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One Voter Project

The Online Home of California's Political History

November 22, 2015 By Alex Vassar

Dueling in California (A Legal History)

The delegates who met in Monterey in 1849 to draft California’s first constitution debated the need to limit dueling during the convention. Noting that the formality associated with dueling primarily made it a practice of political elites, delegate William Gwin began to push for the penalty to be (rather than a prison term), a permanent […]

Filed Under: California law, Constitutional Officers, Current Research, Editorial, JoinCalifornia, Legislation, State Assembly, State Senate, Top Stories

November 20, 2015 By Alex Vassar

NEW CHART: Legislators by Freshman Class

After getting introductions to two new databases for biographical research (one of which is Moose Roots, a great collection of Census records as well as birth/death records), I started a refresh of the information in JoinCalifornia.com. The refresh included, among other things, updating the list of living and deceased former California legislators. During this update, former Assemblyman Larry Chimbole (Assembly […]

Filed Under: Current Research, Deaths, Editorial, JoinCalifornia, Special Elections, State Assembly, State Senate, Term Limits, Top Stories

November 7, 2015 By Alex Vassar

Lessons from an 1870s Law Book

When the State of California was new, laws passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor were identified only by the order in which they had been chaptered. For example, the fifth law signed by the Governor in 1850 (Chapter 5, Statutes of 1850) created the office of State Treasurer. The principal reason for using this […]

Filed Under: California law, Current Research, Editorial, From the Archive, JoinCalifornia, Legislation, State Assembly, State Senate, Top Stories

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Q: Who was the last Assembly Speaker to later be elected to the State Senate? A: Before Bob Hertzberg (serving since 2014), it was Frank F. Merriam (Speaker in 1923-1926), who was elected to the State Senate in 1928 and went on to be Governor in 1934.

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