More than any other place, California is well positioned to push back against the agenda of the incoming president. In this special series, Capital & Main examines why and how the Golden State will both lead the resistance to Donald Trump and continue to advance progressive ideas and policies.
They make up nearly 15 percent of California's population, yet they are often ignored in polling and, by extension, political campaigns. But research released by the liberal Ballot Initiative Strategy Center shows Asian-American communities in California are eager for more political engagement -- particularly around ballot measures.
Experts say the growth of the moderate bloc is a testament to the success of electoral reform efforts — a new redistricting process, longer term limits and the “top-two” primary system chief among them — aimed at eroding the influence of extreme liberals and conservatives who have dominated the state’s political discourse for decades. However, it has also given an unexpected advantage to deep-pocketed corporations who have figured out that moderate Democrats can be their best allies in a state where Republicans are often an irrelevant minority.
The California Donor Table is a community of donors who pool and align investments in leaders, groups and systems that make lasting progressive political change beyond any single election cycle or issue campaign.