Melanie Mason
@melmason
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senior political writer, @politico . @latimes / @georgetown / @ucbsoj alum. tell me about your dog. mmason @politico .com
Los Angeles, CA
Joined March 2009
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Pinned Tweet
Programming note: I've got a new job! Thrilled to be joining the big
@politico
expansion in CA
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At
@KamalaHarris
town hall in North Las Vegas, they’re offering headsets to hear Spanish translation of the event real-time. First time I’ve seen that st a political event.
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One contestant, stumped by a question on Final Jeopardy, simply wrote, “What is, ‘We love you, Alex!’” on his answer board.
Trebek’s eyes welled up as he softly read the response aloud. “Thank you,” he said.
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.
@broomheadKTAR
is a two-time Trump voter, staunch conservative and one-time supporter of auditing the 2020 election in Maricopa county. Now, his radio show is a daily recitation of how the effort became a debacle. My story from Phoenix:
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This pup was wandering Paradise and hopped a transit bus that was evacuating people. She’s now in foster care around Chico. Recognize her? Message me and I’ll help connect
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@KamalaHarris
gets an extended standing O here at Essence Fest as she walks out to "California Love." "My heart is full" Harris says, greeting the crowd
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The reporters who are documenting this are doing heroic work
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“Doom and Dad jokes” —
@LATSeema
takes a look at the unconventional campaign of Andrew Yang
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Most of the candidates here at Essence Fest have rattled off the same statistics specific to black women when it comes to pay/wealth gap and maternal mortality.
@BetoORourke
is the first to highlight the higher rates of suspension/discipline for black students. Crowd applauds
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LA county launches a new study to text for coronavirus antibodies, an effort that could shed light on how much the virus spread, how lethal it truly is and how long this clampdown on daily may continue
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.
@PeteButtigieg
gives a nod to
@HollyJMitchell
's bill banning hair discrimination during his address to Essence Fest: "You're not free if you can be kicked out of school or lose your job if somebody says your hair is a distraction."
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Biden: "It’s clear we’re winning enough states to reach 270 electoral votes…I’m not here to declare that we won but…when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners."
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Kamala Harris' campaign says she will skip tomorrow's forum on criminal justice at Benedict College in SC, after President Trump was given an award there today. Instead, she'll host a criminal justice roundtable in Columbia
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So amped to be taking on a new role at
@latimes
as national political correspondent. I always thought
@markzbarabak
had the best gig in political writing, so it’s wild to be following in his footsteps. Send me your tips, gossip and restaurant recs
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Biden says after election results are clear, next step is to "turn down the temperature." "To make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies. We are not enemies."
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Here’s Beto, touring the park w enviro justice advocate Leslie Martinez and Dr. Anne Kelly from UC Merced Yosemite Station. They’re talking about the forest ecosystem and loss of biomass in the park due to fire, beetle infestation, drought
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Big theme from Buttigieg's endorsers in his N.H. events today: talking up his steady, calm demeanor. Rep. Annie Kuster keeps likening him to "no drama Obama." Michael J. Fox says while his rivals on debate stage last night "were yelling at me," Pete "isn't screaming."
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Pete Buttigieg says to people who say he doesn’t have Washington experience and only has been mayor of midsize city: “that’s very much the point.” Notes that communities like his are “tired of being reduced to a punchline by Washington politicians”
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.
@GavinNewsom
's victory speech is heavy on the California exceptionalism. "The sun is rising int the west and the arc of history is bending in our direction. This is not just a state of resistance. California is a state of results."
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Welp, the most important bill of the year has been signed. Surfing is officially California's state sport. I think we can all go home now.
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This is really stunning. Nunes is running TV and radio ads against the Fresno Bee, his hometown paper
'The Fresno Bee has worked closely with radical left-wing groups ...' Nunes declares war on the media via
@politico
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.
@joebiden
and
@KamalaHarris
appear together at the Phx airport prior to their campaign events today in AZ. Biden cast blame on Trump’s rhetoric re: the plot against
@GovWhitmer
. “The President has to realize the words he utters matter.”
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.
