ever-unconventional Mr. Brown is roiling the waters with a series of head-snapping, if decidedly more applauded, choices for this tribunal.”

Huffington Post: Brown issues 105 pardons