Governor Schwarzenegger's appointment of State Sen. Abel Maldonado is a good thing for Golden State Democrats. Yes, he may be filling a Democratic seat (John Garamendi is off to Congress). And yes, it will vault a relatively obscure Republican into the top echelon of state officeholders. But the honeymoon is [...]
California Majority Report contributor Garry South appeared on KNBC-LA's "News Conference" with political reporter Conan Nolan this weekend.
In the interview, he discussed Gavin Newsom's reasons for dropping out of the gubernatorial race (big state, no base, hard to raise money), Tom Campbell's chances of winning the GOP nomination (none, [...]
Felony stupid.
That's my reaction to this quote by FLASH REPORT contributor, Lincoln Club of Fresno chairman, and "prominent" Fresno Republican Michael Der Manouel Jr. said this to the Fresno Bee: "The primary function of a political party is to launder money, and they all do it," he said. "All [...]
There's a new viral video about GOP Assemblyman Joel Anderson that points out why his money laundering is exhibit A for campaign finance reform and the way Republicans are manipulating the law.
The FPPC is investigating Anderson, but who knows if the underfunded agency will make its findings before the [...]
This piece originally appeared in the Capitol Weekly.
At a press conference last week, Gov. Schwarzenegger predicted an energetic campaign to pass the state water bond, including bipartisan groups of legislators “traveling up and down the state” to work for its passage.
It’ll need that. And more. Because asking voters [...]
Protection of key parts of California's ocean habitat won support from the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) yesterday, despite a noisy and misleading campaign by groups funded by foreign fishing equipment manufacturers.
This is the second skirmish this year in the effort to carry out [...]
I have had one of those weeks that you remember for the rest of your life. On Tuesday, I won a congressional election. On Thursday, I was sworn in by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and got to cast the first vote of my congressional career: a resolution honoring female veterans and [...]
Former Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, who was elected to the United States House of Representatives on Tuesday, has thrown his support behind Susan Jordan in her 2010 race for Assembly District 35.
“I support Susan Jordan for State Assembly because she is smart, bold and she has proven that [...]
(This originally appeared in the Capitol Morning Report)
Last week's announcement by freshman Central Valley Assemblymember Danny Gilmore that he likely won't seek re-election is a another headache for Legislative Republicans, who hoped to improve their numbers in the 2010 election, both in the Assembly and the Senate.
A new review of' [...]
Editor's Note: This piece was accidentally attributed to another author when first published. Steven Maviglio is the author. CMR regrets the error.
(This article originally appeared in the Capitol Morning Report)
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s abrupt decision to bow out of the gubernatorial race on Friday has left California Democrats without a declared candidate' [...]
And its now down to one. The race for Governor among Democrats started off with a flourish, as many of the state’s leading Democrats threw their hat in the ring or at least were rumored to be considered running for the state’s highest office. Now, however, with San Francisco Mayor [...]
It figures that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has to travel cross-country today to find a group that would give him an award for his disastrous environmental record. But you only need to scratch the surface to see how genuinely bogus this award really is.
Consider this: one of the last recipients [...]
Gov. Schwarzenegger has given away one of the state's most important environmental appointments to a dam advocate who has criticized the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other conservation groups.
Earlier this week, Schwarzenegger tapped Republican Mario Santoyo, 52 to be on the State Parks and Recreation Commission. Santoyo has served [...]
Susan Jordan, running for the 35th State Assembly District in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, has picked up key labor endorsements in her effort to win the primary for this Democratic-leading Assembly seat.
According to a press release form her camp, the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs Association, United Food and Commercial [...]
Gotta like this: the California Democratic Party invaded GOP headquarters in Sacramento with some mops. The reason: to help get the GOP to clean up the mess Bush left Democrats to clean up.
It's a cute little video, starring long-time CDP campaign strategist Bob Mulholland.
There's a pitch for [...]
The state's campaign finance watchdog has rejected two complaints filed by consumerwatchdog.org against former Speaker Fabian Nunez.
The two complaints were publicity stunts by the group, which itself refuses to reveal its contributors to reporters or state officials.
Here's the story:
"California’s Fair Political Practices Commission has cleared former Assembly Speaker [...]
This piece originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee.
