(March 25, 2026)
When Gavin Newsom stood before a room of economic elites in New York last December and derided a “single labor leader” pushing a tax on California billionaires, he never said his name. He didn’t need to.
Everyone in California politics knows of Dave Regan, the legendarily combative health care union chief who has spent decades wielding California’s ballot initiative system against the health care industry.
But his newest mission is on a scale orders of magnitude larger.
The push to put a billionaire tax to a popular vote in blue California has exposed deep divides on the left, even as Democratic politicians across the country rally around calls for the wealthy to pay more. The issue is pitting the populist mood of the public against many Democrats’ fears that the measure will push the ultrawealthy to join a broader exodus from the state and take their tax dollars with them.
(June 25, 2026)
SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West President Dave Regan refused to back down on the billionaire tax.
(June 23, 2026)
While other Democrats are distancing themselves from Biden’s failed reelection bid and the political wreckage that followed, California’s governor is leaning in. Newsom has praised Biden’s presidency, defended his record, and positioned himself as one of the party’s most visible Biden loyalists.
He has called the Biden presidency a “masterclass of policymaking.” He has said he will never turn his back on Biden. And last week, he went further.
He hosted Hunter Biden on his podcast.
That matters.
(June 12, 2026)
Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power reacts to Hunter Biden speaking about his political future on Gavin Newsom‘s podcast. The son of former US President Joe Biden teased a potential vice-presidential run in 2028.
(January 12, 2026)
The conversations, reported here for the first time, have occurred intermittently for months as SEIU-UHW’s ballot initiative targeting billionaires migrated from the backrooms of California politics to the center of a raging debate about Silicon Valley and income inequality, sparking tech titans’ wrath and vows to move out of state.
“We’ve been at this for four months,” Newsom said in an interview with POLITICO, describing an “all-hands” effort that has included him meeting one-on-one with SEIU-UHW’s leader, Dave Regan.
A compromise does not appear imminent. A union official cast doubt on the possibility of a deal, saying the two sides do not currently have another meeting scheduled and framing a ballot fight as an inevitability.
Our solution: The California Billionaire Tax Act
We’re calling on California’s billionaires to step up and pay a one-time, emergency 5% tax to prevent the collapse of California healthcare and help fund California public K-14 education and state food assistance programs. This would protect healthcare jobs and ensure working people and families can get the care they need. The tax would be paid only by Californians worth more than $1 billion — which is about 200 people who hold a combined wealth of $2 trillion.
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U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and is in his fifth term, was defeated by Mamdani’s most polarizing pick, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, a two-term incumbent, was beaten by the Mamdani-backed former city Comptroller Brad Lander, a fixture among New York progressives who has often shown sympathy to the democratic socialist movement. And another Mamdani ally, democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, defeated the handpicked successor of retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez.
A number of Democratic strongholds are hosting competitive congressional primaries, with establishment incumbents and candidates trying to fend off left-wing challengers.
State of play: In the state‘s 10th district, Jeffries is supporting Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) while Mamdani is backing NYC comptroller Brad Lander.
In the 13th district, Jeffries-backed Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) faces a spirited challenge from Mamdani-endorsed democratic socialist Darializa Avila-Chevalier.
Mamdani is also supporting democratic socialist State Assembly member Claire Valdez in the 7th district over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, though Jeffries hasn‘t endorsed in that race.
(june 19, 2026)
Not long ago, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was demonized by leaders of both political parties. On Thursday night, the 34-year-old democratic socialist was celebrated as a political force, the face of the region’s sports renaissance, even the leader of “Mamdanistan.”
In a rally with Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that drew thousands to a Brooklyn theater, the emboldened mayor delivered a fiery message to Democratic leaders in Washington — and even those considering 2028 presidential bids — as he worked to elevate a slate of likeminded candidates in Tuesday’s New York primaries.
lIn den USA ist das Gericht nicht nur eine Instanz der Kontrolle von Weißem Haus und Kongress, sondern wird selbst als „dritte Säule der Regierung“ bezeichnet. Seine Entscheidungen haben das Land oft nachhaltiger geprägt als Präsidenten und Abgeordnete.
