Scholars’ Circle – Issues and Candidates for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayoral Elections – May 31, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Issues and Candidates for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayoral Elections – May 31, 2026

May 31, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the upcoming California gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral elections, focusing on the candidates and key issues.

California has a state GDP of $4.25 trillion dollars. This is over $1 trillion more than the second largest state, Texas, with $2.9 trillion. If it were its own country, it would be the 4th largest GDP in the world (just past Japan and behind only Germany, China, and the US). It is the largest state by population, with just over 39 million. It’s over 12% of the total population. And it is holding a primary for state offices. Governor Gavin Newsom is term limited out and the field for Governor is vast. And California has a primary system where the top 2 in votes proceed to the general election regardless of party. On today’s show we will explore the Gubernatorial primary and the issues this state faces. [ dur: 28mins. ] Christian Grose is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the Academic Director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. He is the co-author of Independent Redistricting Commissions Increase Voter Perceptions of Fairness and Local Election Administrators in the United States: The Frontline of Democracy . Los Angeles is the second largest city in America. It has a $14.8 billion budget…

People in this episode

Guest: Christian Grose

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Southern California, USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy

Places: California, Texas, Los Angeles

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