Sameea Kamal, CalMatters

Sameea Kamal covers politics for CalMatters, with a focus on democracy, representation and accountability.

Sameea’s award-winning coverage of California’s 2020 redistricting — the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional and legislative districts — inspired her to focus not just on the politics of electing people to office, but what they do when they get there. Among her proudest accomplishments: In her 2024 series on what representation looks like day-to-day, lawmakers admitted they introduce “diarrhea bills” — ones that don’t have a lot of substance, but make a statement. A self-proclaimed process geek, Sameea also enjoys learning about and explaining how state government works, and keeping a watchful eye on whether those in power are fulfilling their duties.

Before joining CalMatters, Sameea was a fellow with IRE, the association for investigative reportors and editors, and worked as a News Desk editor at the Los Angeles Times, where she helped guide news coverage and digital strategy with a focus on politics. She worked in a similar role at the Center for Public Integrity, a national investigative newsroom, where her contributions to editorial projects and a website redesign earned awards from groups including the Society of News Design. Sameea has previously reported on local news in Southern California, and on the green building and education industries for trade publications.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in mass communications with a minor in public policy from UC Berkeley, and her masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is based in Sacramento.

Other languages spoken: Urdu/Hindi