L.A.’s Finest Lobster Is Up for Grabs

The Crustacean-Shaped 4th City Council District—and the Cultural Treasures in Its Claws—Get an Election for a New Representative Next Week

A bag of popcorn just might be the best metaphor to describe the race to represent the 4th District on the Los Angeles City Council. There are many candidates, 14 in all, popping up to represent an area that stretches (roughly) from the San Fernando Valley to Hollywood, but none of them are particularly well-known beyond the confines of campaign mailers, slate cards, and sample ballots.

Their relative obscurity is striking because the district itself isn’t popcorn—it’s lobster, in more ways than one. It is the district full of riches that …

by David Gershwin | February 25, 2015

When Journalists Became Scandal Mongers and Politicians Became Celebrities

Matt Bai on a Fundamental Shift in the Relationship Between the Political and the Private in America

by Sarah Rothbard | October 24, 2014

Discussing how the media covers politics—and political scandals—is “one of the most important conversations we can have” about our democracy, KCRW Left, Right & Center host Matt Miller told a …

All California’s Problems Lead to the San Joaquin Valley

From Water Shortages to High-Speed Rail, the State’s Most Overlooked Region Is at the Center of Its Most Important Debates

by Joe Mathews | July 10, 2014

It’s not clear if Governor Jerry Brown and his challenger Neel Kashkari will debate each other this fall. But if they do, there should be no doubt about the proper …

Who Stole My Polling Place?

I Found Out on Election Day That My Rural L.A. County Precinct Had Gone Vote-By-Mail

by Ashley Trim | June 29, 2014

Out of all the election-related direct mailers I’ve received these past few months none was more crucial than the one that arrived the afternoon of election day: June 3. A …

The Dirty Politics That Saved the Santa Monica Mountains

Grassroots Organizing, Race, Nepotism and, Yes, Environmentalism, Collided in a Colorful 1971 L.A. Election

by Bill Boyarsky | May 27, 2014

At the time, it seemed just another political dirty trick—a phony newspaper mailed to residents of the San Fernando Valley. But that newspaper, called the Record, turned out to have …

Let’s Keep Politicians’ ‘Secret’ Questionnaires Secret

The Endorsement Dance Between Political Candidates and Advocacy Groups Offers Unexpected Benefits For Everyone

by Mark Paul | May 12, 2014

In their never-ending quest to take the politics out of politics, California’s political reformers have a new target: the questionnaires that advocacy groups ask candidates to answer when seeking endorsements. …

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