California Patriot Profile: Katy Grimes, Editor-in-Chief of the California Globe

A veteran investigative journalist and Capitol watchdog whose reporting has exposed government failures, challenged one-party rule, and given taxpayers a clear look at how Sacramento really operates.

⏱️ 6-Minute Read

Every week we highlight a different California Patriot — someone who has stood tall for the ideas of liberty and freedom in a state where the governing class is filled with left-wing ideologues that embrace both collectivism and authoritarianism. Today we profile one of the most fearless watchdogs in Sacramento — a journalist who refuses to be a stenographer for the political class, and whose reporting has exposed more government dysfunction than most newspapers even attempt…

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The Capitol Watchdog Who Never Backs Down

Katy Grimes is a name that echoes through California’s political circles — especially among those who work under the Capitol dome. As the Editor-in-Chief of the California Globe, she has built a reputation as one of the state’s sharpest and most persistent investigative journalists. When Sacramento insiders want to know what’s really happening behind closed doors, they don’t turn to the Los Angeles Times or the Sacramento Bee. They check Katy’s reporting.

Her beat isn’t easy. California’s government is dominated by one-party rule, protected bureaucracies, and legacy media outlets that often run interference for those in power.

For more than two decades, Katy has covered the Capitol with an institutional memory and subject-matter expertise that are increasingly rare. She served as a State Capitol correspondent for the FlashReport, one of California’s most important conservative political platforms. Before that, she was part of the Pacific Research Institute’s CalWatchdog Journalism Center, and earlier wrote for the historic Sacramento Union. She jokes that she’s “never a stenographer,” but the line reflects a deeper truth: she does not take government spin at face value. She reads bills, digs through documents, watches hearings, and uncovers what lawmakers hope the public doesn’t notice.

On a personal note, I’ve known Katy for many years. What readers see on the page — tough, principled, and unwilling to look the other way — is exactly who she is in private. She is a valued friend and colleague.

A Voice for Accountability When Few Remain

The Globe launched in 2018 to fill a vacuum created by the collapse of traditional newspapers. But it was Grimes’s arrival soon after as Editor-in-Chief that gave the outlet its defining mission: holding Sacramento accountable without fear or favor. She has scrutinized everything from California’s homelessness spending to wildfire policy, energy mandates, regulatory overreach, and the constant flow of new laws that drive families and businesses out of the state. Whenever the Newsom administration rolls out a “solution” that expands bureaucracy while avoiding accountability, Katy is often the first to explain the real-world consequences. Her work resonates because it speaks directly to taxpayers — the people who bear the cost of California’s decisions but rarely receive honest coverage about them.

“Katie Grimes is an intrepid, courageous journalist beholden to no one. It has been said by Winston Churchill and others that a person can be judged by the strength of their enemies. Katie has a lot of powerful enemies and California is better off when she keeps irritating them.”

Jon Coupal, President
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

A Career Rooted in Public-Service Journalism

Grimes began writing about California politics long before social media and long before the Capitol press corps was hollowed out. After her early journalism work with The Sacramento Union, she built a statewide following through CalWatchdog. From there, she expanded to numerous California newspapers and outlets. At the FlashReport, she became known for covering floor sessions, budget maneuvers, and committee hearings that most reporters ignored.

Her influence extended beyond journalism. She served as a Senior Media Fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, focusing on the regulatory decisions shaping California’s energy grid and electric rates. She co-authored California’s War Against Donald Trump and contributed to Taxifornia 2016, two works that examine California’s political direction and its consequences for taxpayers, businesses, and personal freedom. Katy is also a Navy mom, a point of pride she never hides. Her son graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and serves as a Navy Lieutenant — a reminder that service, accountability, and duty are not abstractions in her life.

Fearless Reporting in a One-Party State

What makes Grimes uniquely important is her willingness to challenge the narratives crafted by consultants, bureaucrats, and legacy media. In a state where many political reporters act as mouthpieces for government announcements, Katy demands evidence. Over the years, she has documented billions of dollars spent on homelessness with almost no measurable improvement; the state’s repeated failure to manage water and wildfire risks; and sweeping energy mandates that raise costs and reduce reliability.

Just one of a thousand headlines at the California Globe…

Katy has also taken on one of the most sensitive topics in California journalism: the personal finances of Governor Gavin Newsom. While much of the press treats Newsom with kid gloves or repeats talking points from his communications staff, Katy has dug into the financial arrangements, business interests, and disclosure gaps that raise serious questions about conflicts of interest and transparency. Her reporting in this area has revealed details others overlooked and forced uncomfortable issues into public discussion — exactly the kind of journalism Sacramento needs and the political class hopes to avoid.

Katy has exposed the budget gimmicks used to mask structural deficits and the political machinery behind ballot measures and union-backed campaigns that shape California’s future. These topics are often avoided by traditional newsrooms, either because they are too complex or too politically sensitive. Katy covers them anyway — and she does it with clarity, facts, and a transparency the public rarely receives elsewhere.

So, Does It Matter?

Honest reporting matters because California’s political system increasingly relies on a disengaged — and in many cases compromised — press. The traditional news landscape has shifted so dramatically that many “mainstream” outlets no longer function as independent watchdogs. They approach state government with a built-in bias toward bigger bureaucracy, progressive narratives, and the interests of the political class that funds and protects them. This trend is only getting worse as journalism in California becomes partially supported by taxpayer-funded media initiatives, along with large cash infusions from left-of-center nonprofits that blur the line between reporting and advocacy.

In that environment, a voice like Katy Grimes becomes not just valuable, but essential. She refuses to accept the filtered version of events presented by official spokespeople or government-friendly newsrooms. Her work exposes what policymakers would prefer to keep buried — the failures, the mismanagement, the waste, and the human consequences of policies that reshape the lives of 40 million Californians. She gives taxpayers a voice, highlights stories other outlets ignore, and insists that the state’s political establishment be held to account.

California needs watchdogs. It needs truth-tellers. And it needs more journalists like Katy Grimes.

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Follow Katy’s work!

Of course you should check out the California Globe (daily) here.

And follow Katy on X here.

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One Great Interview…

My very first one-on-one podcast on this Substack was, of course, with Katy… (Who else?)

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Check Out Our Library of 25 Other California Patriot Profiles!

Each week, we profile an exemplary California conservative. Previous profiles have included Sheriff Don Barnes, Chuck Bell, Judge Roger Benitez, Andrew Breitbart (in memoriam), Adam Carolla, Jon Coupal, District Attorney Dan Dow, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, Victor Davis Hanson, Julie Hamill, Lance Izumi, Congressman Kevin Kiley, Charles Kesler, John Kobylt, Congressman Tom McClintock, Rob McCoy, Ron Nehring, Sam Paredes (in memoriam), Dennis Prager, Gary Sinise, Thomas Sowell, John Voight, and James Woods.

You can go here to see them all!