Will McCarthy

San Francisco Bay

California Ballot Measures Reporter at POLITICO

California ballot measures reporter @politico. as seen in @texasmonthly, @latimes, @nytimes, @natgeo, @smithsonianmag, @snapjudgment, @longreads

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Articles

Sacramento’s ballot dealmaker is ready for business

3 days ago | politico.com | Emily Schultheis |Will McCarthy

Darrell Steinberg, a former Sacramento mayor and veteran lawmaker, is kicking off his work in public policy mediation. | Damian Dovarganes/AP WHAT’S THE DEAL, DARRELL? — Eleven years ago, then-Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg authored legislation that allows initiative and referendum sponsors to pull them after qualifying, a move that transformed the ballot into Sacramento’s liveliest new marketplace for haggling and dealmaking.
The Prop 22 fight rides again

1 week ago | politico.com | Will McCarthy |Jeremy B. White |Emily Schultheis

THE LAST CHIP AT THE BARGAINING TABLE — A dispute over the labor rights of rideshare drivers gave California its all-time most-expensive ballot campaign. Five years later, unfinished business from the Prop 22 contest could either inspire a costly lobbying tug-of-war in Sacramento, or trigger a new round of legislative dealmaking over the place of gig workers in the state’s economy.
Is sports betting headed back to the ballot in 2026?

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Emily Schultheis |Will McCarthy

Sports betting has been the subject of multimillion dollar ballot fights in California. | AP GAME ON? — Three years ago, California’s powerful tribes poured more than $200 million into defeating Prop 27, an initiative from DraftKings and FanDuel that would have legalized online sports betting.
Why ballot petitions aren’t going digital

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Will McCarthy |Emily Schultheis

Petitions for a ballot initiative, like these from former Gov. Jerry Brown, can arrive to state election officials by the boxful. | AP E-SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE? — In the state that gave the world robotaxis and Ghiblified memes, it was inevitable that discussions about making it easier for citizens to access the ballot would end up circling around one simple technological innovation.
Elon-ville, USA. Population: 500.

4 weeks ago | politico.com | Will McCarthy |Ben Johansen |Sophia Cai |Irie Sentner

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump’s unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond.
How Musk is building his own SpaceX-geared town in Texas

4 weeks ago | politico.com | Will McCarthy

Voters in a small Texas village will be asked to weigh in on a ballot initiative asking whether Musk’s SpaceX base of operation should become its own municipality called Starbase. SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is prepared for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 2, 2025. | Eric Gay/AP Elon Musk’s extraordinary role in reforming the federal government has led some to call him a shadow president.
When will California see the money Prop 35 promised?

1 month ago | politico.com | Rachel Bluth |Emily Schultheis |Will McCarthy

Even the most optimistic predictions say it will be at least a year before doctors see the raises expected after the passage of Prop 35. | Mario Tama/Getty Images CASH SLOW — The powerful health care interests who put Proposition 35 on the ballot last November had a simple pitch for the complex initiative: a tax no voter paid would provide a long-awaited pay bump to doctors and hospitals who serve the state’s lowest-income residents.
He Thinks His City Can Solve California’s Biggest Problems. Even if the Public Says Otherwise.

1 month ago | politico.com | Will McCarthy

Armed with tech billions, Jan Sramek has dreams of creating a new, affordable, walkable city. If, that is, California lets him. Cattle graze on land purchased by California Forever in Solano County, California, on Feb. 20, 2025. | Loren Elliott for POLITICO SOLANO COUNTY, California — It doesn’t take long, driving north from San Francisco past bay and sea, to remember just how new, in the scheme of things, this place is.
Why DeMaio is trying another voter-ID initiative

1 month ago | politico.com | Will McCarthy |Emily Schultheis

Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a freshman lawmaker from San Diego, is pursuing political influence via the ballot. | Gregory Bull/AP DEMAIO PICKS FAVORITES — Assemblymember Carl DeMaio appears to have landed on a flagship measure in his pledged attempt to transform the state rightward via the ballot box: an initiative that would require voters to present identification at the polls.
California reckons with the recall

1 month ago | politico.com | Will McCarthy |Emily Schultheis

RECALL AND RESPONSE — Californians are reveling in the recall — the most personalized, vindictive weapon in direct democracy’s arsenal — just as politicians ask them to change it. In November, Oaklanders watched as both their mayor and county district attorney were recalled by voters. Just this month, Bay Area voters will decide whether to grant San Mateo County supervisors the right to remove a “rogue” sheriff.