Welcome to California, Ka-Ching!
Hello and welcome to the Golden State, a fitting name indeed. But wait, we are not only gold, but also blue. Democrats easily outnumber Republicans in California. Democrats make of 44% of registered voters, Republicans constitute almost 31% of that population, and decline to state voters comprise a little over 20% of registered voters.
California is more than just a color palette; it is also a size, extra large. California, as we all know, is enormous. And with that enormity comes the most electoral votes of any state in the land, 55.
However, even with the prize of 55 electoral votes, few presidential candidates seriously campaign in California. Why? Please see above (we're blue).
But the presidential candidates have and will frequent our fine state. California has been dubbed by me and others as the presidential ATM. While our state is strapped for cash, not all of our residents are. In Hollywood, Silicon Valley and other environs there are many residents who are willing and able to contribute not only to candidate committees, but also to those ubiquitous groups known as Super PACs.
This election season many California Democrats are focused on two goals on the federal level - re-electing President Obama and returning Rep. Nancy Pelosi to her post as speaker of the House of Representatives. Almost 3,000 Democrats descended on San Diego this weekend to focus on those, and other objectives. On the state level California Democrats have their eyes on the prize of obtaining a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses. This threshold will allow Democrats to pass new taxes and fees.
California donors are not just democrats. California Republicans are also spending substantial sums, unsurprisingly with the opposite goals of Democrats - to defeat President Obama, to ensure that Rep. Pelosi does not again become speaker of the House and to prevent Democrats from obtaining a supermajority in the state houses.
Color me gold and blue.
Jessica Levinson writes about the intersection of law and government every Monday. She is a Visiting Professor at Loyola Law School. Read more of her posts here.
