California Characters
This winery owner nearly lost the 2003 SF mayoral election to a Green Party candidate
Gavin Newsom
Per the polling data presented by Raquel Centeno, voters overwhelmingly support overturning this successful 2008 initiative
Proposition 8
This 1978 initiative gutted local property tax revenues, triggering a crisis in public education
Proposition 13
This popular reform has been adopted in 16 states -- but never by the state legislature
Term limits
Rather than negotiate with striking graduate student protesters in 2020, leaders of this school system spent ~$5 million on a police crackdown
The University of California (UC)
Once a Senate hopeful, this California Character has since run for president AND vice president (for six days)
Carly Fiorina
Despite Democrats having this in Sacramento since 2011, Senator Durazo argued that passing legislation and building coalitions is still difficult
This environmental law has been wielded by wealthy homeowners to block bike lanes, wind turbines, homeless shelters, and affordable housing in their neighborhoods
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
The number of signatures needed to get a ballot initiative on the ballot is equal to 5% of the votes cast in the last one of these
Gubernatorial elections
The star of this ABC sitcom unsuccessfully ran for Adam Schiff's House seat last month
Boy Meets World
After Democrats lost their Assembly majority in 1994, this powerful Speaker preserved Democrats' power by convincing a series of Republicans to work with him
Willie Brown
Professor Oklobdzija talked a lot about this municipal process, which determines what can be built, where it can be built, and with what requirements
Zoning
While this 1994 initiative is widely believed to have doomed the California Republican Party, professors Morris Fiorina and Samuel Abrams are skeptical
Proposition 187
1980 was the last year when California legislators exercised this formal constitutional power
Veto override
This is the 2nd most popular category of party registration in California
No preference (aka NPP or independent)
If not for a scandal involving Herbalife, this famous politician might have been a senator instead of Kamala Harris
Antonio Villaraigosa
George Gascón co-authored Proposition 47 (2014), which did this
Made many nonviolent offenses misdemeanors (rather than felonies)
Most cities in California, including LA, have majority-runoff elections, but this electoral system is used in SF & Oakland
The alternative vote (aka IRV or RCV)
California's campaign finance rules have as loophole allowing unlimited and secretive spending from these committees
Independent expenditure committees
This Orange County Democratic House candidate accused his opponent's husband of defending child molesters
Dave Min
While he is accused of stealing multiple cars, this congressman's voice is immortalized in a car alarm ad
Darrell Issa
According to Brandon Martin, the legislature passed this key policy in 2011 to address prison overcrowding
Realignment (AB 109)
This 1995 law limits the ability of cities to adopt rent control
Costa-Hawkins
This California governor was the "father" of the recall and ballot initiative in California
Hiram Johnson
This Silicon Valley valley town is in the most expensive zip code in the country: the median home price is $8 million
Atherton