What changed

Added a cost-of-living rank to the situation snapshot: California is the second most expensive state to live in, behind only Hawaii.

Initial build: sourced cost-of-living background with three charts (cost-of-living index, cost-of-living-adjusted poverty, and home affordability), plus Becerra and Hilton positions on affordability.

Added background on recent state affordability measures (the $16.90 minimum wage, the $20 fast-food wage, and refundable tax credits) and their measured results.

Added a housing-production chart from Census building-permit data so the axis covers the housing shortage as well as homelessness.

Initial V1 build: sourced background context plus Becerra and Hilton positions on housing and homelessness.

Reframed the 21-year surplus/deficit chart as a share of annual General Fund spending, rather than nominal dollars, so older and newer budget swings are comparable.

Added a tax-competitiveness rank to the situation snapshot: the Tax Foundation rates California's tax-code structure 48th of 50, with a note that this differs from the mid-pack tax actually paid per resident.

Added a 21-year chart of the General Fund's year-end surplus or deficit (FY 2005–06 through 2025–26) from the Department of Finance's historical Chart A.

Initial build: sourced budget and tax background with five charts, plus Becerra and Hilton positions on the deficit and taxes.

Added a CEC gasoline-price component chart so voters can see the relative size of crude oil, refining, taxes and fees, distribution, and state climate-program costs.

Added a gas-price rank to the situation snapshot: California has the highest average gasoline price of any state.

Initial build: sourced energy background with three charts (CA-vs-U.S. gas prices, the state electricity-rate ranking, and CA-vs-U.S. electricity-rate trends), plus Becerra and Hilton positions on gas, utilities, and climate rules.

Initial build: sourced background on California's immigrant population and the 2025 state–federal clash over enforcement, three charts (immigrant share by state, the 2025 arrest surge, and arrests per resident vs. Texas and Florida), plus Becerra and Hilton positions on sanctuary policy, ICE cooperation, and the Trump administration.

Added a state-prison population chart to show the scale of California's decarceration before comparing the candidates' prison and sentencing plans.

Initial build: sourced background with three charts (CA crime-rate trend, the cross-state violent-crime ranking, and the opioid-overdose-death trend), plus Becerra and Hilton positions on crime, policing, prisons and behavioral health.

Added a forecast-marked Medi-Cal enrollment chart showing the possible 2028 coverage loss under H.R. 1 and state budget changes.

Initial build: sourced background on Medi-Cal, coverage, and drug costs, plus Becerra and Hilton positions on healthcare.

Replaced the new-policy-only chart with a same-year comparison of 2023 homeowners-policy non-renewals and new policies written.

Added a wildfire-exposure rank to the situation snapshot: California has more homes at elevated wildfire risk than any other state, with a note that the count partly tracks its large housing stock.

Initial V1 build: sourced background on the FAIR Plan, the private-market retreat, and the January 2025 fires, plus Becerra's and Hilton's positions on insurance regulation and wildfire risk.

Added a NAEP fourth-grade math trend comparing California with the national public-school average from 2000 through 2024.

Added a school-system rank to the situation snapshot: WalletHub places California 30th of the 50 states and D.C. on a blend of quality and safety measures.

Initial build: sourced background on California school funding, test scores, childcare costs, higher education, community schools, charters, and the workforce, plus Becerra and Hilton positions on education.

Replaced the ordinal business-rank chart with measurable government-size and execution charts: workforce growth, normalized General Fund spending, and EDD fraud versus recovered funds.

Initial build: sourced background on California's government size and business-climate rankings, plus Becerra's competence-and-modernization approach and Hilton's deregulate-and-audit approach.