Los Angeles Times Kicks Off 2020 Election Coverage with the California Countdown
California’s primary, set for March 3, 2020, has emerged as a pivotal event for Democrats and Republicans as they choose their candidates for the November 2020 election.
Recognizing its importance, the Los Angeles Times is launching its Election 2020 coverage this Sunday, March 3, with the California Countdown – stories designed to guide readers and viewers as the candidates and campaigns emerge and evolve.
“We know this turf like no one else, and our news reports and analysis will provide invaluable insights about critical issues for California, the nation and the world,” said Times Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine. “Change comes first to California and the West – be it demographic, economic, political or social – and we are uniquely qualified to cover the issues and arguments our electorate will confront as we help determine the future of democracy and the nation.”
Elaborating, Pearlstine said, “We shall deliver scoops and in-depth reporting on myriad issues, including immigration, climate change and the environment, energy, mobility, income inequality, housing and homelessness, healthcare, education, LGBTQ and Hollywood’s role in defining these issues.”
The Times’ coverage is headed by Millie Quan, a senior editor who ran the 2000 campaign; Washington bureau chief David Lauter; and columnist Doyle McManus. The team of political reporters includes Mark Z. Barabak, Janet Hook, Evan Halper, Michael Finnegan and Melanie Mason. Coverage will be bolstered by journalists assigned to the various candidates, investigative reporters, and specialists whose beats intersect with the campaign.
Managing Editor Scott Kraft said, “Our Washington bureau has nearly doubled to 23 reporters and editors in the eight months since Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong acquired The Times last June, and our editorial staff has grown by more than 30%. We have the people and the tools to cover the California Countdown.”
Sunday’s four-page special package (PDF attached) includes:
- Mark Z. Barabak’s story on Kamala Harris and a changing California
- Janet Hook’s examination of what the sprawling Democratic field looks like (13 candidates) and how California’s earlier-than-usual primary factors into candidates’ campaign strategies
- Melanie Mason’s look at how moving up California’s primary illustrates the state’s political inferiority complex (coming soon)
- A Q&A that answers the basics, including how California delegates are divvied up and when balloting begins (coming soon)
As part of the campaign coverage, The Times will team with the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley for a series of five statewide polls, beginning in late spring of this year and running through the eve of the March 3 primary.
The polls will provide our readers a look at how Californians in the Democratic and Republican parties assess their presidential choices, as well as data on major issues facing the state. They will enable us to see how significant events in the campaign, including the results of the first two nominating contests, shape the choices of California voters. And they will allow us to see how groups within the electorate vary on their political decisions.
The surveys, under the direction of veteran pollster Mark DiCamillo, will follow the methodology that the Institute for Governmental Studies has pioneered in California, using email information from the state’s voter file to contact voters to produce a representative sample of the electorate. That method proved highly successful in forecasting and analyzing the state’s votes in last year’s June and November statewide elections, including polls of eight highly contested California congressional districts that the institute conducted on behalf of The Times.
Quick links to follow our campaign coverage:
