Voting Across the Great Divide: An Election Reader

California Ballot Initiatives

Proposition 15

Experts Weigh in on Proposition 15’s Possibilities

Capital & Main speaks to local leaders and policy authorities about the potential effects of Prop. 15’s passage.

Campaigning for Tax Reform: A Ground Game Without the Ground

How is Proposition 15 getting its message out during the pandemic?

Cash of the Titans: Prop. 15’s Big-Spending Opposition

Donors to a campaign claiming to represent small shopkeepers and homeowners include North America’s largest freight railroad network, two New York real estate giants and one of Earth’s richest men.

Silence of the Dems: Why Aren’t There More Prop. 15 Endorsements?

Many progressive electeds have ignored an initiative that would revise California’s constitution to assess commercial property at higher rates.

The $11 Billion Question: Will Californians Raise Commercial Property Taxes?
Proposition 15 leaps feet first onto California’s “third rail” of state politics—the property tax system created in 1978 by Proposition 13.

California’s Proposition 15 Has Nothing to Do With Clean Energy

So why is the opposition using the solar industry to defeat it?

Taxpayers’ Remorse: The Life and Times of Proposition 13

Property taxes plunged with Prop. 13’s passage in 1978. But so did the revenue supporting California’s schools and fire service.

A New Series Chronicles Proposition 13’s Day of Reckoning

Inside the epic ballot fight to reform California’s “taxpayer rebellion” initiative.

Proposition 21

Who Is Backing the Groups Attacking Proposition 21?

“Plain folks” in ads warn against rent control – but a corporate-funded campaign by the real estate industry raises pay-to-play questions.

Rent Control Advocates Ramp Up Electoral Efforts

The real estate industry is a powerhouse opponent of rent control in California politics. But tenant activists are upping their electoral game.

California Renters and Landlords to Face Off at the Ballot Box

A November initiative is the latest battle in a long war that has driven housing costs in the Golden State exorbitantly high.

Proposition 22

Proposition 22 Would Weaken Driver Protections, Hurt Workers of Color

Gig companies are threatening to eliminate thousands of jobs if their ballot measure doesn’t pass.

Racial Justice Activists Split Over Proposition 22

Major endorsements arrive as critics worry the measure will be disastrous for California labor.

Criminal Reform Initiatives

Carrots and Sticks: California Weighs Two Criminal Justice Propositions

The fates of Prop. 20 and Prop. 25 may signal the extent to which Californians support reform — or favor reversing it.