WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.020 Welcome in everyone. If you are tuning in right 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:06.019 now, it means You're ready for a custom -tailored 00:00:06.019 --> 00:00:08.380 deep dive. And we really have an incredible one 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:10.859 lined up for you today. We absolutely do. We 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:14.220 are taking a magnifying glass to the surprisingly 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:18.239 dramatic, intensely strategic, and occasionally 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:22.539 completely chaotic 170 -year history of California's 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:24.960 representation in the United States Senate. Right, 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:26.399 because I think government history often gets 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:28.679 a bad rap. People tend to assume it's just, you 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:31.620 know, a dry list of names, dates, maybe some 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:33.920 dusty black and white portraits. hanging in a 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.340 hallway somewhere. Yeah, totally. But the source 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:39.280 material we're digging into today paints a radically 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:41.820 different, much more human picture of all of 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:44.619 this. It really does. So for context, our source 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:46.979 today is a comprehensive data set documenting 00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:49.740 every single U .S. senator from California. Every 00:00:49.740 --> 00:00:51.899 single one. Right. We're looking at a timeline 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:53.659 that stretches from the very moment the state 00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:55.700 was admitted to the union all the way back in 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:58.399 1850, carrying us straight through to the modern 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.340 political landscape of 2026. It is a massive 00:01:01.340 --> 00:01:05.680 roster. 48. 48 different individuals who have 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:09.280 held these two incredibly powerful seats. Okay, 00:01:09.340 --> 00:01:11.519 let's unpack this. I was scrolling through this 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.260 list of 48 senators, and it immediately became 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:16.659 clear that this isn't just a basic timeline. 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:19.000 No, not at all. It reads way more like a record 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.159 of political maneuvering, raw ambition, and just 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:24.400 sudden twists of fate. Yeah, and to understand 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.379 just how wild this journey actually is, you have 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:28.159 to look right at the beginning of the data set. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:31.549 The 1850s. Exactly. California officially becomes 00:01:31.549 --> 00:01:35.049 a state on September 9, 1850. Right out of the 00:01:35.049 --> 00:01:37.950 gate, they send two men to Washington, John C. 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:40.549 Fremont and William M. Gwynn. The state's very 00:01:40.549 --> 00:01:43.069 first senators. Right. But immediately after 00:01:43.069 --> 00:01:45.730 that initial milestone, the data shows the wheels 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:47.489 just completely falling off the wagon. I noticed 00:01:47.489 --> 00:01:49.430 that. I was looking at the timeline. And in the 00:01:49.430 --> 00:01:52.609 very next year, starting in March of 1851, there's 00:01:52.609 --> 00:01:55.730 just there's a blank space in the data. The text 00:01:55.730 --> 00:01:58.870 for that period simply reads, legislature failed 00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:01.819 to elect. And it is not a tiny clerical error 00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:04.780 or a short hiccup either. That vacancy lasted 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:08.520 until January of 1852. Almost a full year. And 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.139 then scrolling down just a bit further, it happens 00:02:11.139 --> 00:02:15.759 again. Yeah. From March 1855 to January 1857, 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:19.400 another massive gap. What is going on here? How 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.819 does a brand new state just forget to send someone 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:24.300 to the Senate for two whole years? Well, it wasn't 00:02:24.300 --> 00:02:27.960 forgetfulness. It was total gridlock. That blank 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:31.099 space perfectly reflects the profound instability 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:33.719 of that specific era. You have to picture the 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:36.000 