
California's Generic Governor's Race and the End of Local Politics
From Talk Cocktail by Jeff Schechtman
May 30, 2026 · 33 min
About this episode
Joe Mathews joins Jeff Schechtman to discuss the disconnect in California's governor's race from local politics and the influence of national issues.
With just days to go before the June 2 California primary, J oe Mathews joins me on the California Sun podcast to examine how California’s race for governor has become strangely disconnected from the state itself and what it says about local politics everywhere. With almost all the campaigns built around generic national talking points and anti-Trump messaging, Mathews explores the growing nationalization of state politics, and why the actual mechanics of governing barely seem to be part of the conversation. Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe
People in this episode
Host: Jeff Schechtman
Guest: Joe Mathews
Topics covered
- California governor's race
- local politics
- nationalization of state politics
- anti-Trump messaging
- campaign strategies
Keywords
- California
- governor's race
- local politics
- national politics
- campaigns
- anti-Trump
- June primary
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: California Sun, Talk Cocktail Podcast
Places: California
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