CA Justice Carlos Moreno Announces Retirement

Justice Carlos Moreno, 62,

Oh No! One of my heroes, California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, announced today that he is retiring from the California Supreme Court. Moreno, 62, was appointed to the court by Democratic Governor Gray Davis in October 2001. He is most well-known for being on the short list for President Obama's first Supreme Court justice pick to replace David Souter in 2009. Before that, Justice Moreno was in the 4-3 majority which legalized marriage equality in California in May 2008 and the sole dissenter in May 2009 when the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8 in a 6-1 decision under state law.

Equality California put out a statement praising Justice Moreno for his service and calling on Governor Jerry Brown to appoint an LGBT replacement:

“Justice Moreno has a long and very distinguished record of public service.  He took an unequivocal stance on the judicial branch’s moral responsibility to protect minorities. During his nine-year tenure, he has been a champion of equal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians, and he will leave behind an honorable legacy with his staunch commitment to uphold justice, fairness and equality.

“Governor Brown is now presented with a unique opportunity to make history by appointing the first openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender judge to the state’s highest court, and we urge him to consider nominating an openly LGBT judge to fill the vacancy.” 

There are only three known out state Supreme Court justices nationwide, 2 in Oregon and one in Colorado.
With Moreno's departure California's 7-member highest court will have no Latino or African-American members, but will have 3 Asian members (Chin, Cantil-Sakauye, Kennard), and 4 women (Cantil-Sakauye, Corrigan, Kennard and Werdegar).

2010 CA Statewide Election Results Summary

Here are the results from the 2010 Statewide General Election in California.

Proposition         MadProfessah    California
19 (Marijuana)      YES             NO  45-55
20 (Redistricting)  NO              YES 64-36
21 (State Parks)    YES             NO  41-59 
22 (Local Funds)    NO              YES 63-37 
23 (Suspends AB-32) NO              NO  41-59  

24 (Ends Tax Cuts)   YES             NO  40-60 

25 (Majority Vote)   YES             YES 54-46

26 (2/3 Fee Vote)   NO              YES 55-45   

27 (Undoes Prop 11) YES             NO  40-60

Statewide Races        MadProfessah California
Governor               Brown        Brown    

U.S. Senator           Boxer*       Boxer*   
Lieutenant Governor    Newsom       Newsom   
Attorney General       Harris       Cooley 
Secretary of State     Bowen*       Bowen*  
Treasurer              Lockyer*     Lockyer* 

Controller             Chiang*      Chiang*  
Insurance Commissioner Jones        Jones       
Supt. of Public Inst.  Torlakson    Torlakson

I'm very happy about Boxer and Brown winning but verklempt that the Democrats were not able to shut out Republican Steve Cooley from a statewide constitutional office.

UPDATE 11/03/2010 07:01am:
The attorney general race may not be over, folks! With 96.2% of precincts counted the totals are:

Peter Allen         GRN 180,931      2.6%
Steve Cooley        REP 3,182,605    45.5%
Robert J. Evans     PF 113,512       1.6%
Timothy J. Hannan   LIB 175,223      2.5%
Kamala D. Harris    DEM 3,222,987    46.1%
Diane Beall Templin AI 120,550       1.7%

If Haris holds on, it means Prop 8 will definitely not be appealed by the state of California, and she will be the first African-American person elected statewide in over 32 years! Go, girl!

CA-GOV: Whitman Endorses Brown For Governor!

WATCH: Jerry Brown's campaign started airing this ad today, one week before the election. An amazing "own goal" by Meg Whitman where she clearly endorses the job Jerry Brown did as Governor.



I think that basically seals the deal for Governor Brown!

CA-GOV: Whitman Reaches $160M; Now Losing By Double Digits

Phew! The California gubernatorial election between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown appears to be all over but the screaming. Early voting has been going on for nearly two weeks, and in that time period the Democratic candidate has just continued to increase his lead, with the latest from the Los Angeles Times/USC poll showing a 52%-39% lead among likely voters with a margin of error of ±3.2 percentage points.

