The awards, presented by the Sacramento Press Club, honor political and public policy reporting from across California.

Reporter Byrhonda Lyons won the impact in journalism award for her investigation into how the California Department of Motor Vehicles handled surplus proceeds from auctioned vehicles. Her reporting found that the DMV collected more than $8 million between 2016 and 2024 from nearly 5,300 vehicle auctions in which cars sold for more than the costs owed, but former owners were not notified that they could be entitled to the remaining money.

CalMatters journalism engineer Mohamed Al Elew followed the investigation by building an online tool that allowed people to search whether their towed vehicle had generated excess proceeds. The DMV later created a similar lookup system.

The reporting also prompted legislative action. In March, state Sen. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, cited Lyons’ work when introducing SB 1029, a bill that would require the DMV to notify vehicle owners when surplus funds from a lien sale may be owed to them.

Awards judges called the project a clear example of public service journalism, noting that CalMatters used reporting and public records to uncover money that should have been returned to Californians.

CalMatters investigative reporter Sergio Olmos was among the journalists honored with the courage in journalism award. The Sacramento Press Club recognized reporters who continued covering protests against federal immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles in 2025 despite being struck, detained or otherwise targeted.

The award included journalists whose experiences were referenced in legal action filed by the Los Angeles Press Club and Status Coup against the Los Angeles Police Department. The lawsuit alleged that officers targeted journalists even when they were clearly identified as members of the press. A court later issued an injunction barring law enforcement from interfering with journalists doing their jobs.

Olmos was included after he was hit in the chest by a crowd-control munition while reporting on an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. He told The Washington Post he was wearing a press pass and recording video near a federal building complex when LAPD officers fired munitions at demonstrators. Olmos said he believed he was struck by a 40 mm sponge grenade.

Over the past year, Olmos has reported extensively on immigration raids in California. His investigative series examined the conduct of immigration agents from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, and later in Chicago and Minneapolis, documenting allegations of forceful tactics and questionable detentions that courts have said likely violated constitutional protections.

Anat Rubin won in the criminal justice reporting category for “The Man Who Unsolved a Murder,” an investigation into the shortage of investigators working with public defense teams in California. The reporting found that low-income defendants, who make up at least 80% of people charged with crimes, are often convicted without anyone independently investigating the allegations against them.

Rubin’s work showed that nearly half of California’s 58 counties do not employ full-time public defense investigators. In counties that do have them, access varies widely and is often insufficient.

Judges praised the project for its reporting and writing, saying it clearly showed the consequences of inadequate investigative support for defendants. They also noted the reporting on the risks of relying on flat-fee defense attorneys instead of public defenders.

CalMatters reporter Joe Garcia was a finalist in the same category for reporting from inside California’s prison system. His work examined the realities of shared prison cells and the state’s parole process, including how rehabilitative programming has expanded while the share of prisoners found suitable for parole has gradually declined.

In public health reporting, Jocelyn Wiener, Marisa Kendall and Erica Yee won for an eight-part series on California’s CARE Court program. The program allows family members, first responders and others to petition courts to help people with severe mental illness obtain treatment, and in some cases gives judges authority to order care.

The series examined how the program has worked in practice, including the experiences of families trying to get loved ones off the streets and into psychiatric treatment, and the legal limits courts face when handling petitions. Judges said the reporting explained how the law’s original goals were weakened during the legislative process and why the program has struggled to deliver on its promises.

Adam Echelman won in education reporting for his coverage of financial aid fraud in California’s community college system. His reporting found that colleges were seeing unprecedented levels of fraud, with scammers stealing millions more in student aid than in any prior period, according to reports colleges submitted to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Following the CalMatters reporting, Republican members of Congress called for a federal investigation, a Democratic state lawmaker requested a state audit and the chancellor’s office approved a new identification verification policy for students. Jory Hadsell, an executive in technology initiatives for the chancellor’s office, said colleges have become more aggressive in detecting fraud through improved filtering practices and new software.

Judges said Echelman’s coverage combined deep reporting, data and the voices of people affected by the fraud, while underscoring the stakes for students, faculty, staff and taxpayers.

