Alex Vassar ๐
@AlexCVassar
Husband, father, reader of books and writer of words. A #CACapitol alum who works at the @CAStateLibrary and is a big fan of learning from history. ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฆ
Yes, the 2025 edition of California Lawmaker is out. I've tried to create a useful resource for those interested in #CAPolitics, and also included a long-lost story about a con man who was elected to the State Assembly in the 1910s under a false identity. amazon.com/dp/B0DQG9V2TQ
LOVE this version @AlexCVassar! amazon.com/California-Lawโฆ
๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎโ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ One question I get fairly often is, โHow many lawmakers have served in the California State Legislature?โ Starting with the first day of session in December 1849, there have been 4,524 people...
My math is that if Bill Essayli was appointed on April 1st, his 120th day is next Wednesday. Am I mathing that correctly? "An appointee can lead a U.S. attorney's office for up to 120 days pending Senate confirmation." cbsnews.com/news/alina-habโฆ
If youโre intrigued by all this redistricting conversation, hereโs a good back and forth with my friend @MattRexroad on @CaliforniaICP where we do agree on a few things! #CARedistricting vs #TXRedistricting
I always love a California election day. History gets made all day but you get to start seeing the pages get written at 8:15 pm. I just feel bad for the refresh buttons on @rpyers and @paulmitche11's keyboards.
๐ณ๏ธ 38 Days Until Election Day! Election Day for Assembly District 63 is Tuesday, August 26, 2025. --- ๐ณ๏ธยก38 dรญas para el dรญa de las elecciones! El dรญa de las elecciones para el Distrito 63 de la Asamblea es el martes 26 de agosto de 2025.
Some light Saturday morning reading. I'm sure there's nothing that has aged terribly in this 1930 report. ๐ค
EXCLUSIVE: We joined Border Patrol as they carried out immigration enforcement in Sacramento this morning. Suspected illegal immigrants scattered as soon as agents pulled into a Home Depot, leading to foot pursuits. BP tells us they surveilled the location & ran plates for twoโฆ
California has seen (particularly in the early days) scenes that started like this but escalated much further.
Watch an extraordinary moment on Capitol Hill caught on camera. WI Congressmen @RepVanOrden and @RepMarkPocan frequently spar online, but the confrontation today was in person with both sides hurling insults. Full story: spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/nโฆ @SpectrumNews1WI @SpectrumNewsDC
๐๐ฟ. ๐ก๐ผ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป Today would have been the 79th birthday for Dr. Sam Aanestad, who served in the legislature from 1998 to 2010.
So prior to today, the count of chaptered bills and resolutions as: 18 SBs and 70 SCRs 13 ABs and 72 ACRs
GGN announced signing 30 bills - double the number he had done so far. The first Assembly Republican-authored bills were signed (8 of them). Assembly bills are 2/3 of those that reached GGN's Desk. 7 freshman Assembly Members got bills signed today, as well as 1 freshman Senator.
I can't imagine anything scarier for the evil-doers than @rpyers bring his data combing skills to a role like this. ๐
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐น๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ช๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด George J. Lapthorne was described in an Associated Press article as โa former state legislator who never introduced a bill, cast a vote or made a speech during his term ..."
A decade ago, I ran into George Steffes at Fat's and (luckily) had brought my 1975 California Blue Book (my California politics "autograph book"). George was gracious with his time and added his signature to the book.
When Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966, George Steffes joined his administration as legislative secretary and director of policy, a job he held until 1972. He died this week at age 90. His oral history with journalist Lou Cannon: capitolweekly.net/oral-historiesโฆ
We were sorry to hear about the recent passing of longtime lobbyist George Steffes. Steffes was a Sacramento legend who served as Gov. Reagan's legislative secretary and director of policy (1966-1972). His oral history interview with @Capitol_Weekly is at capitolweekly.net/oral-history-lโฆ
I never met former Assemblyman Bill Hoge but always found him interesting. He was the Southern CA Chair for Prop 140 campaign (creating term limits) and then joined the #CALeg 2 years later & was around for the Brown-Pringle speakership fight. He was there for interesting times.
Rest In Peace Bill Hoge. Today, surrounded by his family, my dear friend and political mentor went to be with God. Bill was an inspiration to so many people. He served as President of the @cragop and as a member of the California State Assembly. My heart goes out to his family atโฆ
Wait, does @ccambises have to work today? I certainly hope not!