Das liegt zum einen daran, dass Richter auf Lebenszeit berufen sind und deshalb keine Wahlen fürchten müssen. Zum anderen haben Entscheidungen des Supreme Courts unmittelbar Gesetzeskraft.
“Average gasoline prices fell in 47 states over the last week, with the national average dropping below $4 per gallon late Sunday for the first time since mid-April,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “The decline came as oil prices moved sharply lower in reaction to news of a potential deal between the United States and Iran, though it remains to be seen whether the agreement will hold.
Meanwhile, state officials warn that it might take weeks to know the actual outcome. „I would call on all Californians to be patient,“ Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a June 2 news release. At nearly $316 million, it‘s already the most expensive governor‘s race on record and the fifth-most expensive non-presidential race on record for ad spending, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking firm.
Electoral reforms are necessary but insufficient. The deeper problem is not the ballot — it is the collapse of the organized civic life that once connected voters to the institutions that govern them. Rebuilding that infrastructure is not a workaround. It is the most important work we can be doing today, not just for California but for America.
The two candidates who receive the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, will progress to the general election in November.
Join Texas Together as we make calls to support Texas Democratic nominees up and down the ballot. It’s time to unite and organize to win in November. Volunteers will be calling voters across Texas to:
Identify Democratic supporters
Share information about our Democratic ticket
Listen to voters about the issues impacting their families and communities
Every call helps us build the momentum we need to compete statewide.
No experience needed! Whether you’re a first-time volunteer or a seasoned phone banker, you can make a real impact. We’ll provide training at the start of each shift and support you every step of the way.
RSVP today and be part of the team building Democratic wins in Texas — one call at a time
James is an eighth-generation Texan, former middle school teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian. As a state representative, he’s led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians who have taken over Texas.
Now, he’s running for U.S. Senate to take his fight against corruption to Washington and win power back for working people.
(November 11, 2025)
Washington, D.C. was the proving ground for our campaign, antagonizing Stephen Miller.
When we covered the Capital with Stephen Miller’s face and “Fascism Ain’t Pretty”—on walls, sidewalks, and projected it onto buildings—we heard from thousands of you. The message was overwhelming: WE WANT THIS IN OUR CITY.
We heard you. And we’re acting on it.
This week, Portland, Oregon, and Philadelphia are first up on our list for expanding this campaign. If you’re in either city, take a stroll and see if you can spot Miller’s face. Then snap a pic, put it on your socials, and tag us!
“I said what I said.”
That was Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Paulina Mangubat’s statement Thursday evening after her response to White House adviser Stephen Miller’s smear against Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico of Texas went viral earlier this week.
After Miller posted a picture on Wednesday of Talarico with the comment that Democrats in Texas had nominated “their first transgender Senate candidate,” Mangubat, who serves as the DNC’s content and creative director and is behind many of the committee’s social media posts, had a concise response.
(May 22, 2026)
Rarely has a document been at once as mysterious and anticlimactic as the Democratic National Committee’s autopsy of what went wrong in the 2024 election, which, after much drama and angst, was finally published on Thursday.
The committee’s chair, Ken Martin, promised a full audit of party operations when he was running for his seat, and again when he won it. Last July, officials said it would be out in the fall. Fall came and went, and in December, Martin said it wouldn’t be released at all. By hiding it, Martin made the report an object of suspicion and fascination.
Democrats want to move on from 2024. The Bidens won’t let them.
(May 26, 2026)
A California ballot initiative that will be put to voters in November would tax just 5 percent of billionaires’ fortunes over five years. This trailblazing wealth tax would be a small (for the ultrawealthy) but important (for everyone else) step toward raising needed tax revenue and curbing the state’s runaway inequality.
The billionaire class in California includes roughly 250 households, a mere 0.001 percent of the state’s families. Yet its wealth now amounts to more than half of California’s entire annual economic output.
This means that if these billionaires spent all of their wealth, they could buy more than half of the goods and services produced in a year in the entire state.