The led has been gaining despite the vast, "obscene" amounts of money billionaire Whitman has been pouring into her campaign to buy the governorship of California.

Even the Wall Street Journal is noticing:

Jerry Brown's widening lead in California's gubernatorial race might not be so surprising under other circumstances. The Democratic candidate has a respectable political pedigree and the backing of labor and other liberal groups.

But Mr. Brown, a former California governor and the state's current attorney general, is pulling away from an opponent who has outspent him by more than $130 million, much of it her own money.

Last week, Republican Meg Whitman chipped in another $20 million to her gubernatorial campaign, bringing her total investment to $142 million. This week, though, she slipped further behind Mr. Brown, who held a 44%-to-36% advantage among likely voters in an Oct. 20 survey by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

The failure of Ms. Whitman's funding advantage to produce even a slight lead has stumped many political experts.

In Whitman's latest ad, she seems to acknowledge California voters don't like Meg very much. The Journal points out that she has outspent her opponent by over $130 million, a total of $163 million, with $142 million donated by herself, to herself.

MadProfessah Endorsements for CA's November 2, 2010 General Election

Finally, the moment you have been waiting for!  Here are MadProfessah's positions on how I will be voting in the November 2 Statewide General Election, compared with endorsements from other organizations like the Los Angeles Times, Calitics.com, CA Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Stonewall Democratic Club (LGBT group), CA League of Women Voters and Courage Campaign's Progressive Voter Guide. Previously, I had posted my endorsements for the June 8, 2010 primary election.

Proposition        ME   LAT  CALITICS CA DEM LA DEM LWV
19 (Marijuana)     YES   NO    YES    ---    YES   ---
20 (Redistricting) NO    YES   NO     NO     NO    NO
21 (State Parks)   YES   NO    YES    YES    YES   ---
22 (Local Funds)   NO    NO    ---    NO     NO    ---
23 (Suspends AB-32)NO    NO    NO     NO     NO    NO

24 (Ends Tax Cuts) YES   NO    YES    YES    YES   YES

25 (Majority Vote) YES   YES   YES    YES    YES   YES

26 (2/3 Fee Vote)  NO    NO    NO     NO     NO    NO

27 (Undoes Prop 11)YES   NO    YES    YES    YES   NO

Statewide Races          ME         LA TIMES DEMOCRATS
Governor                 Brown      Brown    Brown

U.S. Senator             Boxer*     Boxer*   Boxer*
Lieutenant Governor      Newsom     Newsom   Newsom
Attorney General         Harris     Cooley   Harris
Secretary of State       Bowen*     Bowen*   Bowen*
Treasurer                Lockyer*   Lockyer* Lockyer*

Controller               Chiang*    Chiang*  Chiang*
Insurance Commissioner   Jones      Jones    Jones   
Supt. of Public Inst.    Torlakson  Aceves   Torlakson

Bd. of Equalization, #1  Yee*       ---      Yee*    

Bd. of Equalization, #2  ---        ---      Parker

Bd. of Equalization, #3  ---        ---      Christian-Heising

Bd. of Equalization, #4  ---        ---      Horton*  

Jerome Horton is an African-American incumbent, but when he was in the state legislature he was an unreliable vote on LGBT issues. He has since tried to make amends, but MadProfessah can not in good conscience endorse him, although I will note that the Stonewall Democrats have.

There are several judicial races on the ballot for which it is often hard to get information on.

Other Races                ME        LA TIMES        DEMOCRATS
CA Sup. Crt. Chief Justice ----      Cantil-Sakauye

CA Sup. Crt. Justice       Moreno    Moreno          Moreno

CA Sup. Crt. Justice       ----      Chin            ---

Superior Court, No. 28     Ameli     Hammock         Ameli

Superior Court, No. 117    Schneider Schneider       Schneider

L.A. County Assessor       Noguez    Yong            
Noguez 
     

Additionally, every Court of Appeals Justice and three State Supreme Court justices are up for re-election (or re-appointment). The Los Angeles Times basically says that every incumbent justice is worthy of re-election. However, Justice Carlos Moreno is the only State Supreme Court justice that thought Proposition 8 violated the state constitution. Ming Chin was in the minority of the 2008 In Re Marriage Cases decision and should NOT be re-appointed. Tani Cantil-Sakauye is Governor Schwarzenegger's nominee to replace Chief Justice Ron George; if approved she'll be the first female and Phillipine-American to head California's highest court. Since we know so little about her, I can't support voting to confirm her. I think it's silly that George didn't wait until the new Governor to be elected  before retiring earlier this year anyway.

