Top Ten Winners & Losers In California Politics For The Week Ending 3/20 - 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 assembling this list difficult.
Top Winners & Losers This Week in California Politics
⬇️ LOSERS: GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM AND PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATORS
California’s political leadership has spent years rewriting criminal justice laws to reduce sentences, expand early release, and shrink the prison population—and now they’re getting exactly what those policies produce: empty prisons and calls to shut down even more. The state is incarcerating roughly 70,000 fewer people than in 2010, enabling at least five prison closures with another potentially on the chopping block. This isn’t an accident—it’s the direct result of policy choices that prioritize decarceration over deterrence, weakening the system’s ability to hold criminals accountable and protect the public. Now they want to close another prison.
⬇️ LOSER: THE LATE CESAR CHÁVEZ
For decades, Cesar Chavez was treated as untouchable in California’s political culture. That illusion is collapsing. Recent reporting details deeply disturbing allegations of sexual abuse, including claims by Dolores Huerta that she was assaulted and became pregnant as a result, along with accounts involving other women and even minors. What was once a protected legacy is now unraveling in real time, as institutions rush to strip his name from public spaces across the state.
⬇️ LOSERS: USC, ABC7, UNIVISION - HOSTS OF UPCOMING GUBERNATORIAL “WHITE CANDIDATE” DEBATE
The controversy here isn’t abstract—it’s that the criteria used to select candidates resulted in every Democratic candidate of color being excluded from the debate stage. That outcome alone should have triggered a rethink. Instead, organizers hid behind a so-called neutral formula that, in practice, shaped the field at a critical early moment. When debate rules produce a result that sidelines entire groups of candidates, it raises serious questions about judgment, transparency, and fairness in a race voters are just beginning to evaluate.
⬆️ WINNERS: SABLE OFFSHORE CORPORATION AND PEOPLE WHO USE OIL AND GAS
After years of legal fights, regulatory resistance, and stalled operations, Sable Offshore has done what many thought wouldn’t happen—it’s pumping oil again off the California coast. Backed by federal intervention, the company restarted a pipeline system that had been shut down since the 2015 spill, immediately shifting the energy and political landscape. At a time when affordability is a top concern, increasing in-state supply is a tangible step toward easing pressure on fuel costs. In a state hostile to fossil fuels, that’s a major operational and economic breakthrough. This great news for bringing down costs for Californians comes over extreme objections from the left.
⬇️ LOSERS: LOS ANGELES TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
The LA Times chose to publish a sympathetic letter from a San Quentin inmate fearing deportation—but omitted the most critical fact: he’s serving a life sentence for attempted murder. That’s not a minor editorial oversight; it’s a failure of basic journalistic responsibility. Readers were given a carefully curated narrative designed to evoke sympathy without the context needed to evaluate it. A credible editorial page can have a point of view, but it cannot leave out the central fact that defines the story.
⬇️ LOSER: UNITED FARM WORKERS (UFW)
The United Farm Workers now faces serious legal and financial exposure tied to allegations of sexual abuse by its founder, Cesar Chavez. California’s expanded statutes of limitations open the door to lawsuits that could hold the organization liable if it knew—or should have known—about misconduct. For a union with relatively limited assets, even a wave of claims could be devastating. This is what happens when institutions elevate figures without accountability: the reputational damage is immediate, but the legal consequences can be far worse.
⬇️ LOSERS: BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BART’s leadership has spent years ignoring structural reality, and now they’re asking taxpayers to bail them out for it. Ridership collapsed, remote work stuck, and instead of reforming operations, they doubled down on a bloated cost structure—especially labor. Now comes a proposed 14-year, $14 billion sales tax with no serious accountability. This isn’t a rescue plan; it’s an attempt to lock in failure. Voters are being asked to subsidize a system that refuses to modernize.
⬇️ LOSER: MATT MAHAN, SAN JOSE MAYOR AND CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR
Mahan entered the governor’s race with money, buzz, and a clear lane as a “moderate” Democrat. None of it is translating. New polling shows him stuck in the low single digits, failing to gain traction despite a late entry designed to shake up the field. Other candidates polling poorly at least built campaigns organically—Mahan hasn’t. With ballots going out soon, the clock is working against him. If there’s a breakout moment coming, it needs to happen immediately.
⬇️ LOSERS: UNITED TEACHERS OF LOS ANGELES (UTLA) & SEIU LOCAL 99
At a moment when Los Angeles Unified is staring down structural deficits, declining enrollment, and mounting legal liabilities, its two largest unions are threatening to shut the system down. This isn’t leverage—it’s recklessness. Demanding double-digit raises while the district burns through reserves ignores basic math. A strike would only deepen the financial hole and disrupt learning for hundreds of thousands of students. When the system is unstable, escalating demands don’t solve the problem—they accelerate the collapse.
⬇️ LOSER: STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Forcing 286,000 attorneys to swear an annual “civility” oath sounds harmless—until you realize it’s a vague, subjective standard tied to professional licensing. That’s where it collides directly with the First Amendment. The government cannot condition someone’s ability to practice their profession on compliance with an undefined speech code. “Civility” is not a legal standard—it’s a moving target, open to interpretation and abuse. The State Supreme Court already signaled the problem by refusing to attach discipline to it. This board pushed it anyway, creating a framework that invites viewpoint policing under the guise of professionalism.
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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Find it at our podcast channel - So, Does It Matter? - On California Politics - Podcasts
Or listen to the audio here…
Jon