The 2026 governor’s race is still more than 500 days away, but there is already a crowded field of candidates. On the Democratic side, they're all waiting to see if Vice President Kamala Harris decides to jump in. 

KQED’s Marisa Lagos and Guy Marzorati are joined remotely by San Francisco Chronicle Senior Political Writer Joe Garofoli who is in Orange County where Democrats are gathering for their biannual state party convention.

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As San Francisco’s elected assessor-recorder, Joaquín Torres’ office decides the value of property in San Francisco, and tells you how much you owe in taxes. 

But he’s also spent the last dozen years as president of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission, which oversees the city's public housing developments as well as its Section 8 program. 

Torres joins Scott and Marisa on his last day as president to reflect on his time there and talk about what’s next for both himself and the agency

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Buffy Wicks is a leading champion in Sacramento for building more housing in California. Her early political activities include working on both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. Now she represents parts of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties in Sacramento where she chairs the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee.

To get more housing built, Wicks is taking on a sacred cow in state politics, the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. Wicks joins Scott and Marisa to talk about why reforming CEQA is such a hot button issue, and why she thinks it's so necessary to increase housing production. 

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San Francisco is looking for a new police chief after Bill Scott announced earlier this month that he is stepping down after eight years on the job through three mayoral administrations. 

Although the city’s civilian-led police commission will draw up a short list of candidates, Mayor Daniel Lurie will make the final decision. 

Scott and Marisa are joined by KQED Politics Reporter Sydney Johnson to talk about that choice and what the next chief’s success or failure may mean for the mayor. 

They’ll also talk about the recall effort against San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio after organizers announced this week that they’ve gathered enough signatures to put the recall question up to a vote. 

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Two young leaders are making waves in the Democratic Party.

Oakland Congresswoman Lateefah Simon joins Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos, just hours after the House narrowly passed a sweeping policy bill that would cut trillions in taxes and slash safety net programs, including Medicaid and SNAP.

Plus, Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg, who became a gun control activist after surviving the Parkland school shooting in 2018, explains his plan to bring fresh perspectives — and elect younger candidates — to the Democratic party.

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President Trump’s four-day visit to the Middle East featured splashy business deals, very little talk about human rights abuses and plenty of ethical questions – like ones raised by the gift of a lavish $400 million plane from Qatar for Trump to use as a temporary Air Force One.

In many ways trip was a reset of relations – especially with Saudi Arabia, whose president was shunned by the Biden Administration, and Syria, whose new leader will benefit from Trump ending U.S. economic sanctions despite concerns over the country’s new leader.

NPR White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez covered the trip and he joins co-hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos.

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Earlier this week, Governor Newsom unveiled his new plan to balance the California's $12 billion budget deficit--with cuts that are raising controversy.

The governor wants to put the scalpel to Medi-Cal -- California’s version of Medicaid. Newsom said that he wants to save the state money by capping enrollment of adult immigrants that are here illegally. He also proposed charging these individuals a $100 monthly co-pay for Medi-Cal access.

Hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined by KQED Politics Correspondent, Guy Marzorati, to take a deep dive into how this all could play out in Sacramento.

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Republican State Sen. Brian Jones heads the Senate GOP caucus, and represents parts of San Diego County-- a decidedly purple Southern California district.

After stints in both houses of the legislature, He's serving his final term in Sacramento. Although Republicans make up a minority of lawmakers at the state capital, they've made headway in recent months pushing against Democrats on issues like public safety.

On this episode of Political Breakdown, Sen. Jones joins hosts Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer in studio at KQED's San Francisco office. His appearance comes just a day after Governor Newsom unveiled his updated budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.

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In November, Orange County Congressman Derek Tran became the first Vietnamese American to represent Little Saigon in Washington, D.C. Tran barely defeated Republican incumbent Michelle Steel, helping Democrats flip three California House seats from red to blue. Scott and Marisa talk with Tran about representing a very purple district and his father's harrowing story as a refugee after the Vietnam War. 

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On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The administration has barred journalists from The Associated Press from the White House press pool for refusing to adopt the renaming in its coverage. Scott and Marisa are joined by The AP's White House reporter Chris Megerian to discuss the president's renaming orders, including his plans to announce whether the U.S. will start referring to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf. 

Plus, they dig into California’s influence and reputation in D.C. and Governor Gavin Newsom's balancing act with the Trump administration.

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