There are numerous openly LGBT people running for elected office. John Noguez for Los Angeles County Assessor. In statewide legislative districts there is Ricardo Lara (AD-50) and John Perez (AD-46).

CA-GOV: Brown Endorsed By LA TIMES, SF CHRONICLE, SAC BEE

There are exactly four weeks until the November 2nd statewide election. Actually, starting today, vote-by-mail ballots can be mailed in. One of the most important races is for California Governor, where Jerry Brown is now leading Meg Whitman.


Additionally, many major newspapers in the state, specifically the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee, all endorsed Brown for Governor this weekend.

CA-GOV: Jerry Brown Gets "Serious" in New Ad

CA-GOV: Meg's Bid Up To $119 Million (Most Ever)

Billionaire Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for Governor, has now used $119 million of her vast wealth in her attempt to become the next Governor of California, the most any self-funded candidate for any office has ever spent.

After giving her campaign another $15 million Tuesday, the Republican former eBay Inc. chief executive has now spent $119 million in the Golden State race. (You can view her campaign-finance records here.) Bloomberg spent $110 million of his own money to win a third term as New York City’s mayor last year.

Whitman’s Democratic opponent, former California governor and current state attorney generalJerry Brown, has attacked the Republican’s lavishness. Brown spokesman Sterling Cliffordsaid Whitman is running a campaign that believes “money can make up for truth or fresh ideas.”

“She’s going to set the record for most money spent in a losing campaign,” Clifford said.

We'll see. Whitman currently leads her Democratic opponent, Jerry Brown, by an average of 46.5% to 44.1% according to TalkingPointsMemo.com.

CA Sup Ct Refuses To Force State To Appeal Prop 8

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to force the state of California, as represented by the Governor and Attorney General of the state, to act as defendants in the federal Proposition 8 lawsuit, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.


As I blogged about earlier in the week, the Pacific Justice Institute sued the Governor and Attorney General on Monday to attempt to force them to defend Proposition 8, but the 3rd District Court of Appeals rejected their argument. Now the state's highest court has also rejected their legal argument.

The court did not explain why it rejected the emergency petition filed by the Pacific Justice Institute. The institute had argued that the attorney general and governor were required to uphold all laws, including initiatives passed by voters.

Earlier Wednesday, lawyers for Attorney General Jerry Brown and Schwarzenegger filed letters with the court maintaining state officers have authority to choose which laws they challenge or defend in court.

"The governor, like any litigant, has complete discretion over his own litigation strategy, including whether or not to appeal an order," counsel Andrew Stroud wrote for Schwarzenegger. "Here, the governor exercised his discretion and decided not to file an appeal."

[...]

Schwarzenegger, who has been under pressure from fellow Republicans to appeal Walker's decision, has said he supports the judge's verdict. Brown, who is the Democratic nominee to succeed Schwarzenegger as governor, has said he cannot defend Proposition 8 because he agrees it is unconstitutional.

"Although it is not every day that the attorney general declines to defend a state law, the state Constitution or an initiative, he may do so because his oath requires him (to) support the United States Constitution as the supreme law of the law," Deputy Attorney General Tamar Pachter wrote on Brown's behalf Wednesday.

The coalition of conservative and religious groups that sponsored Proposition 8 has appealed Walker's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But doubts have been raised about whether its members have authority to do so because as ordinary citizens, they are not responsible for enforcing marriage laws.

The 9th Circuit has said that is one of the issues it will take up when it hears oral arguments in early December.

If the federal appeals court dismisses the appeal because the ban's proponents lack legal standing,  Walker's ruling would become final unless the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to take up the case.