Original source: CalMatters

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The delay is a familiar feature of California elections, where every registered voter is mailed a ballot and many votes arrive after Election Day. Under state law, mail ballots are counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received by county election offices within seven days. Counties have deadlines to complete their counts, and the state has up to 38 days after Election Day to certify the final results.

That process could leave Californians waiting to see who advances in some of the state’s most closely watched contests, including the governor’s race.

Gov. Gavin Newsom last month urged election officials to “accurately count every lawfully cast ballot as quickly as possible.” Two changes may help speed the process this year. Proposition 50, which redraws congressional districts in a way expected to benefit Democrats, could make some races less competitive and easier for analysts and news organizations to project. A new state law also shortens the deadline for counties to finish counting most ballots to 13 days instead of 30.

The election is already notable for its cost. California is seeing its most expensive primary on record, driven in part by billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer, who has put $213 million of his own money into his campaign for governor. Candidates in other races have also contributed heavily to their own campaigns, with self-funded down-ballot candidates putting in roughly a quarter-billion dollars this year — the highest amount since California began tracking such spending nearly 30 years ago.

Supporters of self-funded candidates often argue that personal wealth can make a candidate less dependent on lobbyists or special interests. Critics counter that it raises questions about whether wealthy candidates can buy influence or access to public office.

Chris Anderson, a Lodi City Council candidate who has contributed to his own campaign, described the tension this way: “There is a part of me that likes the fact that a person is funding their own campaign because they’re less likely to be beholden to a special interest. But on the other hand, what special interests got them to where they are?”

In another development tied to the governor’s race, users of the prediction market platform Kalshi were giving Democrat Xavier Becerra a 74% chance of becoming governor in November as of Monday. At the same time, Kalshi itself donated $39,200 last week to Becerra’s campaign.

The contribution has prompted concerns from campaign finance watchdogs about whether a betting marketplace should give money to a candidate while its users are wagering on that same candidate’s political future.

Trent Lange, executive director of the California Clean Money Campaign, said the situation appears troubling. “It does seem especially problematic when a betting market is giving large contributions to any candidate that they are holding betting markets for,” Lange said.

Kalshi has recently expanded its political presence in Sacramento. Earlier this year, an advocacy group for prediction markets registered to lobby in California as part of a coalition that included Crypto.com, Coinbase and Robinhood. Since last year, Kalshi has increased its California political spending, donating $115,000 to state candidates, including Becerra.

Campaign money is also flowing in another long-running California political fight: the battle between tribal casinos and privately operated cardrooms.

A San Francisco judge last month handed tribal casinos a setback in their effort to stop cardrooms from offering blackjack-style games. Tribes have argued for years that they have exclusive rights to offer blackjack and other lucrative games. The dispute has drawn substantial campaign contributions to state officials and lawmakers from both sides.

Twenty-seven casino-owning tribes have given at least $15.8 million to current members of the Legislature, according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database. Roughly the same number of cardrooms and affiliated companies have donated at least $2.8 million to lawmakers.

Cardrooms have also contributed at least $244,000 to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office has been involved in pursuing related gambling regulations. Tribes have given $531,000 to Bonta.

Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for Bonta, told CalMatters that “Contributions have never impacted the Attorney General’s decision-making process.”

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, CalMatters and local partners held a series of voter engagement events around the state, drawing more than 600 Californians to discuss the issues driving their votes. As part of the VotingMatters events, CalMatters Director of Partnerships Dan Hu traveled more than 2,000 miles, meeting voters from Vallejo to Riverside.

Other statewide political commentary this week focused on the challenges awaiting California’s next governor, including the state’s troubled unemployment insurance system, which columnist Dan Walters described as burdened by worsening finances and debt. Christian Arana, vice president of civic power at the Latino Community Foundation, also argued that California should strengthen voting rights protections in response to a state voter ID initiative, federal proposals that could limit voting access and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions affecting voter protections.