@JoeBiden
,
@KamalaHarris
and
@cindymccain
visit the American Indian Veterans National Memorial at the Heard Museum in Phoenix
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Crowd at the Warren event starts a "lock him up" chant and Warren quickly shuts it down with a "now, now" and a pivot to the next questioner.
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NEW:
@AdamSchiff
makes it official. He's running for Senate in 2024 in what is shaping up to be a marquee CA battle. My story:
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Team Kamala out in force in front of the New Orleans convention center. She’s slated to speak at Essence Fest later this morning
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.
@SBengali
traveled to New Delhi to learn about
@KamalaHarris
’ Indian family. He came back with an astonishing amount of detail and insight. Read it here:
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Dottie met a pig at the dog park today, so that’s how my move to Los Angeles is going
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With her election to the second-highest post in the nation, Kamala Harris has secured her place in history as a first — several times over.
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.
@PeteButtigieg
flexed major organizational muscle — big turnout, big energy. Going first may have blunted a little bit of his impact but his climb in Iowa is undeniable
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.
@latimesharriet
is spot-on about why her team’s Pulitzer win today meant so much to the
@latimes
newsroom as a whole
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Bernie Sanders' campaign jumps on the news of PG&E power outages in NorCal, saying it highlights need for his Green New Deal. Release with quote from his CA state director
@Rafael_Navar
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@CHueyBurns
For what it's worth, I was at the event, but didn't hear him use that phrase. (It was kind of hard to hear in the press file). The longer question, which I did catch, was about Trump's rhetoric re: immigrants and how she would hold him accountable for that.
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Manchin's post-Sandy Hook background check bill got 55 votes and was bipartisan. It failed bc of the filibuster. "If you don’t take away the lesson that the system needs to be fixed, I don’t know what to tell you,"
@AJentleson
told me last yr
Sen. Joe Manchin says he would do “anything I can” to move “common sense” gun legislation forward, but still refused to eliminate the filibuster to get gun legislation through the Senate, per
@jessicadean
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@KamalaHarris
’ order: pork sandwich, greens, cornbread. She asks owner Rodney Scott if he’d reveal how he makes his greens (no dice)
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Among the attendees at
@GavinNewsom
’s pre-inaugural “leadership brunch”: Real Housewife of
Bev Hills
@erikajayne
. “I’m excited to see someone like Gavin—young, vibrant—taking over the state and leading us into the future. He’s got a lot of great plans.”
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.
@PeteButtigieg
in Spanish says the detained children are pursuing the American dream and fleeing the nightmares of their own countries. Switches back to English: “as long as there is a profit motive to lock people up in this country, we will see more of this”
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Lots more Democrats at the Reagan Library than usual tonight to see Rep. Liz Cheney, whose message was blunt: "Republicans cannot be loyal to Donald Trump and to the Constitution."
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.
@JoeBiden
out with a statement on
@TheAtlantic
article about Trump reportedly disparaging military dead. Says the article, if true, is "yet another marker about how deeply President Trump and I disagree about the role of the President of the United States."
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Lots of free advice for journalists on this site, but what I really wish someone told me as I started out was "learn how to identify various trees, flowers and architecture styles so you're not desperately Googling every time you need to write descriptively about a place."
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I’m trying my darndest to only interview New Hampshire voters are this Pete Buttigieg event (there are lots of tourists from nearby states) but I made an exception for Sandra Day, from Boston. She’s a hardcore Buttigieg fan, her owner tells me
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Quite a turnout for
@KamalaHarris
’ townhall in Charleston. Capacity in this gym is around 1500 people and it’s pretty darn full (the upper balcony has filled in even more since this photo)
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Turnaround time from Trump teasing VA visit to Terry McAuliffe fundraising off it: One hour
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@Quakeish
@RyanHaarer
@jessicaseaman
There is 1 company, Cellex, that has gotten FDA emergency use approval & others are in the queue. The tests being used by LA county are pending approval but Stanford has done its own quality tests of the kits. That said, as the story notes, accuracy of these new tests is a big ?
