Political Data Inc. head honcho Paul Mitchell joins us to talk about the political environment as we move toward the midterms. This week's upset special election in PA 18 - where Democrat Conor Lamb won in a GOP-leaning district that went for Trump by about 20 points - is being cited by many as further evidence that a Democratic wave is building. But what happens in California, where the national Tea Party wave of 2010 failed to cross the Sierra? Will California's red house districts STAY red in 2018, and how will Top Two affect the outcome? All this, and more in today's Capitol Weekly Podcast.

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For today's episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast we are joined by Sacramento political consultant Wayne Johnson, a veteran of well over 200 campaigns - on multiple continents. These days he's working on Republican John Cox' campaign for California Governor, which got a boost moments before we recorded the show when former congressman Doug Ose abruptly exited the race. Wayne has served as President and Chairman of the American Association of Political Consultants, and is a pioneer in the use of social media in political campaigns - we got his take on the Russia/Trump/Facebook brouhaha, and much, much more.

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Longtime political journalist Dan Morain joins us this week to chat about former Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner's surprise late entry into the current race for Insurance Commissioner as an independent candidate. Will the multimillionaire former Commissioner be able to shake the curse that has befuddled GOP statewide office-seekers in California by shedding the party label? Or, will his rightward turn in the 2010 gubernatorial primary come back to haunt him? We talk about all that, Dan's brand new job at the indie journalism project, CALmatters, and more.

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Sacramento Bee reporter Alexei Koseff covers California politics and higher education for the Bee’s capitol bureau — and handles the state Assembly, too. Alexei joined Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to chat about the challenges facing UC — Alexei is a Stanford alumnus, by the way — and the unique, constitutionally protected position the institution occupies in California’s educational structure.

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Longtime journalist and Jerry Brown biographer Chuck McFadden joins the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about Brown's 16th - and last - State of the State address, his legacy, and what may lie ahead for the 79-year old governor. Presidential run? Mayor of Colusa? Or, just the "Only adult in the room." All that and much more on today's Capitol Weekly Podcast.

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Southern California voter registration outweighs the north by big numbers, and some pundits are predicting that a surge of Southern California votes will boost Angelinos running for office in 2018, leaving NorCal candidates - like Gavin Newsom - at a disadvantage. 'Not so fast,' says political data whiz Paul Mitchell. He sat down with the CW Podcast for a deep dig about why the Bay Area outperforms SoCal in voter turnout, and what the likely voting patterns will look like in the gubernatorial and Senate primaries. And, what happens if Dems make a sweep, collecting both Top Two slots in the Guv and US Senate races? Tune in and find out!

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Bill Magavern of the Coalition for Clean Air declares 2018 "The Year of the Truck" as he joins us for the first Capitol Weekly Podcast of 2018. New, proposed legislation (SB 210) from Senator Connie Leyva would introduce clean air rules for big trucks, which - a surprise to us - do not have to undergo the same types of smog checks that have been required for passenger vehicles for many years. This, and other proposals put California at odds with the Trump administration, which is rolling back Obama-era clean air regulations. A longtime environmental advocate, Bill weighs in on what's at stake and what to look for in air quality regulation during the coming year.

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Will California catch the wave? Last week’s elections in Virginia and elsewhere can only be categorized as a Democratic wave - a wave that swamped Republican candidates in once-safe GOP seats. Energized Democrats are hoping to retake congress in 2018, and have their sights set on seven California house districts which voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but are represented by Republicans. California political data whiz Paul Mitchell joins us to talk about Tuesday's results and what they do - or don't - portend for California in 2018.

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Journalist, educator and now, documentary filmmaker Rob Gunnison joins us to talk about the new Open California Oral History project, which recently finished its first two projects: filmed interviews with Judge Thelton Henderson and George Steffes. Henderson, a civil rights lawyer who later joined the federal judiciary (and later took control of the state's prison health care system), is the definition of an "activist" judge. Steffes was the Sacramento lobbyist closest to then-Governor Ronald Reagan. Rob talks about the process of creating an oral history and shares interesting tidbits from the first two projects.

The Henderson and Steffes oral histories may be seen at www.capitolweekly.net.

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Political Data's Paul Mitchell sits down with John Howard and Tim Foster to discuss his latest CA120 column, which examines changing - and not-so-changing - attitudes among California's Trump voters. How are the president's early supporters feeling about his time in office, the Republican majority in congress, and journalists? Listen here to find out!

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