Politics

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) had languished for months near the bottom of the polls on the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Brynn Anderson / Associated Press) Rep. Eric Swalwell abandoned his uphill run for president Monday and announced that he will instead seek a fifth term in the House. The 38-year-old congressman from … Read more

IN 1972, Robert Redford played the title role in “The Candidate,” a movie about a young California politician with an uneasy relationship with his father, a former governor played by Melvyn Douglas. Ever since, Jerry Brown has been a mirror and a megaphone of political celebrity. Two years earlier, Brown had first appeared on a … Read more

A farmworker’s son and a dairy farmer battle to represent the Central Valley in Congress As a teenager, David Valadao had a long list of chores to do before school every day. He’d jump on his tractor, buck hay and feed the family’s dairy cows on their Hanford farm. After school, it was more of … Read more

Confronted with yet another huge budget shortfall this year, California Gov. Pete Wilson and his top advisers hatched an innovative proposal to generate more than $1 billion in new money. Instead of blaming immigrants for part of the state’s financial mess as he did last year, the governor decided to make the new arrivals part … Read more

Former President Obama clasps hands with Vice President Kamala Harris in their first joint appearance during a rally Thursday in Clarkston, Ga. (Mike Stewart / Associated Press) Presidential rivals Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaigned in battleground states on Thursday, urging voters to cast their ballots in a tight election that is less than two … Read more

A thick haze hangs over Manhattan on July 20. Massive fires in Canada, Oregon and Northern California have generated columns of smoke up to six miles high, which the jet stream can carry across the continent. (Julie Jacobson / Associated Press) Two weeks ago, one of America’s best-known climate scientists set off onto Ontario’s Lake … Read more

Venezuelans cross the border into Colombia last month. Millions are seeking asylum in other nations. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Lionel Ortega had worked as an engineer for nearly 40 years for the Venezuelan state oil company when he walked off the job last October, defying authorities who demanded he stay and oversee repairs … Read more

Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf told a packed congressional hearing Tuesday that the U.S. military would become “a second-class armed force” if President Clinton lifts the ban on homosexuals serving in the military, and a highly visible Marine, in riveting testimony, said he would fear for his gay son’s life if the young man joined … Read more

President Clinton arrived in Washington four years ago with a full head of wavy, graying hair. It has grown silvery in time–more presidential, if anything. But what is this? The main man’s mane is on the wane. In the right light–and at certain camera angles–the pink flesh of Clinton’s scalp shines through his feathered hairdo. … Read more

Usha Vance attends a campaign rally on Nov. 1, 2024, in Selma, N.C. (Allison Joyce / Associated Press) Second lady Usha Vance plans a trip to Greenland, the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of American ally Denmark that President Trump has suggested the United States should take control over. Vance will leave Thursday and return Saturday, according … Read more