The most popular feature in The Press Democrat for many years was Gaye LeBaron's community column, according to a readership survey.

LeBaron produced more than 8,000 columns between 1961 and her semi-retirement in 2001, writing on human interest, cultural events, ethnic history and local politics.

[2][3] Along with The Press Democrat, The New York Times Company bought the North Bay Business Journal and the Petaluma Argus-Courier; all were acquired by Halifax Media Group in January 2012.

Less than a year later, in November 2012, Halifax resold its California papers to a local ownership group, Sonoma Media Investments, LLC, which included former congressman Douglas H. Bosco,[4] Jean Schulz, the widow of Peanuts comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz, and Norma Betz Person, widow of The Press Democrat's former publisher Evert Person.

[6] The Press Democrat's staff was the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for "[f]or lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County.