Remember talking to people with civility about politics — even on contentious issues? Meet the CalMatters guy who has made that happen dozens of times.

CalMatters’ director of partnerships, Dan Hu, has been traveling across the state to talk with Californians about the upcoming election. His VotingMatters events with local news organizations, colleges and others, aim to bring voters together to discuss the issues that matter most. 

In the run-up to the 2024 election, Dan led 40 events and drove 7,000 miles. This year so far, he has driven 2,046 miles, and estimates he’s interacted with a total of 2,000 Californians through VotingMatters. I spoke with Dan to learn more about what voters are saying.

Have you met people at the events who are big fans of any gubernatorial candidate?

No! No one at any of these has actually been that passionate about any candidate. Generally, people are talking about affordability, housing, healthcare. People are passionate about issues, not politics. 

How polarized is California? 

It’s probably less polarized than you think. When people come together in person they appreciate talking to each other. It is more civil than the discussions they have online. 

In 2024, at an event in Santa Barbara with Noozhawk, two people who had been arguing on Nextdoor met each other for the first time in real life. And they were like, “Oh you’re a real person and you care about this community.” They still disagreed, but walked away cordially. 

Democracy works when people engage. And engaging doesn’t always mean, ‘I voted and my job is done.’ It starts with talking with your neighbors.

Has all that driving exposed you to good food?

There’s so much good food around the state. I was meeting Người Việt in Westminster, which has one of the largest enclaves of Vietnamese-Americans. The editor-in-chief brought me to his favorite restaurant, Pho 79, and it was the single best bowl of pho I had in my life.

Do people find our voter guide helpful?

One attendee said he tried watching a televised debate, but it devolved into people attacking each other. He said he didn’t learn anything and he turned it off after 15 minutes. But watching CalMatters governors’ videos for a few minutes, he said he could watch this for a whole hour. The videos help because it makes the candidates feel more human.

How can people stay involved?

We put together a kit so anyone can put on their own VotingMatters event. I also started an Instagram for some of my travels that will be a place for people to follow along.

Our next events are tonight in Fremont and Tuesday evening in Vallejo with more to come over the next couple of weeks.

Let’s dive into some economic and consumer news:

• Gas prices: Rising gas prices due to the Iran war are affecting the budgets of state agencies. Average per-gallon fuel costs have risen almost 46% for the California Highway Patrol. School buses serving rural districts can drive 100 miles daily. The higher gas costs are taking funding from student services, said Siskiyou County’s superintendent. Read more from CalMatters’ Levi Sumagaysay and Carolyn Jones.

• Surveillance pricing: Lawmakers last week advanced a bill that would ban retailers from changing prices based on a shopper’s age, location and other information. The bill is similar to one that failed last year, but now inflation and affordability are top concerns for voters. Read more from CalMatters’ Khari Johnson.

• Bigger state role with insurance?: To address the state’s insurance crisis, some candidates for insurance commissioner want the state more involved in insurance coverage. There’s precedent for that: Legislators created the California Earthquake Authority in 1996 after insurers retreated from California following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. But the publicly managed, privately funded earthquake insurance provider has thin coverage, and the pricey premiums policyholders have paid over the decades have mostly gone to bureaucracy, according to the president of Consumer Watchdog. Read more from Levi.

Two separate efforts from the state — housing more data centers and saving its hospitals — are leaving major questions unanswered, underscoring how California is making big decisions without knowing the full details.

Data centers, writes CalMatters’ Rachel Becker, are steadily encroaching on rural, water-strapped regions. But a patchwork of state, federal and local policies have allowed data center builders to avoid publicly disclosing how much water they use, according to a new report.

Though lawmakers are considering a bill that would require data center operators to report their water usage, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar measure last year amid industry pressure.

Meanwhile, lawmakers and the governor earlier this month approved a $25 million grant to struggling hospitals, report CalMatters’ Yue Stella Yu and Ana B. Ibarra.

The measure became law less than a week after it was introduced, and stakeholders still don’t know how many hospitals would qualify and whether the funding will be enough to prevent hospital closures in the near term. When trying to get more clarity during the budget hearing, state Sen. Chris Cabaldon called the lack of answers “profoundly disturbing.” The Napa Democrat voted for the measure anyway.

Turning Point USA presence has nearly tripled on California campuses, following the 2025 assassinatin of its co-founder, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Some California conservative students say Turning Point chapters have helped them become more public about their beliefs. Some professors also said they have noticed increased tension in the classroom when political disagreements arise, but welcome the conflict in the name of encouraging healthy debate. Read more from Kahani Malhotra of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network.

California Voices

Community-rooted preschools are eroding due to Newsom’s well intentioned growth of transitional kindergarten, and lawmakers should pass measures that would bolster nonprofit preschools, write Bruce Fuller and Lisa Wilkin, professor emeritus of education policy at UC Berkeley and CEO of the Child Development Consortium of Los Angeles, respectively.