The 2003 recall that propelled Arnold Schwarzenegger into office was billed as the pinnacle of voter frustration with their state government. Californians were fed up with a bureaucracy they felt was bloated, unresponsive and for that matter, even unable to keep on [...]
Is the Assembly GOP's most vulnerable member throwing in the towel, as the Target Book suggests? Or is he just confessing to what the rest of Sacramento and his constituents already know: Danny Gilmore is the most ineffective member of the California Assembly with just a .090 batting average of [...]
The part-time legislature initiative is dead. Sorta.
Proponents of the initiative submitted their first version of part-time legislature to AG in early summer and received title and summary from the AG on July 10. They subsequently submitted a revised initiative (adding a 50 percent pay cut for legislators) on [...]
I’ve had many incredible experiences during my 34 years in public service, but never have I been blessed to receive the support of two presidents in just over a week – until now. On Thursday, at a Bay Area event, I received President Barack Obama’s support for the November 3rd [...]
SEIU's top politico in California, Courtni Pugh, has been promoted to takeover the union's national redistricting effort -- a big promotion on a key issue for the nation's Democrats and labor unions.
According to SEIU's press release, "Pugh will help SEIU identify and take advantage of crucial political opportunities nationwide in [...]
This piece originally appeared in the Capitol Weekly.
This week, Attorney General Jerry Brown filed papers with the Secretary of State opening an exploratory committee for Governor, for all intents and purposes divulging the worst kept secret in California politics over the past two years: that he is indeed [...]
At this weekend's GOP convention, there's no doubt that Carly Fiorina will hailed as the GOP's dream candidate to finally knock off Sen. Barbara Boxer. But if the first few months of her campaign are any indication, her candidacy might up being their worst nightmare.
Let's recap, shall we?
After mixed reviews [...]
The ink wasn't even dry on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's weak executive order calling for an increase in renewable energy before two oil companies plunked $50,000 in donations to the governor's campaign committee.
According to the Secretary of State's website, Conoco Phillips and Occidental Petroleum each plunked down 25K each into [...]
“Californians for an Effective Legislature” filed paperwork today with the Secretary of State’s office to oppose a proposed initiative that would make California’s legislature part-time.
Co-chairing the effort will be three well-respected former legislators: Democrats John Laird of Santa Cruz and Dario Frommer of Burbank and Republicans Bob Naylor [...]
Californians are three of the Top Ten richest Members of Congress, according to a new analysis by Congressional Quarterly -- and two of them are Democrats.
The richest member of Congress is Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, but following close behind is Southern California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa with a net [...]
I walked by the Governor's office on the first floor of the Capitol yesterday and saw something I never saw before: a photo display for the Latino Water Coalition.
For those of you who don't know, the Latino Water Coalition is a PR front for Burson-Marsteller, one of the worlds' [...]
State Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will be joined by solar energy companies, environmental leaders, labor, and utility representatives today to assail Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's threatened veto of landmark legislation that would have made California the world's leader in solar energy development.
Instead, Schwarzenegger is expected to issue an Executive [...]
If you read the Sunday papers, you'd think this year's legislative session was the biggest disaster ever. It ain't so.
As I noted in the San Jose Mercury News, the epic budget struggled sucked most of the air out of this year's session. Combine multi-billion dollar efforts, a failed budget [...]
Perhaps the best piece of news from the PPIC's poll is that the notion of changing California's legislature to part-time appears to be dead on arrival.
According to the poll, only 23 percent of Californians support the idea. And in the world of initiatives, if something starts out at [...]
Perhaps the best piece of news from the PPIC's poll is that the notion of changing California's legislature to part-time appears to be dead on arrival.
According to the poll, only 23 percent of Californians support the idea. And in the world of initiatives, if something starts out at [...]
The timing of the sex scandal sucking up all the air out of the Capitol couldn't have come at a worse time.
Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg tried to turn around a year of budget wars into an end-of-session rush of accomplishments. And there were signs' [...]
Senator Barbara Boxer is enjoying a bump in popularity while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the biggest disapproval rating of his governorship, according to a PPIC poll released today.
Boxer is in safe territory with 53 percent approval, up from 44 percent in the last survey. That's just two percentage [...]
Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is doing the right thing by withholding approval of Schwarzenegger Administration appointments to key state boards and commissions, particularly the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.
