"Congressman" Grothman is what happens when you combine gerrymandering with right-wing attack dog journalism.

In Richmond, CA, three seats on the City Council were up for election; the city also stood to elect a new mayor. Nothing unusual in this, perhaps, was it not for Chevron's $3.1 million dollar campaign to highjack the elections, which was first revealed by journalism student and former Center for Media and Democracy reporter, Harriet Rowan in the Berkeley publication Richmond Confidential.

Minimum wage and paid sick day measures have been gaining momentum in the past year -- but keep an eye out for bills promoted by ALEC designed to crush that momentum and limit local control.