Data reporter for @mercnews and @eastbaytimes. Co-chair of the @mercnewsguild.
Oakland, CA
Joined May 2013
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We tracked the price of several Bay Area classic items, using photos of the menu from online reviews going back a decade.
A regular burrito at La Victoria was $5.45 in 2015. Now? $12.95. A dozen donuts at Colonial Donuts was $12 in 2016, and is $22 now. mercurynews.com/2025/05/21/y…
Harriet Blair Rowan retweeted
I'm so incredibly honored to have taken 2nd place at this year's California Journalism Awards for coverage of the Congressional District 16 race. Many thanks to @HattieRowan and @juliasulek who were invaluable colleagues along the way.
@CNPAservices
Harriet Blair Rowan retweeted
Statement from The Mercury News Guild's leadership on MediaNews Group's acquisition of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
This was a fun story to do.
If you live in Oakland you might have noticed these wooden benches popping up around town, turns out they are built and installed by a group of volunteers.
mercurynews.com/2025/04/25/t…
Harriet Blair Rowan retweeted
New: Loren Taylor is narrowly outspending Barbara Lee in the Oakland mayoral race, both thru campaign cash and independent committees supporting him.
One group backing Taylor got $70K from an SF tech founder who in 2016 co-launched Neuralink w/ Elon Musk eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/09/…
An estimated 1,323 Californians have succumbed to the flu so far this season, including 19 children.
That's already nearly twice the death toll of the worst of the last six flu seasons. Now the data shows sings of flu deaths slowing.
mercurynews.com/2025/03/18/c…
Just nine Silicon Valley billionaires hold 15 times more liquid wealth than the bottom half of all households in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
The top 1% of households have 42% of all wealth.
mercurynews.com/2025/03/06/w…
Trump received more votes in 2024 than in 2016 in 67 of the Bay Area's 69 cities and towns.
My analysis found income is a huge factor in how the number of Trump votes has grown.
East Palo Alto, Richmond and San Pablo all saw Trump votes more than double. mercurynews.com/2024/12/28/t…
Harriet Blair Rowan retweeted
Bay Area cities w/ lowest incomes — San Pablo, Richmond, Antioch, Oakland, San Leandro, Pittsburg and East Palo Alto — all tallied at least 50% more Trump votes in 2024.
Highest-income cities and towns showed the least change overall, @HattieRowan found: eastbaytimes.com/2024/12/28/…
California’s population grew by 233k residents this year, nearly bouncing back to the record-high population levels the Golden State had reached before the pandemic, though the state is growing more slowly than the country as a whole. mercurynews.com/2024/12/19/c…
Close to 200k more Bay Area residents voted for Trump this year than in 2016. I'm looking to talk to some of them. Please reach out if you are a new Trump voter in the Bay Area, I want to hear from you!
Are you a Bay Area resident that voted for Trump in 2024 for the first time? We are working on an analysis of the cities that saw the largest increase in Trump support & would like to talk to you about your vote. Reach out to reporter Harriet Rowan at [email protected]
The number of votes Trump got in the Bay Area has increased 43% since his first election. While turnout for Harris fell back to 2016 levels, losing the 20% increase Biden won in 2020.
mercurynews.com/2024/12/10/i…
Tuesday morning update: about 83.5% of all ballots cast in CA have been processed.
Alameda county, which was behind at first, has nearly caught up. But several counties are still below 50% of votes processed. mercurynews.com/2024/11/08/e…
Just updated this story/chart with Friday's data from @CASOSVote
11.5 million votes have been processed, and an estimated 5 million votes remain to be processed.
Alameda county has only processed ~42% of all votes, one of the lowest rates in the state. mercurynews.com/2024/11/08/e…
Still struggling with how to vote on California's 10 ballot propositions?
Follow the money: proponents and opponents have spent $300 million so far this year, to fill your ad breaks, your inbox, and your texts with "Yes" and "No" political messages.
mercurynews.com/2024/11/03/c…
Harriet Blair Rowan retweeted
Outside groups are spending big in the Congressional District 16 race. Here's what @HattieRowan and I found. ⬇️⬇️
mercurynews.com/2024/10/28/c…
In the last days of Biden’s doomed campaign, CA residents were giving ~$200k/day to his campaign, less than Trump's campaign was getting after the assassination attempt.
Then Harris ascended, and contributions from her home state skyrocketed.
w/@juliasulek mercurynews.com/2024/09/28/c…
Harriet Blair Rowan retweeted
In the first authorization for an open-ended strike ever taken by journalists at a newsroom owned by the secretive Alden Global Capital, the Southern California News Group union today announced its members have voted overwhelmingly in favor of striking.
#SaveSoCalNews
ALT Text: Overwhelmingly yes. 94% of SCNG Guild members vote to authorize union leaders to call for a strike.