Lauter to run LA Times' 2016 campaign coverage

The other domino has fallen from the Los Angeles Times' move last month of political editor Cathleen Decker to politics columnist. David Lauter, the bureau chief in Washington, will run coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign. "Starting now," says the memo from the top editors. Lauter is the former California editor for the paper.

To: The Staff
From: Davan Maharaj, Editor, and Marc Duvoisin, Managing Editor

We’re pleased to announce that David Lauter, chief of our Washington bureau and one of our sharpest political thinkers, will lead The Times’ coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign, starting now.

David will work closely with Kim Murphy, assistant managing editor for national/foreign news, in shaping our coverage strategy and generating smart stories on themes of relevance to our readers. These include immigration policy, the courtship of the Latino vote, the money game in California and elsewhere, and the ways data science is reshaping campaigns.

In Washington, Bob Drogin, Amy Fiscus and Eddie Sanders will help David steer the coverage. In Los Angeles, senior projects editor Millie Quan, a veteran of national political campaigns, will run point for the National desk in guiding reporters and editing stories.

David has covered four presidential campaigns and served as national campaign editor during the 1996 presidential contest. In the Washington chapters of his career, he covered Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. In Los Angeles, he distinguished himself in a variety of assignments, including deputy metro editor, deputy foreign editor and assistant managing editor/California. He became chief of the Washington bureau in 2011.

David, Kim and our campaign team will make our coverage distinctive, fresh and relevant. Please share your ideas with them, and with us.

– Davan and Marc

Lauter tweets here.