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Power mapping

Caucuses are where the votes live.

California's legislative caucuses aren't formal committees — they can't refer or kill bills. But their members vote as blocs, their priority packages get hearings, and their positions tell leadership exactly where a bill stands. Know the blocs, know the math.

Bloc math

How caucus positions move votes

The arithmetic

A bill needs 41 votes in the Assembly and 21 in the Senate (54/27 for urgency). Caucuses hold no formal power — but consider:

  • Blocking: the 29-member Progressive Caucus is nearly half the Assembly's 60 Democrats. If it withholds, a bill dies inside the Democratic caucus before it reaches the floor.
  • Signaling: the 58-member Women's Caucus spans both chambers. A caucus-wide vote on a priority package is the closest thing to a pre-floor whip count.
  • Agenda-setting: caucus priority packages get hearings, press, and the governor's pen — see the Black Caucus's Road to Repair and the Jewish Caucus's Tikkun Olam package.
  • Close votes: the 18-member Jewish Caucus is roughly the margin on a tight floor vote. Its position decides outcomes.

The power-broker rule

The most influential legislators aren't in the biggest caucus — they're in three or more. Overlapping memberships mean a single conversation reaches multiple blocs at once.

Below, every caucus card shows its verified members (or says plainly when the roster couldn't be verified). The Power brokers view ranks legislators by how many verified caucuses they sit in — that's your shortlist for pre-floor persuasion.

💬 Ask Goldie: which caucuses do I brief first?

Caucuses

The 13 blocs that matter

Rosters are shown only where verified from an official caucus page, an official legislature page, or reputable news. Where we couldn't verify, we say so — never guess. Data: .

Overlap

Power brokers: the multi-caucus legislators

Computed live from the verified rosters above. Chamber and party from SILobbyist's legislator directory.

Caucus rosters are verified from official caucus pages and reputable news as of 2026-10-01; caucuses can change officers and members mid-session. This is a reference tool, not legal advice. See caucus methodology for what we verify and what we don't.