All people interested in marriage equality will be watching the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguments very closely in this case. It would sort of be unfortunate f the case was decided on a relatively abstruse legal point like standing, instead of the very importantfederal constitutional issues raised in Walker's District Court opinion of August 4.

CA-GOV: Jerry Brown TV Ad

CA-GOV, CA-SEN: SurveyUSA Shows Republican Leads

SurveyUSA, the automated polling outfit, has polled the California gubernatorial and senatorial races and found leads for Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, respectively.

California: Fiorina and Boxer Still in Tight Fight; Whitman Narrowly Atop Brown; Some Traction for Those Opposed to Legal Weed: Incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer remains locked in a tight fight with Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KABC-TV Los Angeles, KPIX-TV San Francisco, KGTV-TV San Diego, and KFSN-TV Fresno. 3 identical SurveyUSA tracking polls have shown the contest within the theoretical margin of sampling error, though, in all 3 cases, the Republican has been nominally ahead, confounding many observers and, for now, preserving the possibility of a take-away. Today, it's Fiorina 48%, Boxer 46%. There is movement, or perhaps statistical noise, among Hispanic voters.

In the contest for Governor of California, it's Republican Meg Whitman 47%, Democrat Jerry Brown 40% today. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll 3 weeks ago, Whitman is up 3, Brown is down 3. But, compared to a SurveyUSA poll 7 weeks ago: no change. Among men, the race has been flat since polling began in July, with Whitman at 50% in each poll, and Brown at 35% to 37%. Among women, more volatility, with Brown 13 points atop Whitman 3 weeks ago, but tied with the former eBay CEO both 7 weeks ago and today.

Opposition to Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana and allow for its regulation and taxation, has grown. Two previous SurveyUSA polls both showed the measure passing by 10 points; today: 47% vote Yes to legalize, 43% vote No. Women, older voters, minorities, and Central Valley voters have all moved toward "No." Support remains above 50% among men, younger voters, whites, Democrats, liberals and moderates, and in the Bay Area.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, remains nominally ahead in the contest for Lieutenant Governor, where incumbent Republican Republican Abel Maldonado may have lost a couple of points compared to 3 weeks ago. Today it's Newsom 44% to Maldonado 39%. There is movement among men.

If Republicans are leading in Democrat-dominated California, progressives are in for a really, really bad NOvember.

CA GOV and CA AG Oppose Stay in Prop 8 Case

The State of California filed motions today opposing a stay in Judge Vaughn Walker's landmark decision ruling Proposition 8 unconstitutional; in other words Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown are on record saying they want same-sex couples to be able to get married while the decision is on appeal.

As governor, Schwarzenegger is named as a defendant in the case, although he remained neutral in the lawsuit challenging Proposition 8. The governor was against the initiative when it was on the ballot and chose not to defend the constitutional amendment in court. He filed his brief Friday in his role as a named defendant and on behalf of two other administration officials.

The Schwarzenegger administration contended in the brief that there is no governmental or public interest in continuing a ban on gay marriage after Walker's decision." Instead, the administration said that allowing such marriages to resume would further the state's interest in recognizing the rights of gays and lesbians. It also said that there would be no administrative burden for the state to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. California issued 18,000 such licenses before passage of Proposition 8.

Schwarzenegger applauded Walker's decision earlier this week.

"For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves," the governor said in a statement Wednesday.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, a Democrat, filed a similar motion. Brown had argued that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional when the measure went before the California Supreme Court last year.

Read Attorney General's motion below.

CA AG Brown Motion To Oppose Stay in Prop 8 Case

CA-GOV: Race Gets Hotter

The race to be elected the next Governor of California gets hotter and hotter. Jerry Brown leads Meg Whitman, barely, in most recent polls.

2010 CA Statewide Primary Results

Yesterday was the statewide primary election. Results for Los Angeles County are available here, and statewide results are available here.

Statewide Races

Constitutional Offices
MadProfessah was correct in every statewide constitutional office except Superintendent of Public Instruction, where the top two (non-partisan) candidates were Larry Aceves and Tom Torlakson, who are both registered Democrats just squeaked ahead of my endorsed candidate Gloria Romero.

