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Can California’s governor’s race get any airtime (a televised debate scratched after a controversy over four candidates who didn’t make the cut), much less any traction with a disinterested electorate?
Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, discuss the latest in the Golden State including the public ostracization of labor icon Cesar Chavez after a New York Times exposé revealed dark secrets from his past; Los Angeles’ penchant for spending follies (an 8-mile bike bridge to nowhere); and flawed ballot measures (including a “mansion tax” that’s snarled SoCal housing construction); plus what three recent polls say about the Golden State’s next wave of political leaders – and if former vice president Kamala Harris will be a part of that cohort.
Recorded on March 26, 2026.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Lee E. Ohanian is a senior fellow (adjunct) at the Hoover Institution and a professor of economics and director of the Ettinger Family Program in Macroeconomic Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
His research focuses on economic crises, economic growth, and the impact of public policy on the economy. Ohanian is coeditor of Government Policies and Delayed Economic Recovery (Hoover Institution Press, 2012). He is a frequent media commentator and writes for Hoover’s web channel, California on Your Mind. He has won numerous teaching awards at UCLA and the University of Rochester.
Bill Whalen, the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism and a Hoover Institution research fellow since 1999, writes and comments on campaigns, elections, and governance with an emphasis on California and America’s political landscapes.
Whalen writes on politics and current events for various national publications, as well as Hoover’s California On Your Mind web channel.
Whalen hosts Hoover’s Matters of Policy & Politics podcast and serves as the moderator of Hoover’s GoodFellows broadcast exploring history, economics, and geopolitical dynamics.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Matters of Policy & Politics, a podcast from the Hoover Institution, examines the direction of federal, state, and local leadership and elections, with an occasional examination of national security and geopolitical concerns, all featuring insightful analysis provided by Hoover Institution scholars and guests.
To join our newsletter and be the first to tune into the next episode, visit Matters of Policy & Politics.
