Seema Mehta is a veteran political writer who is covering the 2024 presidential race as well as other state and national contests. She previously wrote about the 2020, 2016, 2012 and 2008 presidential campaigns, as well as multiple gubernatorial, Senate, congressional and mayoral races. Mehta was a 2018-19 Knight-Wallace fellow at the University of Michigan, where she studied how automation and artificial intelligence are indelibly changing the nation’s identity, policies and politics. The Syracuse University graduate and East Coast native swore when she joined The Times in 1998 that she would only spend a few years on the Left Coast. Many years, a husband, a house and a few cats later, she can’t imagine living somewhere she couldn’t golf year-round.
Latest From This Author
Trump’s no-debate strategy seems to be working; Haley and DeSantis battle it out in their quest to emerge as the alternative; and Megyn Kelly reappears on the national political stage.
Dec. 6, 2023
The president isn’t competing in New Hampshire’s early Democratic primary. But his visit to Boston and his allies’ actions suggest he doesn’t want to lose it either.
Dec. 6, 2023
Democrats avoided fundraising in Hollywood because of the entertainment-industry strikes. Now the floodgates are opening.
Nov. 30, 2023
In the 2024 election, Californians will be asked to vote for a new U.S. Senator for separate times. It could introduce a note of chaos into the competitive Senate primary, which already has a crowded field of candidates.
Nov. 19, 2023
In 2020 and 2022, Trump and DeSantis picked up support among Latinos in Florida. Could that be a harbinger for Arizona and Nevada — and maybe even swaths of California?
Nov. 16, 2023
A former military hangar reignites in Tustin. After it burned last week, asbestos was discovered, closing schools and parks.
Nov. 13, 2023
Political donations from the entertainment industry, a backbone of Democratic politics, dried up during the Hollywood strikes. The floodgates are now expected to open.
Nov. 12, 2023
A former military hangar reignites in Tustin. After it burned last week, asbestos was discovered, closing schools and parks.
Nov. 12, 2023
Five Republican presidential candidates — Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy — faced off in Miami as former President Trump rallied supporters nearby.
Nov. 9, 2023
Sen. Laphonza Butler announced she would not run for a full term in 2024. Her entry would’ve shaken up an already volatile race that includes three prominent Democrats.
Oct. 19, 2023