A Republican appears set to make the November ballot, but California’s Democrat supermajority isn’t going anywhere. Experts predict a Democrat will ultimately win the governor’s race and keep the state under one-party control. “It’s a Democratic state. … I think Steve Hilton will put up a noble effort and will probably help some down-ballot Republicans,...

Spencer Pratt has officially been shut out of the running for Los Angeles mayor, with City Councilwoman Nithya Raman overtaking the reality television star and securing a spot in November’s runoff against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. While he initially held a strong second-place position with 29% of the vote—only 7% behind Bass and nearly 10%...

Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to Victor Davis Hanson’s own YouTube channel to watch past episodes. Jack Fowler: So, Victor, let’s start out local. California election. This thing—no, there’s no state in America, and in fact, I’ve read there’s no…

California held its statewide primary on June 2. It’s now June 9, and votes are still being counted. That’s not a glitch in the system. That’s by design—and it’s fueling questions about the integrity of the election and renewed efforts to pass the SAVE America Act. Six years ago, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,...

Delayed vote tallies in California are attributable to the vote-by-mail system and weeklong deadlines for receiving ballots, which undermines confidence in results, election experts say. Tuesday is the deadline for the last of California’s ballots to arrive, where about 80% vote by mail and about 40% of ballots arrive after Election Day in the nation’s...

Despite his initial overwhelming lead, Spencer Pratt has been surpassed in ballots by City Councilwoman Nithya Raman in the race to be Los Angeles city mayor—prompting criticism from Pratt supporters and renewed scrutiny of California’s vote-counting process. Pratt held a lead on election night, receiving as much as 30% of the vote at one point....

California’s punishing cost of living isn’t inevitable—it’s policy-driven. Burdensome regulations have sent housing and energy prices soaring, crushing incomes and deepening poverty. Smarter deregulation could bring back the Golden State’s long-lost affordability and historic role as a “land of opportunity.” In 2024, California had a poverty rate of 17.7%, meaning about 7 million people were...

The polls closed in California on Tuesday at 8 p.m. local time. As of Saturday, nobody knows which two candidates will be competing in November for governor or Los Angeles mayor. Indeed, mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day may stumble in for seven days until June 9—and still be counted. Thus, weeks could pass before...

To hear the legacy media tell it, the sensible “middle-of-the-road” and “centrist” Xavier Becerra is likely to proceed to the runoff in the California governor race, and while he may have been the establishment pick, he’s far from moderate on abortion or transgender ideology. In fact, Becerra has an ugly record of weaponizing the law...

Trump-endorsed Fox News host Steve Hilton will likely face off against Xavier Becerra this November, leaving California conservatives hopeful that they have a shot at the first Republican governor in over a decade. California’s top-two primary system advances the two highest vote-getters to the November general election regardless of party affiliation. After months of waiting...

The war between affordability and climate activism continues to rage on in California after a recent decision by the California Air Resources Board to update its cap-and-invest program left both environmental activists and the oil industry upset. The program was first authorized in 2006 as a way to limit greenhouse gas emissions and incentivize “major...

Americans should expect, at minimum, to have elections that are free, fair, and delivered promptly. But California is taking its laid-back reputation too far, failing to deliver its election results in a timely manner and creating the perception that they are neither free nor fair. Slothful election results have plagued California for years since it made wholesale...

Spencer Pratt, the reality television villain turned Los Angeles mayoral candidate, is on track for a showdown with incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass. While Pratt has not yet officially locked in a top-two finish, returns coming in from the Golden State on Wednesday morning show him in second place and maintaining a comfortable lead over...

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. People talk about the California disaster, but I don’t think we fully appreciate the severity and the manifestations of...

Pointing to rising crime rates and a crash that killed an 11-year-old boy last December, leaders of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday asked law enforcement leaders in two major California cities to provide information on sanctuary policies they say shield criminal illegal aliens. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and two subcommittee chairmen—Republican Reps....

Today is primary day in California—with high-profile races for governor and Los Angeles mayor—so voters should prioritize candidates with strong records of fiscal discipline.   The Golden State has a history of fiscal irresponsibility that has strained budgets, and Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, is the clearest example. The program has expanded drastically over time,...

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. This Tuesday, June 2, there are many national, state, and local races throughout the country. Here in California, we’re looking at...

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...

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…

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...

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...

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...

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…

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,”...

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...

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...

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…

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…

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....

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...