Politics

Labor leader Lorena Gonzalez, center, helped devise an election strategy that shunned partisanship and focused instead on the value of hard work and the failings of a “do-nothing” Congress. (Ariana Drehsler / CalMatters) Democrats have a growing problem with union members and working-class voters, a building block that’s been foundational to their political success. Lorena … Read more

In the latest aftershock from President Obama’s move to bar the deportation of some young illegal immigrants, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has apparently abandoned his plan to offer a conservative alternative to the Dream Act. Rubio, a Cuban American often mentioned as a potential running mate for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said Obama’s announcement last … Read more

Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry has raised more money from California than any candidate has ever collected in one state in any election. Fueled by a fierce sentiment against President Bush, California donors have given nearly $3 million more to Kerry’s presidential bid than Bush has raised from his home state of Texas, traditionally … Read more

PTA mom Michelle Petersen was targeted in a disinformation campaign that may have cost her a school board seat. One expert said it was “only a matter of time” before the tactic was used in local races. (Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times) Michelle Petersen was sitting in her home office a few days … Read more

Proposition 13, a simply worded initiative that shook the California government bureaucracy to its core, was born of the political marriage of folksy Paul Gann and fiery-tempered Howard Jarvis. Jarvis, an apartment house landlord, had tried–and failed–for years to put a measure on the ballot to slash soaring property taxes. Gann, a retired car and … Read more

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is recovering from a heart procedure, plans to be onstage at the Oct. 15 Democratic debate. (Jason Bean / Associated Press) A day after Bernie Sanders suspended his public events to recover from a heart procedure, his campaign announced he will join 11 rivals in Ohio on Oct. 15 for the … Read more

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, second from left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, before signing a memorandum in Madrid on Tuesday in which Turkey agreed to Finland and Sweden’s membership in the defense alliance. (Bernat Armangue / Associated Press) Emerging from World War II, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established by 10 … Read more

‘I’m emancipated now’: Nancy Pelosi enjoying life after leadership “Now we’re going to have some fun,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) says enthusiastically, winning a giggle from her daughter. It’s a little past 6:30 p.m. on a recent Thursday. The former House speaker is sitting in a packed black SUV with a reporter on her … Read more

Former Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy (D-Minn.), whose surprisingly strong showing in the 1968 New Hampshire presidential primary dramatized deepening public opposition to the Vietnam War and effectively ended President Lyndon B. Johnson’s political career, died Saturday. He was 89. McCarthy died at a retirement home in the Georgetown section of Washington, where he had lived … Read more

Veteran California Rep. Robert Matsui and his wife, Doris, the top Asian American staffer in the White House, had every reason to believe that their labors on behalf of President Clinton’s reelection provided a perfect match for their political interests as well as their heritage. But now the Matsuis find themselves under public scrutiny for … Read more