The three Schwarzenegger nominees to the CUIAB are three termed-out GOP legislators who apparently can't get jobs except from' [...]
The framers of the California constitution gave the Legislature the power to override the Governor's vetoes. This legislature should use it.
The Governor's veto of AB 264, which honored Vietnam Veterans, is perhaps the lowest point of the Schwarzenegger governorship. Designed to satisfy the show who's boss and get a cheap [...]
Late Monday, Senate Republicans and Assembly Republicans in California's capitol did what they do best: said no, they aren't going to support a water compromise. This comes despite the fact that Democrats are likely to approve some type of general obligation bond that will likely put the squeeze (with additional' [...]
Another Republican rich guy with money to burn has filed a petition with the Attorney General to put an initiative on the November 2010 ballot. This one proposes to redistrict California's congressional seats.
Unlike Prop 11, which is resulting in a yet-to-be-named redistricting commission which struggled to win a plurality [...]
My first boss in politics once asked my “know what a race horse built by committee is?” The answer is a camel of course, and a camel is what the likely out come of the Assembly and Senate Water Conference Committee will be. The composition of the committee almost insures [...]
What a night! As you may have seen, last night I was the highest vote-getter in the 10th Congressional District special primary election and will now face Republican David Harmer in the November 3rd general election.
I want to thank our incredible team of hard working volunteers. They spent [...]
It was 5:30 AM. I was at the Concord BART station. With me were two friends sporting
"Garamendi for Congress" shirts. Also with me was the Lieutenant Governor of California, John Garamendi. How did I get here?!?
I've always been active in politics,' [...]
Organizers of Friday's "Tea Party" at the Capitol boldly predicted anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 would show up to march on the Capitol. But CHP estimates just 1,000-4,000 actually did. Press attention was scant; the Associated Press didn't cover it at all.
It was a predictable show too: Obama haters galore,' [...]
Last night Survey USA and KPIX CBS 5 released a new poll showing that our campaign for Congress remains largely unchanged. With 25 percent of the vote, I still lead the pack, with Senator Mark DeSaulnier at 16 percent, Assemblymember Joan Buchanan at 12 percent, Anthony Woods at 9 [...]
When I was living in New England in the early 1980's, I remember reading about a conservative poltico about his strategy to take on a progressive leader. "We put all the hate groups in a pot and let them boil."
And so it will be on Friday, when another "Tea Party"' [...]
Exactly one year ago Tuesday, as I sat in the Pepsi Center in Denver, a rumor began to spread throughout the hall -- Ted Kennedy was going to address the Democratic National Convention. It all seemed improbable, given what was then known of the Senator's condition. Yet, a short time [...]
Last night, our country lost one of the most important public servants in U.S. history, Senator Ted Kennedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Vickie, his children, First Lady Maria Shriver, the Governor and the entire Kennedy family. The nation and the world have lost a leader [...]
Following Sunday's announcement that Sen. Pat Wiggins would not seek re-election to the District 2 Senate seat, State Assemblymember Noreen Evans moved quickly to declare her candidacy and lock up key endorsements.
Reps. Mike Thompson and Lynn Woolsey, both of whose Congressional Districts cover all or parts of Senate District [...]
Northern California Democrats today called on Republican Congressman Wally Herger to apologize for offensive comments he made at a recent health care town hall before Congress reconvenes September 8.
“Congressman Herger should be ashamed of himself for clouding a legitimate debate about health care reform with praise for a man who [...]
Inland Empire Republican Senator Bob Dutton is a low-key Republican state senator, part of the GOP bloc that stubbornly blocks budgets and promotes slashing education, environmental programs, and shredding the safety net. He's not known as much of a player in the state capitol, even with his appointment as Vice [...]
Did you hear the good news?
On Sunday, my campaign released a new poll of 400 likely 10th Congressional District special primary election voters that found our campaign holds a double digit lead over other Democratic challengers. When initially asked, 31 percent of likely voters chose me, while Senator Mark [...]
An industry group masquerading as stalwart friends of the sea are launching an assault on the Fish and Game Commission today.
The Commission is meeting in Woodland to designate threatened stretches of state waters as Marine Protected Areas as part of the Marine Life Protection Act, authored in 1999 by [...]
