Monterey County Elections & Politics Overview

Salinas City Councilmember Steve McShane brought tomato seedlings to a council meeting on Tuesday, April 9 to give to his colleagues, “to spread goodwill,” he said. Then he announced his resignation, effective May 10.

A new bill would make it illegal for homeless residents to camp in certain places, such as near schools, throughout California. Its authors say such a ban has had great success in San Diego. But a closer look at that …

In an analysis of more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators since 2017, CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow and CBS Sacramento reporter Julie Watts found that Democrats vote “no” less than 1% of the time on average.

Some of California’s top lawmakers want to clear up, but also rein in, the “builder’s remedy.”

The state is considering zeroing out funds for CalWORKS family stabilization and job subsidy programs to help balance the budget.

The City of Pacific Grove is on its way to switching from at-large to district elections, after the P.G. City Council voted 5-0 on Wednesday, March 6, to hire a demographer to study the makeup of P.G. residents—the first step…

There’s more to Election Day than campaign platforms. While candidates run on policy ideas and promises, they are human beings behind all those glossy mailers. The Weekly has made a tradition of asking about some of that behind-the-scenes work of…

State Sens. Aisha Wahab (left) and Shannon Grove speak during the Senate floor session at the Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 22, 2024. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

Peter Coniglio described himself as a "Monterey guy," and he was, with deep roots that run back to his Italian immigrant grandfather who came to Monterey and found success as a fisherman and founder off the first cannery. Coniglio branched…

The trustees of the Hartnell Community College District Board were faced with filling a vacancy last fall after former chair Erica Padilla-Chavez resigned and moved out of the area. They could fill it by an election, maybe during the primary…