Domination at the top in Sacramento

Budget battles, ballot measures, shrinking media coverage and plain old-power grabs have combined to dramatically increase the influence of California governors. Zocalo Public Square columnist Joe Mathews says California’s centralized power contrasts with the state’s image as open and diverse, with a progressive culture bent on disrupting existing structures. California voters will elect a new governor next year, and Mathews says that choice will be more important than ever before given the state’s increasingly top-heavy power structure.