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Lynn La

Newsletter Writer

Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter with more than 150,000 subscribers.    

In the newsletter, Lynn analyzes the state’s policy issues for a broader audience, through original reporting and by summarizing and compiling stories from CalMatters and other news sources. Recently, she has reported on bills to address California’s worsening fentanyl epidemic, tackle retail theft and legislate happiness. She also reveals more about lawmakers by interviewing them for an occasional series on first-term legislators in 2023 and new committee chairpersons in 2024. 

Through WhatMatters, Lynn also plays a crucial role in CalMatters election coverage, helping to keep track of daily developments in key campaigns, including legislative and congressional races and ballot measures.  

Prior to joining CalMatters in March 2023, she wrote for the education technology startup Guild and was a senior editor at CNET. She also covered public health at The Sacramento Bee as a Kaiser media fellow and was an intern reporter at Capitol Weekly. 

Lynn is based in the Bay Area. She graduated from UC Davis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Other languages spoken: Vietnamese (basic)

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Latest Stories

A sign outside of Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City on Nov. 17, 2021. Photo by Andrew Kelly, Reuters
Person seated in a living room, looking directly at the camera. They wear a maroon and black long-sleeve shirt and are sitting on a gray couch, with a kitchen and dining area visible in the background.
Then Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom talks with then-President Donald Trump as they both walk through an area with burnt debris and structures destroyed by a wildfire.
People lean forward while they stand in front of white voting booths as they vote at a polling place.
A person sits in front of a stack of pink ballot envelopes laid out on a table.
Two voters hold their ballot envelopes as an election worker shows them how to use a voting box at a polling station.
Three individuals review and discuss information displayed on monitors in an office, with one person pointing at the screen while another sits in front of the monitors, focusing on election-related data.
Two election workers, both wearing gray shorts and black pants, stand near a machine that sorts mail-in ballots. One person carries a box with ballots. The other sets a box down on a table nearby.
People carrying bags, luggage and other personal belongings walk before they board a bus at a public plaza in Los Angeles.
A close-up view of a person's hands as they flip through a booklet with information on ballot propositions while they hold a pen with their right hand.