mechanics of how senators were chosen back in 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:37.979 the 1850s. Right. They weren't publicly elected 00:02:37.979 --> 00:02:40.319 yet. Exactly. They were not elected by the general 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:42.599 public going to a ballot box. They were chosen 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:44.919 directly by the state legislature. So if the 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:46.719 local politicians sitting in Sacramento could 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:48.740 not reach a consensus on who to send to Washington, 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.099 the seat simply sat empty. That is wild. Imagine 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:54.659 being a citizen living in California at that 00:02:54.659 --> 00:03:08.300 time. You're part of this new boom. It's a stark 00:03:08.300 --> 00:03:10.340 reminder for anyone listening today that the 00:03:10.340 --> 00:03:12.800 smooth operation of government is never a guarantee. 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:16.639 The machinery can, and historically has, simply 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:20.039 ground to a halt. Yeah. And beyond the sheer 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:22.719 mechanics of keeping those seats filled, I was 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:24.919 totally struck by the political identities of 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:26.840 the people they were actually sending. Oh, the 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:29.860 party affiliations? Yes. Today, you and I are 00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:32.139 so used to seeing either a D for Democrat or 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:34.400 an R for Republican next to a politician's name, 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:37.719 it feels entirely permanent. But looking at the 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:40.539 mid to late 1800s in this data set, the party 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:43.099 affiliations are wonderfully diverse. The two 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:45.120 -party system as we strictly know it today was 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:47.740 a lot more fluid in the 19th century, particularly 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:50.259 during and immediately after the American Civil 00:03:50.259 --> 00:03:53.080 War. I see a senator here in 1863 named John 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:55.979 Connis, and his party affiliation is listed simply 00:03:55.979 --> 00:03:58.340 as the Union Party. Right. A few years later, 00:03:58.419 --> 00:04:01.500 in 1867, Cornelius Cole takes office representing 00:04:01.500 --> 00:04:03.879 the National Union Party. And then there's my 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.180 absolute favorite find on this entire list. Let 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:09.590 me guess. In 1875, a man named Newton Booth is 00:04:09.590 --> 00:04:11.550 elected to the United States Senate representing 00:04:11.550 --> 00:04:14.770 the Anti -Monopoly Party. There is. He served 00:04:14.770 --> 00:04:18.250 all the way until 1881 under that specific banner. 00:04:18.529 --> 00:04:21.110 I have to admit, I had never even heard of the 00:04:21.110 --> 00:04:23.990 Anti -Monopoly Party. What was happening in California 00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:27.209 that created an entire political movement just 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:29.850 for that? What's fascinating here is how these 00:04:29.850 --> 00:04:32.750 forgotten third parties provide a perfect snapshot 00:04:32.750 --> 00:04:36.329 of the specific anxieties dominating Californian 00:04:36.329 --> 00:04:38.569 politics at the time. The existential threats. 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:41.329 Exactly. The union and national union labels 00:04:41.329 --> 00:04:43.870 obviously reflect the overarching crisis of the 00:04:43.870 --> 00:04:46.470 Civil War and the desperate drive to hold a fractured 00:04:46.470 --> 00:04:49.310 country together. But Newton Booth and the anti 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:51.370 -monopoly party tell a different story. A more 00:04:51.370 --> 00:04:54.120 economic one. Right. That tells you exactly what 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:56.300 the average citizen in California was dealing 00:04:56.300 --> 00:04:59.860 with in the 1870s. The overwhelming, completely 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.959 unchecked power of the railroads and massive 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:05.199 corporate trusts. It's like looking at a historical 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:07.519 fossil that shows exactly what people were afraid 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:10.139 of back then. The citizenry was so deeply concerned 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:11.980 about corporate monopolies controlling their 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:14.639 economy, their land and really their daily lives 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.240 that an entirely separate political party was 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:19.579 formed around that single issue. And it worked. