• by Sara Guaglione , September 26, 2018

Politicowill build out a team of a dozen reporters and editors based in Sacramento to cover policy and politics in California.

The team will “cover the intersection of policy, regulation and politics in the nation's largest state," editor-in-chief John Harris and editor Carrie Budoff Brown announced in an editor’s note.

It will also cover “state-level battles over energy, health care, the budget, education and more for a California audience, in the same way we do in New York, New Jersey and Florida,” they added.

The new team will be in place in time to “greet a new gubernatorial administration taking power in January,” Harris and Budoff Brown wrote.

Subscription-based Politico California Pro launches in January 2019, but a free newsletter begins Nov. 7, 2018 through Jan. 4, 2019. Subscribers will also get a new Pro offering (Politico's premium policy-focused subscription offering) on California policy issues.

(Pricing for Politico California Pro will begin in the mid-four-figure range, but ultimately,Pro pricing is 100% dependent on the needs and size of the organization.)

Politico has had a presence in California for nearly four years, with a California Playbook (its city-focused newsletter) led by Carla Marinucci in Sacramento, Jeremy White in the Bay Area, national politics reporter David Siders in Los Angeles and national health care reporter Vicky Colliver in Oakland.

The expansion in California is part of a global push for Politico, which recently moved into Canada, announced a content partnership with Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, and continues to grow in Europe.

Earlier this summer, The Atlantic also moved out West. The publication hired Todd S. Purdum as a staff writer and California correspondent to help lead a growing Los Angeles presence for the magazine.

Purdum, who will cover the intersection of entertainment, business and politics for The Atlantic, will be based in LA, the second California bureau for the publication in addition to the San Francisco office it opened this summer.