[Richard Polanco]

News & Reflections

BLOG / NEWS & REFLECTIONS

Notes from the archive.

Reflections, announcements, and the latest from the Richard Polanco legislative record. Updated as new material becomes available.



Richard Polanco in 1986, the year he was first elected to the California State Assembly.
PINNED / FROM THE FAMILY

A note from the Polanco family / August 12, 2026

Honoring Senator Richard G. Polanco: A Note from the Family

The family of Senator Richard G. Polanco opens the archive with a personal note on the man, the record, and the work that brought us here.

Read the note →

COMING SOON / AN INTERVIEW

A conversation with the family / August 2026

An Interview with Richard Polanco Jr. and his Sister

A long conversation about the man behind the record. What he was like at home. The fights that kept him up at night. The advice he gave that took years to understand. The archive through the eyes of the people who knew him best.

Recording soon →


The California State Capitol in Sacramento at dusk, where the Latino Legislative Caucus met for twelve years and where Richard Polanco served as Senate Majority Leader.
NEW DEEP-DIVE / INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY

A non-bill deep-dive / August 19, 2026

The Latino Caucus, 1990 to 2002: How a Seven-Member Group Became Twenty-Four

Twelve years. Seven members became twenty-four. The recruitment was deliberate. The first Latino Speaker in the modern era was one of the candidates Polanco personally walked into the race. The first of a planned series on the institutional record behind the bills.

Read the deep-dive →


An empty California state capitol legislative hearing room late 1990s, the institutional setting of the fourteen bills that were heard but did not become law.
NEW DEEP-DIVE / THE VETOES

A non-bill deep-dive / August 20, 2026

The 14 Vetoes: What the Polanco Record Looks Like by What Didn’t Become Law

Eight vetoed by a Republican governor. Six by a Democratic governor. The fourteen bills Polanco could not pass are the institutional record of what was politically possible in California in the 1990s, and of the political conditions that would change in the decades after.

Read the deep-dive →

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