Propositions

MadProfessah was correct in 3 of the 5 propositions, although it was a scary night, because initially it looked the pro-business scams Prop 16 (PG&E) and Prop 17 (Mercury Insurance) looked like they were passing, but happily they were rejected. Sadly, Proposition 15 failed and Proposition 14 passed. This means that from now on, all June primary races will be a "jungle primary" where the Top 2 candidates will face each other, REGARDLESS of which party they are a member of. ONLY those two names will be allowed to appear on the November ballot, with no write-in option.

Proposition Number (Topic)        MadProfessah     RESULTS  
13 (Seismic Retrofit Assessment)        YES          YES      
14 (Top 2 "Open" Primary Amendment)     NO           YES        
15 (CA Fair Elections Act)              YES          NO
16 (PG&E Utility Monopoly Protection)   NO           NO
17 (Mercury Insurance Premium Change)   NO           NO

Statewide Constitutional Officers   MadProfessah    DEMOCRATS  REPUBLICANS

U.S. Senate                            Boxer*        Boxer*    Fiorina 

Governor                               Brown         Brown     Whitman 

Lieutenant Governor                    Newsom        Newsom    Maldonado
Attorney General                       Harris        Harris    Cooley
Secretary of State                     Bowen*        Bowen*    Dunn
Treasurer                              Chiang*       Chiang*   Strickland
Controller                             Lockyer*      Lockyer*  Walters
Insurance Commissioner                 Jones         Jones     Fitzgerald
Superintendent of Public Instruction   Romero        Aceves(D) Torlakson(D) 

Statewide Legislative Races

You can click on the Assembly District number for the actual vote counts. MadProfessah endorsed candidates are in italics, with winning candidates in bold. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk*.

AD-43. MadProfessah-endorsed Mike Gatto won the special election to replace Paul Krekorian and won the Democratic primary election.
AD-44. Anthony Portantino* .
AD-45. Gil Cedillo.
AD-46. John Perez*.
AD-47. Holly Mitchell, won a tight race over CA Democratic Party Secretary Reggie Jones-Sawyer 43%-37%.
AD-48. Mike Davis*.
AD-49. Mike Eng*.
AD-50. Openly gay Ricardo Lara won his primary to and will become the second openly LGBT person of color elected to the California Legislature in November (after John Perez).
AD-51. Steve Bradford*.
AD-52. Isadore Hall*.
AD-53. MadProfessah endorsed openly gay, African-American Mitch Ward in this huge primary to replace Attorney General hopeful Ted Lieu, but former Equality California board member and registered lobbyist Betsy Butler won the primary and will be elected in November.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County Assessor. MadProfessah endorsed openly gay John Noguez becomes the first openly gay County Assessor of Los Angeles County.

Measure E. MadProfessah endorsed a Yes position on this County measure to benefit Los Angeles Unified School District. The measure leads 53-47, far less than the two-thirds needed to be enacted.

Superior Court Judges.
5 of the 6 judicial candidates endorsed by MadProfessah won, the same ratio as the Los Angeles Times, although we got different races wrong. Click on the office number for the vote counts.

              RESULTS     LA TIMES          MadProfessah
Office 28:    Hammock     Randy Hammock     Ameli
Office 35:    Bruguera*   Bruguera          Bruguera
Office 73:    Matz        Matz              Matz
Office 107:   Salkin      Tony de los Reyes Salkin
Office 117:   Schneider   Schneider         Schneider
Office 131:   Nelson*     Nelson            Nelson

Get ready to vote again in November!

CA-GOV: Jerry Brown's First Ad

MadProfessah Endorsements: June 8, 2010 Primary

Finally, the moment you have been waiting for! Here are MadProfessah's positions on how I will be voting in the June 8 Statewide Primary Election, compared with endorsements from other organizations like the Los Angeles Times, Calitics.com, CA Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Stonewall Democratic Club (LGBT group) and Courage Campaign's Progressive Voter Guide (pdf).