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.279 It wasn't just a fringe movement. It was successful 00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:24.699 enough to send a man to the United States Senate 00:05:24.699 --> 00:05:28.519 to wield federal power for six years. That really 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:31.319 grounds you in the realities era. But moving 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:33.620 forward through the timeline, another major theme 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:37.240 jumps off the page. Time and again, This specific 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.279 Senate seat is treated less like a final career 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.439 destination and more like a stepping stone. Yes. 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:46.240 The upward mobility factor. Exactly. So many 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.139 of these politicians use their time representing 00:05:48.139 --> 00:05:50.399 California as a springboard for something else. 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:53.980 Well. A Senate seat from a state as geographically 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:56.139 large and economically powerful as California 00:05:56.139 --> 00:05:58.680 brings an enormous amount of national visibility. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.720 It naturally functions as a launching pad for 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:03.899 higher ambitions. I'm seeing several massive 00:06:03.899 --> 00:06:06.379 historical names in this data set who cut their 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:09.029 Senate term short to move up the ladder. Like 00:06:09.029 --> 00:06:11.569 in 1953, Richard Nixon resigned from his Senate 00:06:11.569 --> 00:06:13.990 seat because he had just been elected vice president 00:06:13.990 --> 00:06:16.170 of the United States. Right. And fast forward 00:06:16.170 --> 00:06:18.769 decades later and history repeats itself almost 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:22.470 exactly. In January 2021, Kamala Harris resigned 00:06:22.470 --> 00:06:24.189 from her Senate seat to become vice president. 00:06:24.290 --> 00:06:26.870 A very clear pattern. But it's not always about 00:06:26.870 --> 00:06:29.250 climbing the federal ladder, which is interesting. 00:06:29.589 --> 00:06:31.810 I noticed Pete Wilson resigned from the Senate 00:06:31.810 --> 00:06:35.370 in 1991. The data says he left because he was 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:38.009 elected governor of California. Why would someone 00:06:38.009 --> 00:06:40.329 give up a U .S. Senate seat to go back to state 00:06:40.329 --> 00:06:43.389 level politics? That decision reveals a lot about 00:06:43.389 --> 00:06:45.750 the perceived power dynamic between Washington, 00:06:46.009 --> 00:06:49.089 D .C. and Sacramento. How so? For some politicians, 00:06:49.410 --> 00:06:51.990 wielding direct executive power over the state 00:06:51.990 --> 00:06:54.410 of California, which operates essentially as 00:06:54.410 --> 00:06:57.870 its own massive global economy, is vastly more 00:06:57.870 --> 00:07:00.610 appealing than being just one of 100 legislative 00:07:00.610 --> 00:07:02.509 voices in the U .S. Senate. Right, because as 00:07:02.509 --> 00:07:04.470 a governor, you are the chief executive. Exactly. 00:07:04.589 --> 00:07:06.689 In the Senate, you're a negotiator. As governor, 00:07:06.930 --> 00:07:08.610 you run the show. Here's where it gets really 00:07:08.610 --> 00:07:11.589 interesting. Looking at that intersection of 00:07:11.589 --> 00:07:14.709 governors in the Senate, there is a wildly unique 00:07:14.709 --> 00:07:18.550 case in the data set from 1917 involving a man 00:07:18.550 --> 00:07:21.529 named Hiram Johnson. Ah, yes. Hiram Johnson. 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:23.970 The data shows he was elected to the Senate in 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:26.889 1916. His federal term was officially supposed 00:07:26.889 --> 00:07:30.310 to start on March 4th, 1917, but he purposely 00:07:30.310 --> 00:07:34.110 wasn't seated until March 16. The note here says 00:07:34.110 --> 00:07:36.569 he delayed it because he was the sitting governor 00:07:36.569 --> 00:07:39.680 of California. It was essentially a massive political 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.639 flex. Just delaying his own start date. He had 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.399 already secured his promotion to the federal 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:46.720 level. The voters had given him the Senate seat, 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:49.420 but he actively dragged his feet and delayed 00:07:49.420 --> 00:07:52.480 taking the oath of office in Washington. He did 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.519 it just to keep his hands on the governor's levers 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.000 of power in Sacramento for a few extra days. 00:07:57.079 --> 00:07:59.800 That is incredible. It highlights how personal 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:02.279 ambition and the strategic hoarding of authority 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:04.660 play just as much of a role in this history as 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:07.120 the actual elections do. Not every Senate term 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:09.519 ends with a calculated resignation or a strategic 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.160 promotion, though. Scrolling through the older 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.720 data, there's a much darker reason for these 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:17.379 abrupt transitions. The mortality rate. Yes. 