Additional coverage being followed across California includes scrutiny of the crowded governor’s race, concerns about internet campaign misinformation ahead of 2028, an AI-generated video posted by Republican Assembly candidate Darin Hale, a possible corruption case involving a San Joaquin Valley government agency, Bay Area graduates’ views on artificial intelligence, questions over whether local or state governments can stop a proposed ICE detention facility near Gilroy, Spencer Pratt’s strategy in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, vandalism and burned ballots under review in Los Angeles County, and the experience of transgender athlete AB Hernandez amid national political attacks.

Original source: CalMatters

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The VotingMatters series was designed to help voters sort through a primary that includes nine statewide offices, 61 candidates for governor and redrawn congressional districts. Over the month, CalMatters held 17 events with about 30 local partners, drawing more than 600 participants from Vallejo to Riverside.

The events used CalMatters’ 2026 voter guide, videos of gubernatorial candidates answering questions and printed “Choose your next governor” zines to prompt conversations among voters. CalMatters partnerships director Dan Hu traveled roughly 3,000 miles during the effort.

In Southern California, events were held in Montecito, Camarillo, Los Angeles and Riverside. The Riverside gathering brought together as many as six partner organizations, including Mindful Media Makers, which featured its puppet character Panchito in an interview with Hu.

Organizers said the goal was not to tell residents how to vote, but to give them reliable information and a setting where they could discuss issues with neighbors. At several events, attendees watched video clips of leading gubernatorial candidates before discussing what they heard in small groups.

At a Montecito event co-hosted by Noozhawk, Santa Barbara resident Marty Conoley said the candidate videos were more useful to him than televised debates, which he said often became dominated by attacks. He said the videos should be shown on television in prime time without interruption.

Celeste Barber, who also attended the Montecito event, said her table included six strangers who avoided partisan arguments and instead focused on issues. She said that kind of exchange reflected what she believes civic engagement should look like.

The statewide tour also included Central Valley stops in Modesto, Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield, where events were held at bars, community colleges and other gathering places. In Modesto, about 100 people attended a program at Contentment Brewing Company, co-hosted by The Modesto Focus, where participants played state and local political trivia before discussing the governor’s race.

Attendees across the events included election workers, business owners and college students preparing to vote in their first midterm election. At the Camarillo event, some participants who had not known one another before the discussion exchanged contact information afterward.

CalMatters also provided materials in Spanish. In Bakersfield, Merced and Modesto, attendees picked up stacks of Spanish-language voter guide zines to share with students, relatives and friends.

The VotingMatters events were organized with local news outlets, nonprofits, churches, county registrar offices, League of Women Voters chapters and the California State Library. In Yolo County, Abridged from PBS KVIE used the series for its first event there as it works to expand local coverage.

CalMatters also made a VotingMatters event kit available for people who wanted to host their own gatherings. Members in Petaluma and Long Beach organized small groups of more than 10 people to review ballots and the voter guide. One Long Beach attendee described the gathering as the kind of community event that democracy should encourage.

CalMatters said VotingMatters will return for the 2026 general election.

Original source: CalMatters

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CalMatters continues to be the go-to statewide resource for nonpartisan election information, this time with an in-newsroom and virtual event.

The unique election event was hosted in CalMatters’ downtown Sacramento newsroom with guests in-person. The live discussion was also broadcast live via Zoom to more than 200 voters from across California.

CalMatters journalists detailed the seven propositions on the Nov. 8 ballot, offering unique insights on the issues, who is funding the measures and the latest related news.

CalMatters Editor Dave Lesher, a veteran California journalist and state policy expert, led the discussion. Previously he was director of government affairs at the Public Policy Institute of California, and he has more than 25 years of experience as a political writer, state Capitol reporter and assistant national editor for the White House campaign.

Lesher was joined by other CalMatters journalists: Grace Gedye, economy reporter; Emily Hoeven, writer of the daily WhatMatters newsletter; Alexei Koseff, state Capitol reporter; and Nadia Lopez, environmental reporter.

The crowd also experienced our Pizza & Politics initiative in a unique way. We’re encouraging people to gather in groups to play our ballot proposition videos and discuss each one.

Here, we offered that experience live and in-person — while passing out free Pizza & Politics stickers after the event. Link: https://calmatters.org/campaigns/pizza-politics/

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