Proposition Number (Topic)        MadProfessah  LA TIMES  CALITICS CA DEMS
13 (Seismic Retrofit Assessment)        YES          YES        YES      YES
14 (Top 2 "Open" Primary Amendment)     NO           YES        NO       NO
15 (CA Fair Elections Act)              YES          YES        YES      YES
16 (PG&E Utility Monopoly Protection)   NO           NO         NO       NO
17 (Mercury Insurance Premium Change)   NO           NO         NO       NO

Statewide Constitutional Officers   MadProfessah  LA TIMES  STONEWALL   CA DEMS
Governor                               Brown         None        Brown       Brown
Lieutenant Governor                    Newsom        Newsom      Hahn        None
Attorney General                       Harris        Harris      Lieu        None
Secretary of State                     Bowen*         None        Bowen*      Bowen*
Treasurer                              Chiang*        None        Chiang*     Chiang*
Controller                             Lockyer*       None        Lockyer*    Lockyer*
Insurance Commissioner                 Jones         Jones       De La Torre Jones
Superintendent of Public Instruction   Romero        Aceves      Torlakson   None

Statewide Legislative Races

AD-43. MadProfessah, LA CDP, Stonewall Dems and Los Angeles Daily News have all endorsed Mike Gatto.
AD-44. The incumbent here is Anthony Portantino* and has been endorsed by Los Angeles Democrats and Stonewall Democrats but NOT MadProfessah.
AD-45. MadProfessah lives and votes in the 45th Assembly District but can not, in good conscience, endorse State Senator Gil Cedillo's cynical attempt to hold on to elected office for two more years by switching seats with current Assemblymember Kevin De Leon. Especially after he ran an unnecessary (and losing) campaign against Judy Chu in the 32nd Congressional District Special Election last year.
AD-46. Openly gay speaker of the Assembly John Perez* is the incumbent here and is endorsed by MadProfessah.
AD-47. One of the toughest primary fights this summer is between Holly Mitchell and Reggie Jones-Sawyer. MadProfessah, Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass (current officeholder), CA Democratic Party and LA County Dems have all endorsed Holly Mitchell, while Stonewall Dems have endorsed Reggie Jones-Sawyer.
AD-48. The incumbent here is Mike Davis*, who was outed recently by a friend at a recent Stonewall Democratic Club meeting but who has not been endorsed by that club or MadProfessah.
AD-49. The incumbent is Mike Eng*, husband of strong LGBT ally Congressmember Judy Chu, and is endorsed by MadProfessah, Stonewall Dems and Los Angeles County Dems.
AD-50. Openly gay Ricardo Lara is trying to become the second openly LGBT person of color elected to the California Legislature.
AD-51. Strong ally of LGBT rights Steve Bradford* is the incumbent here and is endorsed by MadProfessah, Equality California, Los Angeles Dems and Stonewall Dems.
AD-52. The incumbent here is Isadore Hall* who has NOT been endorsed by MadProfesah, but who has been endorsed by LA County Dems and Stonewall Dems.
AD-53. MadProfessah has endorsed openly gay, African-American Mitch Ward. Equality California and Stonewall Dems have endorsed Betsy Butler. Honor Pac (LGBT Latino group) has endorsed Kate Anderson.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County Assessor. MadProfessah endorses openly gay John Noguez. The Los Angeles Times has endorsed John Y. Wong.

Measure E. MadProfessah endorses a Yes position on this County measure to benefit Los Angeles Unified School District. It is a $100 increase per parcel which LAUSD says will go to save the jobs of teachers. The Los Angeles Times urges a NO vote, while the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and Stonewall Democrats urge a YES vote.

Superior Court Judges.
I know it is really hard to make an informed choice about the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge races, so I always try and include what people who follow these races are saying about them. The Los Angeles County Bar Association has a page where they rate, but do not endorse, judicial candidates.

               LA DEMS          STONEWALL LA TIMES         MadProfessah  
Office 28:    Mark  K. Ameli      Ameli      Randy Hammock     Ameli
Office 35:    Soussan Bruguera*   Bruguera   Bruguera          Bruguera
Office 73:    None                None       Matz              Matz
Office 107:   Valerie Salkin      Salkin     Tony de los Reyes Salkin
Office 117:   Alan Schneider      Schneider  Schneider         Schneider
Office 131:   Maren E. Nelson*    Nelson     Nelson            Nelson

If you don't vote by mail (like I and the Other Half do) then please make sure to get out and vote next Tuesday.

