Good morning.

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Today’s introduction comes from Adam Nagourney, our Los Angeles bureau chief.

One would think these would be happy days again for the Democratic Party of California. For one thing, there is probably no easier place to be a Democrat, given the party’s utter dominance of state government. For another, many of the country’s Democrats have looked to California for hope and leadership in this age of Trump.

So it may come as something as a surprise that the Democratic Party is enmeshed in a divisive leadership fight. The new chairman, Eric C. Bauman, won by 57 votes out of 3,000 at the party convention in May, but his main opponent, Kimberly Ellis, has challenged the outcome, saying she will take it to court. This has left a pained Mr. Bauman struggling to put the election behind him even as he tries to move forward.

But should this be that much of a shock? That old line — a happy Democrat is an unhappy Democrat; or maybe it’s the other way around — applies as much in California as anywhere (and as much to Republicans as Democrats). There has always been a divide here between liberal and moderate Democrats, and with the party so firmly in control of the state, the stakes here have only become higher.