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Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax plan has turned into a town hall chant: "Two cents! Two cents!"
My story on her LA event last night:
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@KamalaHarris
Harris on Trump: "He wants to Make America Great Again -- what exactly does 'again' mean? Back before the Civil Rights Act? Before the Voting Rights Act? Before Roe v. Wade?...Well Essence, we’re not going back."
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@KamalaHarris
Harris uses Essence Fest to roll out new proposal to address racial wealth gap: pledged $100b in federal investment to help homebuyers in historically redlined communities
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This is so, so important. When I was very much *not great* during an intense stretch of reporting on sexual assault/misconduct, a friend suggested I look for resources into vicarious trauma. Just putting a name to how I was feeling was immensely helpful.
hi hello? *taps mic*
This is a ~mental health~ thread. As journalists we talk a lot ab the work we do but not about the recovery time we need. So I am about to take 3 weeks off, and I’m going to tell you why, in case it helps other people take time off without feeling guilty. /1
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Topping the $1.5m she raised on her campaign launch day
🚨BREAKING:
@KamalaHarris
raised $2M online in 24 hours after the
#DemDebate
from 63,277 people.
58% were first-time donors, and the average donation was just $30. We quadrupled our share of donations from the first 4 early states. Best online $ day of the campaign.
#Momentum
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.
@KamalaHarris
’s husband
@douglasemhoff
stands on a stepladder to see over the fence into the Homestead facility rec yard. Activists here wave heart signs to communicate with the children
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Here are the Isiserettes leading Kamala’s march into the Steak Fry. The group also led Obama’s procession into the Harkin Steak Fry in 2007
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ICYMI: My dispatch last night from South Carolina, where
@KamalaHarris
made her most forceful case thus far for her record as prosecutor:
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There is something vaguely comforting to know that a California recall election will always find new heights of absurdity
WATCH: CA Republican gubernatorial candidate in recall served subpoena during debate
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“I’m not here to make news, I’m here to enlighten you” is about the most perfect
@JerryBrownGov
quote there is
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California's Central Valley is used to being ignored in presidential politics. But now 2020 hopefuls like Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke are heading inland, for reasons both strategic and symbolic.
@finneganLAT
and I report:
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Have seen O'Rourke twice in CA rallies and both times he switches seamlessly between English and Spanish (not just translating what was said prior). Reflects the bilingual reality of a lot of folks here
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@KamalaHarris
She closes more optimistically: "At this difficult moment, we can have faith that the American ppl are spirited, resourceful and resilient." Then encourages viewers to tune in after SOTU to watch official Democratic responses by Stacey Abrams and Xavier Becerra
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.
@JerryBrownGov
signs CA bill mandating representative of women on corporate boards and, while noting flaws in the legislation, references “recent events in Washington DC” that illustrate that “many are not getting the message”
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One of the pups appears to have left a panda toy behind and I am v distressed about it.
👋
@JerryBrownGov
departs the Governor’s Office (with some help from Cali and
@ColusaBrown
)
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.
@GavinNewsom
makes his first big hires: Ann O'Learly, fmr Hillary Clinton policy advisor, will be his chief of staff and Ana Matosantos, budget chief to
@Schwarzenegger
and
@JerryBrownGov
, will be cabinet secretary.
@tarynluna
and I report:
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.
@marialaganga
writes about a truly heroic effort to get 91 nursing home patients in Paradise to safety. The final image in the kicker is haunting
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Here’s
@KamalaHarris
greeting elementary school kids in Dearborn, Michigan. About two minutes after introducing herself, she tells them “one of the things I forgot to mention is that I’m running for president of the United States”
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Standing with the excellent journalists at the LA Times. Not just because they’re my friends, but because Los Angeles cant afford to have its newspaper cut to the bone
🦅THE L.A. TIMES GUILD IS WALKING OUT🦅
We are calling for a one-day walkout TOMORROW, Jan. 19, in protest of management's proposal to cut staff and multiple unfair labor practices.
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“What this signals is that a good chunk of white people now have some recognition that something’s not right.”