Saturday Politics: CA-GOV, CA-SEN, AD-43, AD-47

It's Saturday, so it's time to talk politics again. This week's edition will discuss tightening polls in California's governor and senator races, homophobic developments in the 43rd Assembly District race, and an endorsement in the 47th District.

CA-GOV. Recent polling from PPIC has shown that Meg Whitman's once HUGE lead over Steve Poizner has diminished to single digits, 38 to 29, in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Research 2000 also shows Whitman with a lead, 46 to 36. Jerry Brown now has a lead over either of the Republican hopefuls, leading Whitman 42 to 37 and Poizner 45 to 32. The two Republicans have now spent a combined $82 million in their primary battle (billionaire Whitman $68m, Poizner $24m). The primary election is Tuesday June 8th, although voting by mail has been possible for the last two weeks.

CA-SEN. Incumbent senator Barbara Boxer has finally received some good polling news. Her job approval rating reached 50% (according to PPIC) and she leads all three potential Republican challengers: Carly Fiorina (48-39), Chuck Devore (50-39) and Tom Campbell (46-40).

AD-43. From Burbank Blogger comes a disturbing story about homophobia and ethnicity by Mike Gatto's Republican opponent Sunder Ramani. In the race to replace Paul Krekorian in the 43rd Assembly District with a significant Armenian population, apparently people employed by Ramani have been calling Armenian households and telling them (in Armenian) not to vote for Gatto because he supports "homosexual legislation." Burbank Blogger even has proof this is going on because one of the phone calls has been taped and the audio posted to YouTube (with English translation). The race for the 43rd has become increasingly bizarre, with a freak misprint in vote-by-mail ballots making the complicated election (there's both a special election run-off and a general primary election on the same ballot) even moreso. MadProfessah has endorsed Gatto and hopes that Ramani is punished for stooping to under-the-radar appeals to ethnic homophobia.

AD-47. The race to replace soon-to-be-Congressmember Karen Bass is starting to get more attention in the LGBT community. Reggie Jones-Sawyer won the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club last month, but Holly Mitchell has more cash on hand ($150k to $80k) and the official California Democratic Party nomination. Both are strong supports of full LGBT equality.

Jerry Brown Turns 72 Today

Happy 72nd Birthday, Jerry Brown!

LAT/USC Poll Shows 52-40% Marriage Support

Buried in the recesses of the new poll from The Los Angeles Times/USC is this little nugget of information that for the second time in two weeks indicates that a majority of Californians support marriage equality.

52% of respondents (40% strongly, 12% not so strongly) answer Yes to the question "Do you think that same-sex couples should be allowed to become legally married in the state of
California?" while just 40% (32% strongly, 8% not so strongly) answer No.

This is the first time I have seen strong supporters of marriage equality outnumber the strong opponents. This poll was conducted March 23-30th by phone of 1515 registered voters leaving a margin of error of ± 2.6 percentage points, which means the lead for marriage equality is real. In this same poll it shows a lead for Meg Whitman over Jerry Brown of 44 to 42 points.

I'd like to see one more poll showing majority support for marriage equality before I would be confident saying that california voters are in favor of equality for same-sex couples.

CA-GOV: New Polls Show Tight Brown v Whitman Race

Recent polls show that billionaire Republican Meg Whitman running even or ahead of presumptive Democratic gubenatorial nominee Jerry Brown.

(Field Poll)
March 2010 (January '10, October '09)
Whitman 46 (36, 29)
Brown 43 (46, 50)
Undecided 11 (18, 21)

(Rasmussen)

	February 15, 2010	March 15, 2010
Meg Whitman (R)	43%	40%
Jerry Brown (D)	43%	40%
Some other candidate	6%	6%
Not sure	8%	14%

Really, California? Are you going to let a political novice buy the governorship of the country's largest state?