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:19.819 I was surprised by how many of these terms just 00:08:19.819 --> 00:08:22.040 end abruptly with the word died. listed next 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:23.779 to the politician's name. Did this happen a lot? 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.259 The mortality rate for this office, especially 00:08:26.259 --> 00:08:28.860 in the earlier eras of the state's history, is 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.819 incredibly notable. While some senators gracefully 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:34.580 retired or moved on, a surprising number of these 00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:37.440 terms were cut short by sheer human fragility. 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:39.799 It's a surprisingly long list when you look at 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.299 it all together. David C. Broderick died in office 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:46.360 in 1859. John Franklin Miller died in 1886. George 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:48.120 Hearst as well. Right. George Hearst, who is 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.039 a massive name in California history, died in 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:53.360 office in 1891. Jumping ahead to the 20th century, 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:56.799 Claire Engel passed away in 1964. And the data 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.460 set brings us right up to the modern era, noting 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:02.309 the death of Dianne Feinstein in 2023. Whenever 00:09:02.309 --> 00:09:04.850 one of these sudden exits happens, it sends an 00:09:04.850 --> 00:09:07.210 absolute shockwave through the system. Despite 00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:09.590 all the careful political strategy, the expensive 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:12.230 campaigning and the rigid constitutional frameworks, 00:09:12.649 --> 00:09:15.669 the entire apparatus is still run by mortal human 00:09:15.669 --> 00:09:18.049 beings who are vulnerable to sudden illness. 00:09:18.269 --> 00:09:20.049 Which changes the whole board instantly. When 00:09:20.049 --> 00:09:22.509 a tragedy like that strikes, the machinery of 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:24.649 government has to scramble immediately to fill 00:09:24.649 --> 00:09:27.710 the void and maintain representation. That scramble 00:09:27.710 --> 00:09:30.570 to fill the void is actually a perfect bridge. 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:34.000 To the modern era of this data set. Because when 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:35.820 you look at the current landscape of the California 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:39.639 delegation, there is a massive trend regarding 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.259 how these seats are filled today compared to 00:09:42.259 --> 00:09:44.799 the 1800s. The appointment process. Exactly. 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:47.419 I am looking at the two current senators representing 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:50.019 California right now, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:52.460 And neither of them originally arrived in the 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:54.779 Senate by winning a standard full term general 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:57.779 election first. You are touching on the modern 00:09:57.779 --> 00:09:59.799 power of the gubernatorial appointment. It has 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:02.379 become a defining feature of California's recent 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:05.220 Senate history. Alex Padilla was initially appointed 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:07.440 to the Senate to take over Kamala Harris's seat 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.600 when she left for the vice presidency. He served 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:13.100 out the remainder of her term and then successfully 00:10:13.100 --> 00:10:16.159 won his own full election in 2022. And Schiff's 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.539 trajectory is remarkably similar. Adam Schiff 00:10:18.539 --> 00:10:21.179 followed a very similar path. The data shows 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:24.120 that after Dianne Feinstein passed away and LaFonza 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.559 Butler served a brief appointment, Governor Gavin 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:29.899 Newsom appointed Adam Schiff in 2024 to complete 00:10:29.899 --> 00:10:32.820 that remaining term, literally just ahead of 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:35.059 Schiff's full elected service beginning. This 00:10:35.059 --> 00:10:37.820 trend underscores the immense unilateral authority 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:40.779 vested in the governor of California. Because 00:10:40.779 --> 00:10:44.039 U .S. Senate terms are six years long, any disruption 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:46.259 during that window gives the sitting governor 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:49.960 the power to single -handedly handpick a United 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:53.039 States senator. That is a staggering amount of 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.039 power for one person. In recent years, that appointment 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:58.480 power has effectively served as the primary gateway 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:00.840 to the Senate for California. The subsequent 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:03.500 general elections almost act as a voter confirmation 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:05.740 of the governor's initial appointment. Before 00:11:05.740 --> 00:11:07.860 we move on from the current delegation, the source 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:10.330 material does something really helpful. It zooms 00:11:10.330 --> 00:11:12.169 out to give us the broader congressional picture, 00:11:12.470 --> 00:11:14.669 listing the state's entire current delegation 00:11:14.669 --> 00:11:16.450 for the House of Representatives alongside the 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:19.230 two senators. The contrast is almost jarring. 00:11:19.370 --> 00:11:22.049 How so? In the Senate, California has exactly 00:11:22.049 --> 00:11:25.029 two seats, and currently both Padilla and Schiff 00:11:25.029 --> 00:11:28.190 are Democrats. From that angle, the state looks 00:11:28.190 --> 00:11:31.009 entirely politically unified. But then you look 00:11:31.009 --> 00:11:33.470 at the House delegation, and it is a massive 00:11:33.470 --> 00:11:37.210 52 -person list. Which is to be expected, given 00:11:37.210 --> 00:11:39.870 that House representation is apportioned by population 00:11:39.870 --> 00:11:42.590 and California remains the most populous state 00:11:42.590 --> 00:11:44.169 in the union. Right. But when you look at the 00:11:44.169 --> 00:11:46.929 actual names on that 52 person list, you realize 00:11:46.929 --> 00:11:50.169 California is absolutely not a monolith. Now, 00:11:50.190 --> 00:11:51.570 we're just reporting what's in the data here, 00:11:51.649 --> 00:11:54.230 but it lists high profile Democrats like Nancy 00:11:54.230 --> 00:11:56.610 Pelosi and Maxine Waters representing specific 00:11:56.610 --> 00:11:59.889 districts. But right alongside them in the exact 00:11:59.889 --> 00:12:01.970 same state delegation, you have Republicans like 00:12:01.970 --> 00:12:05.149 Kevin Kiley and David Valadao representing entirely 00:12:05.149 --> 00:12:08.019 different constituencies. It is an excellent 00:12:08.019 --> 00:12:09.879 reminder of the mechanical difference between 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:12.379 the two chambers. Winning a Senate seat requires 00:12:12.379 --> 00:12:15.220 capturing a statewide majority, aggregating the 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:17.820 votes of millions of people across varied regions. 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.419 Which smooths out the local differences. Exactly. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.379 Recently, that statewide math has favored one 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:26.340 party. But the state itself is geographically 00:12:26.340 --> 00:12:29.559 and politically vast. The House delegation reflects 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:32.299 the highly localized, street -by -street political 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:34.879 reality of California. Well, the Senate is more 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:36.899 of an average. The Senate delegation reflects 00:12:36.899 --> 00:12:39.740 the broader consensus. They're essentially two 00:12:39.740 --> 00:12:42.539 different mirrors reflecting the exact same population, 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.940 providing very different pictures. So what does 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:48.480 this all mean? We've talked about the chaos of 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:50.379 empty seats, the ambition of stepping stones, 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.240 the tragedy of sudden mortality, and the raw 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:56.440 power of executive appointments. But as I was 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:59.460 combing through the modern data, a very specific, 00:12:59.620 --> 00:13:02.639 almost bizarre strategic quirk kept popping up 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:04.379 over and over again. I know exactly what you're 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:06.279 talking about. It is a tactical maneuver that 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:08.679 seems to be entirely about manipulating the internal 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:11.139 rules of the Senate. You have zeroed in on the 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:13.360 phenomenon of the strategic early resignation. 