Top Ten Winners & Losers In California Politics For The Week Ending 3/27 - Who Had The Worst Week?
Every week I'm closely following politics here in the Golden State. This is a weekly feature where we call out ten winners and/or losers. Actually, I tend to find more losers... Just saying.
Below is our Top Ten List of Winners and Losers for the Week. This feature is available to all of our subscribers, free and paid. Usually, under the paywall, is our “Worst Week In California” special feature. It's me, in rare form, on video, going on why someone’s week sucked. This week, we are making it available to all, so you can see what you are missing each week!
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⏱️ 5-minute read
This is where we examine state and local politics (or national issues with a California angle) and highlight individuals (or groups) who have achieved notable success or had a particularly challenging week. I strive to call balls and strikes fairly and objectively, which sometimes makes it difficult to assemble this list.
Top Winners & Losers This Week in California Politics
⬇️ LOSER: KAMALA HARRIS, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT
For a California Democrat, this is a brutal reality check. A new Berkeley IGS poll shows her not just trailing — but getting crushed by Gavin Newsom among her own state’s voters, pulling only 9% support compared to his 28%. In a state where she built her entire political brand, that kind of weakness signals a serious erosion of support and raises real questions about her viability in a national primary.
⬇️ LOSERS: GOOGLE AND META
A California jury just delivered a major blow, finding both companies liable for designing platforms that contributed to social media addiction in a young user, and ordering millions in damages. The verdict isn’t just about one case; it’s a warning shot. By focusing on product design — not content — plaintiffs may have cracked the legal shield Big Tech has relied on for decades, opening the door to thousands of similar lawsuits and serious financial and regulatory exposure.
⬆️ WINNER: ASHLEY ZAVALA, KCRA POLITICAL DIRECTOR
With massive, secretive spending on the Capitol Annex project coming to light, she didn’t wander the halls — she went straight to the lawmakers responsible. Confronting Senator John Laird and Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco on camera, she pressed them to explain why taxpayers are being kept in the dark. When both chose to dodge, deflect, or walk away, it exposed exactly how little accountability exists without aggressive, on-the-ground reporting.
⬇️ LOSER: BENJAMIN MARTIN, MADERA COUNTY SUPERVISOR CANDIDATE
This candidate was at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. That is not the issue, of course. It’s his conduct on that day that should be disqualifying for a candidate for public office. According to federal prosecutors, as rioters “tackle[d], shove[d], spray[ed], and hurl[ed] objects at the officers,” Martin “held one of the double doors open,” then repeatedly tried to pull it back open as police struggled to secure the entrance. That is active participation in a violent breach of the Capitol. Who does that? Not someone you want to elect to office. This demonstrates serious issues with judgment and temperament.
⬆️ WINNER: CONFIDENCE IN VOTING
After years of drawn-out counts and shifting outcomes, the time has come to reassert a basic principle: Election Day should actually mean something. Based on the questions asked by multiple justices during oral arguments, court watchers — including the non-partisan SCOTUSblog — believe it is likely the Court will interpret existing law to require that ballots be received by Election Day to be counted. That would bring needed clarity, restore finality to election results, and help rebuild public confidence in a system that has too often left voters waiting and wondering.
⬆️ WINNER: SCOTT SHERMAN, FORMER SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCILMEMBER
He just scored a real win in court. A judge ruled that claims tied to the “Empty Homes Tax” ballot measure — including promises about housing production and revenue — must be stripped or revised because they weren’t supported by the measure itself. That’s a direct hit on misleading ballot language. Instead of letting a campaign sell voters something inflated, he forced the truth onto the ballot — exactly where it belongs. (H/T to the San Diego County Taxpayers Association)
⬇️ LOSERS: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND ABC 7 TELEVISION
What should have been a major voter-facing event instead turned into a self-inflicted collapse. By relying on a formula that excluded multiple major candidates — and then failing to resolve the backlash — organizers boxed themselves into a no-win situation that ended with outright cancellation. The result wasn’t clarity for voters, but confusion and lost opportunity, reinforcing the perception that even basic debate forums in California can’t be executed without political and institutional mismanagement.
⬇️ LOSERS: UNITED EDUCATORS OF SAN FRANCISCO
After orchestrating a strike that kept kids out of the classroom for a week, the consequences are falling on students and families. The school year now will be extended into what was supposed to be time off, just to make up lost days. Meanwhile, teachers were paid during the disruption and will now be paid again for the added days. Students lose, families adjust, and the system absorbs the cost.
⬇️ LOSER: GAVIN NEWSOM, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
Prison policy in California runs through the governor, and under this administration, the system is drifting in the wrong direction. Handing out tablets to inmates — with access to messaging, apps, and entertainment — reflects a broader liberal push to make prison more tolerable, even comfortable. That completely misses the point. Prison is supposed to be a deterrent. It’s supposed to be a place that people in the criminal world want to avoid at all costs. When incarceration starts to feel manageable — or worse, accommodating — you weaken that deterrent effect and send exactly the wrong signal.
⬇️ LOSER: CAPITOL DEMOCRATS
A new Pew survey confirms what most Americans already know instinctively — they want more space, not less. But Sacramento Democrats continue to double down on a one-size-fits-all housing agenda that prioritizes dense, urban development whether communities want it or not. Their policies ignore voter preferences and instead reflect ideological commitments to high-density living, effectively sidelining the very people they claim to represent while worsening public frustration with California’s housing direction.
Usually, below the paywall is my weekly pithy video where I talk about the person in California politics who has had the worst week! What? Not a paid subscriber? GOOD NEWS - this week, we are making it available to all! So you know what you are usually missing if you are not yet a paid subscriber!
AND THE “AWARD” FOR WORST WEEK IN CALIFORNIA POLITICS GOES TO…
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