@tyrone_beason
explores how white Americans are processing this moment of racial reckoning
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Oakland Police says they estimate more than 20,000 attendees for
@KamalaHarris
rally, confirming crowd count from campaign
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Happy “I’ll use any excuse to post my dog’s picture on Twitter” day!
#InternationalDogDay
#NationalDogDay
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California, you’re getting old. And that raises a lot of questions for the next governor. The third chapter of our
#NextCalifornia
series
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The baseless birtherism smear against Kamala Harris is the latest example of how Trump and the GOP's efforts to define her have been all over the map. my story with
@finneganLAT
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@VP
is in LA today, visiting one of the county’s spreading grounds that contain water from the recent storms. She arrived with
@WadeCrowfoot
, CA’s natural resources secretary and is joined by
@AlexPadilla4CA
@RepCardenas
, among others
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Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and other 2020 candidates have made maternal health, particularly of black women, a key part of their policy platforms. My dispatch from South Carolina looks at this crisis
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Lots of Democratic candidates making visits to this site. Eric Swalwell on Monday, Warren today, Beto O'Rourke plans to visit on Thurs and Kamala Harris' campaign announces she'll be there on Friday AM
Outside the Homestead facility where thousands of migrant children are detained.
@ewarren
arriving shortly.
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Some stray thoughts on my story today on the changing political landscape in the Texas suburbs. It was one of those reporting trips that led to an overstuffed notebook, not all making it into the piece
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As we wait for
@KamalaHarris
to hold a press gaggle, here’s a pic of a Very Good Dog hanging out with us
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.
@KamalaHarris
supporters get a specialty cocktail and discount at local Oakland restaurant
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👋 politics junkies outside of CA. Thanks for turning your attention westward this evening. Here’s some recommendations on must-follows as we get the results
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In which an old Gen Z’er (
@MelissaGomez004
) and an old millennial (me) explore why the youth are so into Bernie Sanders
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And closed with “and that’s why I stand here as a candidate for president of the United States,” positioning herself as part of this lineage of barrier-breaking women
KAMALA’s close at
@essencefest
: “The fight of black women has always been fueled and grounded in faith and belief in what is possible ...
... It’s why Sojourner spoke.
Why Mae flew.
Why Rosa and Claudette sat.
Why Maya wrote.
Why Fannie organized.
Why Shirley ran.”
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I have been waiting for Beyonce to pop up this election cycle...and I am still waiting. But Ms. Tina is introducing Kamala Harris in Houston
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Big, big scoop from
@ccadelago
:
@GavinNewsom
will name
@LaphonzaB
to fill Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat:
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Me, about to tell hotel clerk that for the 2nd time in one day, I locked my key in the room: Please don’t judge me but—
Clerk, skipping no beats: Oh we judged you the moment you checked in.
I deeply respect this.
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What a terrible, terrible week this is for stellar journalists at Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and Gannett. Terrible for us readers and the public as well.
And to repeat what many of my LAT colleagues have said: we've got jobs. Come join us:
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“I am Aretha, upbeat, straight-ahead, and not to be worn out by men and left singing the blues.”
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Some tidbits from
@KamalaHarris
2020 launch: her campaign will be based in Baltimore with a 2nd office in Oakland and will be run by LA-based strategist Juan Rodriguez, who ran her 2016 US Senate campaign. Campaign slogan is "For the People"
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After making electoral college case, Biden also makes case re: popular vote: "Sen. Harris and I are on track to win more votes than any ticket in this country that ever won the presidency and vice presidency: over 70 million votes."
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@katythoma
And here's a photo Wade just sent me of him and Luna, now that they've been reunited.
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.
@LaurelRosenhall
's profile of
@kdeleon
is exhibit A for why experienced statehouse reporters are so crucial. Chock full of nuance that only comes with years of covering him.
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Eric Bauman has resigned as chairman of the California Democratic Party. Full statement:
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Very proud to receive this honor and to have worked with this stellar team
The
@latimes
has been awarded the 2023 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation. Congratulations to the reporters:
@boreskes
,
@kevrector
,
@Noahbierman
,
@melmason
and
@cam_joseph
!
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