00:13:14.250 --> 00:13:16.590 This is one of the most inside baseball, yet 00:13:16.590 --> 00:13:19.230 incredibly impactful tactics revealed in the 00:13:19.230 --> 00:13:21.570 entire dataset. I couldn't believe it when I 00:13:21.570 --> 00:13:23.700 started noticing the pattern. You look at the 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:25.620 timeline and suddenly you start seeing all these 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:28.340 senators resigning just days before their terms 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:30.559 are officially supposed to end. Let's trace the 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.779 chain. It starts in 1964. Claire Engel dies in 00:13:33.779 --> 00:13:36.500 office. A man named Pierre Salinger is appointed 00:13:36.500 --> 00:13:39.659 to finish the term. But then Salinger loses his 00:13:39.659 --> 00:13:42.059 election for a full term. Instead of just finishing 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:46.019 out his final weeks, he resigns early on December 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:50.179 31st, 1964. The data set explicitly states he 00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:53.730 did this to give successor preferential seniority. 00:13:53.769 --> 00:13:56.809 That phrase preferential seniority carries massive 00:13:56.809 --> 00:13:59.289 weight in the context of Washington. It literally 00:13:59.289 --> 00:14:01.929 becomes a tradition. George Murphy. the guy who 00:14:01.929 --> 00:14:04.330 beat Salinger, ends up losing his own reelection 00:14:04.330 --> 00:14:07.549 bid a few years later. He resigns early in 1971 00:14:07.549 --> 00:14:10.090 to give his successor preferential seniority. 00:14:10.129 --> 00:14:12.309 It keeps going. John D. Tunney loses his reelection. 00:14:12.470 --> 00:14:15.830 He resigns early in 1977 for the exact same reason. 00:14:16.110 --> 00:14:18.250 And we literally just saw this happen again. 00:14:18.429 --> 00:14:21.129 The data notes that LaFonza Butler retired and 00:14:21.129 --> 00:14:23.850 then resigned early in December 2024 to give 00:14:23.850 --> 00:14:25.990 Adam Schiff preferential seniority. What does 00:14:25.990 --> 00:14:28.090 this actually do? Why does a few days make such 00:14:28.090 --> 00:14:29.970 a difference? If we connect this to the bigger 00:14:29.970 --> 00:14:33.600 picture, This recurring pattern illuminates something 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:35.980 fundamental about how the United States Senate 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:39.299 actually operates behind closed doors. The Senate 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:42.539 is a body completely governed by strict, largely 00:14:42.539 --> 00:14:45.100 unwritten rules of hierarchy. So it's all about 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:47.940 rank. Seniority dictates almost everything of 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:50.639 value in that building. It determines what committees 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.879 you get to sit on, whether you get to chair those 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:55.340 committees, the quality of your physical office 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:58.019 space, and your overall influence in drafting 00:14:58.019 --> 00:15:00.740 legislation. It's like a rigid corporate ladder, 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.500 but with national legislation at stake. Exactly 00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:06.179 like a corporate ladder. By resigning just a 00:15:06.179 --> 00:15:09.279 few days or weeks early in late December, the 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:11.539 outgoing senator allows the incoming senator 00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:14.360 to be sworn in and officially begin their tenure 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.120 before the massive freshman class of new senators 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.480 arrives in January. Wow. That tiny head start, 00:15:20.580 --> 00:15:22.960 sometimes literally just a matter of days, bumps 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:25.600 that incoming California senator slightly higher 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.779 up the seniority list for the rest of their career. 00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:30.980 It is mind blowing to me that so much institutional 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:34.000 power can hinge on a technicality of a few days 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.980 on the calendar. We have gone from the 1850s, 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:39.139 where the state legislature literally forgot 00:15:39.139 --> 00:15:41.259 or failed to elect a senator for two full years, 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:44.659 to the modern era, where politicians are choreographing 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:47.159 their resignations down to the week to maximize 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:49.940 bureaucratic leverage. It is a profound evolution 00:15:49.940 --> 00:15:52.460 in how the game of politics is played. We have 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:54.379 really covered some incredible ground today. 