Bay Area / California

Why Jane Kim and Nithya Raman Won California and Los Angeles voters were on the same page last week. They wanted real change. Former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim was elected California Insurance Commissioner. Kim overcame millions of dollars in<br> Read More »

Which Way Will Voters Go? California only has one state office race in doubt. The state also has a Billionaire Tax, an $11.25 billion affordable housing bond and a Los Angeles mayor’s race going down to the wire. Here’s our<br> Read More »

Lee Leads Oakland’s Comeback Oakland has faced tough times since Covid. A city on the rise suddenly went in reverse. Investment dried up, crime rose, and popular areas like Lake Merritt filled with the unhoused. Voters made matters worse in<br> Read More »

Voters May Ignore Attacks Of all of California’s statewide candidate races, none has created more furor in newspaper editorial rooms than the contest for Insurance Commissioner between former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim and State Senator Ben Allen. The San<br> Read More »

Prop 40’s Progressive Disunity Progressives overwhelmingly support hiking taxes on billionaires. But the California Teachers Association and United Domestic Workers oppose Prop 40, California’s Billionaire Tax.  Even SEIU California is neutral. Some of its leaders were personally threatened by Dave<br> Read More »

Raman Offers Change Will Nithya Raman join Boston’s Michelle Wu, Seattle’s Katie Wilson and New York City’s Zohran Mamdani in becoming a new generation of progressive mayors? It sure looks that way. Mayor Karen Bass’s missteps and a lot of<br> Read More »

Four Critical Ballot Measures In November voters can address two of the Bay Area’s core challenges: affordable housing and public transit. Four ballot measures—one statewide, one for five Bay Area counties, and two for San Francisco—deserve voter support. Here’s our<br> Read More »

Kennedy Re-imagined Berkeley’s Future. Berkeley’s most fabled housing came from such legends as Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan and Walter Ratcliff. But the builder who has done the most to change the city’s landscape since the 1990’s is Patrick Kennedy. Kennedy<br> Read More »