For the final days of the year, we’re rebroadcasting some of our favorite shows from 2024.

Jessica Bartholow has worked behind the scenes at the state Capitol for years. She’s known for her fierce anti-poverty advocacy and budget expertise, as a lobbyist and more recently as chief of staff to East Bay State Senator Nancy Skinner. Bartholow now works for SEIU, the state’s largest and most powerful union. She joins Scott and Guy to talk about the revolving roles she’s played inside and outside of state government.

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For the final days of the year, we’re rebroadcasting some of our favorite shows from 2024.

President-elect Donald Trump rarely strays from his red tie, white shirt and blue suit, while Vice President Kamala Harris’ uniform consists of tailored suits in a variety of colors. But what does it all mean? What are they saying to voters? And why do fashion choices in politics even matter? Marisa talks about the politics of fashion with Vanessa Friedman, the fashion director and chief fashion critic at The New York Times. 

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For the final days of the year, we’re rebroadcasting some of our favorite shows from 2024.

Governor Gavin Newsom calls Jason Elliott his “Swiss Army knife.” Elliott is Newsom’s longest serving aide, and he’s had his fingers in just about every major issue, from homelessness and housing to COVID, mental health care and regulating AI. As Elliott prepared to leave the administration, he joined Scott and Marisa to reflect on those many years of service in government.

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Today we're revisiting an interview with the Bay Area's newly elected U.S. House representatives.

Democrats Lateefah Simon and Sam Liccardo will be among the 119th Congress when they’re sworn in next month. The two have very different life stories, but they share a commitment to getting things done, even though Democrats will be in the minority. Simon and Liccardo join Scott in studio to discuss their agenda.

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The 118th Congress is in its final days, and it’s not going quietly. With a government shutdown looming, Republicans killed a bipartisan budget deal then resurrected another plan that Democrats rejected.

The chaos in Washington could be a preview of what’s coming in the second Trump administration, with a closely divided House and a bitter partisan climate.

Scott and Marisa talk with two Democratic members of Congress: Sydney Kamlager-Dove from Los Angeles and Jared Huffman from Marin. They discuss the prospect for a budget deal, Elon Musk’s influence and why Republicans defied President-elect Donald Trump last night. 

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As the year comes to an end, Marisa and Scott are joined by Politico California Bureau Chief Christopher Cadelago to look ahead to 2025, mulling over questions like: What's next for Vice President Kamala Harris? How is the California governor's race shaping up? Will Speaker Mike Johnson be able to keep his job as a government shutdown looms? Are Democrats learning any lessons from their losses and looking to turn the page to a new generation of leadership?

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Republicans will soon have control of Congress and the White House, leaving Democrats concerned that they might call for a constitutional convention to rewrite our country’s constitution and fundamentally change anything from abortion access to immigration.

California has several dormant calls for a constitutional convention on the books, and now, State Senator Scott Wiener wants to rescind those calls. Scott talks with Wiener and New York Times San Francisco Bureau Chief Heather Knight about the politics of a constitutional convention.

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One of the House races that Democrats flipped from red to blue this election was California’s 45th congressional district in Orange County. Democratic newcomer Derek Tran narrowly defeated the incumbent Michelle Steel by about 650 votes in the nation’s most expensive House race. Melanie Mason, senior political reporter at Politico, covered that race and says Tran’s victory “blew up the Democratic Playbook.” She joins Scott to discuss how Tran managed to beat Steel in what was a very challenging political climate for Democrats. 

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Educated liberals have won the culture war, but that hasn't necessarily translated into winning elections. The Republican party is attracting larger numbers of working class voters without college degrees while Democrats are now the party preferred by educated Americans. This shift, referred to as the "diploma divide" reveals a new political alignment that is shaking up our politics. It's the subject of the book "Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics." Co-author Matt Grossman is director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and a professor of political science at Michigan State University and he joins Scott.

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President-elect Donald Trump signaled his intention this week to make Harmeet K. Dhillon the deputy attorney general, running the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Dhillon is a San Francisco attorney who has long been a supporter of Trump. On this special edition of Political Breakdown, we're sharing an interview from 2018 when Marisa and Scott interviewed Dhillon about Republican politics, being an outspoken conservative living in liberal San Francisco, her time as a board member of the ACLU and her passion for knitting.

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