Sophie Austin
Sophie Austin covers California state government and politics for the Associated Press, with a through-line of following how policy fights over taxes, healthcare and civil rights play out inside the state’s governing machinery. Her reporting returns to the intersection of ballot measures, budget choices and power struggles between labor, elected officials and the ultra-wealthy.
Taxing billionaires and the mechanics of ballot fights
Austin has built a sustained series around California’s proposal to impose a one-time tax on billionaires to counter federal cuts to healthcare for low-income residents.
She traces the measure from its inception as a union-backed initiative seeking a 5% levy on individuals with net worth above $1 billion, through signature gathering, qualification milestones and evolving political opposition. Her stories detail projected revenue, estimated at about $100 billion, and how that money would be allocated across Medicaid, food assistance and education, grounding political rhetoric in fiscal specifics. She consistently brings in the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office to quantify both short-term gains and longer‑term risks, including potential declines in income tax revenue if wealthy residents relocate.
The coverage situates the tax fight within broader debates over structural deficits and the state budget, showing how a single ballot measure can reshape negotiations between lawmakers and the governor.
Labor unions, internal scrutiny and governing leverage
Beyond the mechanics of the tax itself, Austin reports on the labor union driving the initiative and the internal pressures around its leaders. She covers allegations that the union leader behind the billionaire tax proposal harassed and intimidated women within an affiliated union, drawing on investigative findings and interviews with current and former members.
In these pieces, she links workplace conduct to political strategy, showing how accusations against a key figure could ripple through the campaign to raise taxes on the ultrawealthy.
Her stories also document the union’s tactical shift when it offered to scale back the tax from 5% to 2% in an effort to win over the governor, explaining the procedural consequences of moving from a ballot measure to a legislative route. Across this labor coverage, Austin treats unions both as policy advocates and as institutions subject to scrutiny, charting how internal dynamics influence high‑stakes negotiations over healthcare funding and tax policy.
Governor debates, immigration and statewide political contests
Austin extends her focus to statewide races, covering televised debates in the contest for California governor and the issues that define those campaigns.
Her pieces on candidate debates show Republican and Democratic contenders clashing over homelessness, household costs, high taxes and proposals such as making the first portion of income tax‑free for residents. She highlights how the proposed billionaires tax becomes a litmus test in these forums, noting which candidates embrace the measure as a way to backfill federal healthcare cuts and which dismiss it as a temporary fix.
Immigration and healthcare for people in the country illegally appear as recurring themes, with Austin documenting where candidates diverge on extending state-funded coverage and how those positions connect to broader tax and budget arguments. The debate coverage reinforces her core beat: she follows how policy proposals move from committee rooms and union halls onto the campaign stage, where they are tested against voter concerns and partisan fault lines.
Civil rights, policing tools and policy implementation
Her work also tracks civil rights and law enforcement policy at the state level, including legislation to ban shock gloves used by officers. In covering the governor’s decision to sign a law prohibiting local, state and federal officers from using gloves that deliver painful electric shocks, Austin explains when the ban takes effect and how long it will remain in place.
She situates the measure within ongoing scrutiny of police tactics, focusing on statutory language and implementation timelines rather than rhetorical flourish. This thread aligns with the areas she is noted for covering - environmental, education and reparations policies - underscoring her attention to how state laws seek to address historic harms and regulate the tools of government power. Across these stories, she keeps the emphasis on specific legal changes, enforcement horizons and their consequences for people affected by state policy.
Methodical coverage of California’s policy landscape
Across beats, Austin’s reporting is anchored in state institutions: the governor’s office, the Legislature, unions and regulatory bodies that decide how public money is raised and spent. She returns repeatedly to healthcare for low-income residents and how federal funding cuts force California to rethink its tax system and budget priorities. Environmental, education and reparations policies form part of her remit, and even when those topics appear in brief reference, they are treated as connected strands in the state’s broader effort to manage inequality and public services.
Her work favors clear explanations of ballot language, revenue estimates, legal mechanics and political alliances, offering a consistent view of how policy decisions emerge, are contested and, eventually, are implemented.
4 more politics journalists.
A.D. Quig
A.D. Quig follows money and power through Chicago and Cook County government, showing how political decisions, taxes and public spending affect residents and businesses. At the Chicago Tribune, she covers city and county politics, municipal finance, tax policy, budgets and the structures shaping mayoral and council authority. She joined the Tribune in 2022 after covering politics for Crain’s Chicago Business and The Daily Line. Her work examines council power, ethics rules, police leadership, tax incentives, public agencies and pandemic aid. She has reported on data center tax breaks, property tax errors, federal relief spending and the fiscal effects of major development proposals. Quig combines insider government reporting with public accountability journalism. She uses public records, data and budget documents, follows committees and staff negotiations, and explains complex decisions in plain language with precise numbers and a direct link to everyday consequences.
Adam Daly
Adam Daly covers politics for amNewYork with a focus on the inner workings of city and state government and the low-profile forums where power is exercised and negotiated. He reports on commissions and panels that shape how New York is governed, treating charter reform and government efficiency as central political terrain. His coverage of moves to replace an Adams-era charter commission with a new government efficiency panel foregrounds mandate, authority, and what “efficiency” means in practice for agencies and services. He tracks who gains and loses influence when one commission supplants another and which constituencies are being answered to. Daly explains dense procedural questions in clear, reader-facing terms, using specific institutional details and occasional wordplay to connect jargon-heavy reforms to public spending, service delivery, and mayoral power.
Adam Pack
Adam Pack covers Capitol Hill through power struggles, investigations and ideological fights, focusing on how Congress intersects with Donald Trump’s agenda. He is a politics writer on Fox News Digital’s Capitol Hill team, covering Congress, federal elections, legislative battles, election rules, war powers, primaries and intraparty fights. He previously wrote for the Daily Caller News Foundation. His reporting examines deadlines, vote counts, bill language, campaign spending, court rulings, oversight reports, culture clashes and emerging issues such as AI-backed political groups. He has covered FISA reauthorization, defense spending, the SAVE America Act, housing policy, redistricting, candidate absences, primary spending and disputes over sex, gender, religion and race-based caucuses. He reports primarily through news features and investigative-style pieces built around documents, committee reports, court records, unearthed video and specific legislative details. He often co-writes complex Capitol Hill stories and publishes “FIRST ON FOX” exclusives.
Adam Sullivan
Adam Sullivan is a veteran politics reporter for WCAX who connects elections and party disputes to everyday life. He covers statewide races, party primaries, federal representation, political rhetoric, extremism, and accountability across the Upper Valley and neighboring states. His reporting includes Becca Balint’s victory over Molly Gray in the Democratic U.S. House primary to replace Congressman Peter Welch. He also reports when political controversies affect public safety, political culture, towns, and institutions, including a New Hampshire Libertarian Party post endorsing violence against elected Democrats. Sullivan follows cultural stories with civic consequences, such as Noah Kahan’s appeal to fans to stop stealing a Strafford road sign linked to his music. He writes straight news centered on concrete events, official reactions, political context, community impact, and what comes next.