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:57.039 From the days of the anti -monopoly party and 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.039 wild vacancies in the 1850s, through the tragedy 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:02.460 of sudden deaths and the ambition of vice presidential 00:16:02.460 --> 00:16:04.919 hopefuls, all the way to the highly tactical 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.620 maneuvers of preferential security and gubernatorial 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:09.480 appointments. That's a lot to take in. For you 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:11.860 listening right now, it is so important to realize 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:14.159 that this seemingly dry history of government 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.799 seats is actually a vibrant 170 -year -old relay 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:21.269 race. It's a race full of strategy, sudden stops, 00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:24.250 and calculated handoffs that directly shape the 00:16:24.250 --> 00:16:26.570 actual laws you live under today. Every single 00:16:26.570 --> 00:16:28.629 one of those 48 names left a fingerprint on the 00:16:28.629 --> 00:16:30.970 country. This raises an important question, though. 00:16:31.509 --> 00:16:33.950 There is a specific detail in our source material 00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:35.889 that we haven't touched on yet, but one that 00:16:35.889 --> 00:16:40.230 completely underpins this entire 170 -year relay 00:16:40.230 --> 00:16:42.289 race. Wait, I thought we covered the whole timeline. 00:16:42.490 --> 00:16:45.250 What did we miss? The concept of the Senate's 00:16:45.250 --> 00:16:48.309 staggered classes. If you look at the very beginning 00:16:48.309 --> 00:16:50.470 of the text, it carefully notes that California 00:16:50.470 --> 00:16:54.230 elects its senators to Class 1 and Class 3. It 00:16:54.230 --> 00:16:57.429 mentions that the Class 1 seat was just contested 00:16:57.429 --> 00:17:00.070 in 2024, and the next election for that seat 00:17:00.070 --> 00:17:03.690 isn't until 2030. Meanwhile, the Class 3 seat 00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:06.700 isn't up for election until 2028. I saw those 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:08.740 labels in the data, but I wasn't entirely sure 00:17:08.740 --> 00:17:11.019 what a class meant in this context. The entire 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:13.460 United States Senate is divided into three classes. 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:15.920 This means that only one third of the Senate 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:18.299 is ever up for reelection during any given two 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:20.680 year election cycle. I want you to mull over 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:22.619 why the founding fathers designed the system 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:25.160 this way. To prevent too much turnover at once. 00:17:25.609 --> 00:17:28.250 By forcing states to stagger their Senate elections, 00:17:28.650 --> 00:17:31.109 placing their two seats in different classes, 00:17:31.430 --> 00:17:34.490 the system guarantees that a state's entire representation 00:17:34.490 --> 00:17:37.369 can never be wiped out or replaced in a single 00:17:37.369 --> 00:17:40.039 election year. So no matter how angry the voters 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:42.319 get in one specific year, they can only ever 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.619 change half of their Senate delegation at a time. 00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:48.240 Precisely. It forces a slow, deliberate political 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.759 evolution rather than allowing for an overnight 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.599 revolution. It was intentionally designed to 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.200 act as a shock absorber for history, cooling 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:58.079 the passions of the moment. That makes perfect 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:00.420 sense. When you look back at all the chaos we've 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:03.220 discussed today, the gridlock, the sudden deaths, 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.880 the third party uprisings, you have to wonder. 00:18:06.589 --> 00:18:08.849 Did the founders get it exactly right by forcing 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:11.509 that slow pace? That is a phenomenal thought 00:18:11.509 --> 00:18:14.190 to end on. A system designed from the very beginning 00:18:14.190 --> 00:18:16.849 to absorb the shock of human unpredictability. 00:18:17.670 --> 00:18:20.190 We hope you enjoyed this deep dive into the hidden 00:18:20.190 --> 00:18:22.410 machinery of California's political past and 00:18:22.410 --> 00:18:24.390 present. Thank you so much for joining us. And 00:18:24.390 --> 00:18:26.549 as always, stay curious. We will catch you on 00:18:26.549 --> 00:18:27.250 the next deep dive.