Assemblywoman Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista) has asked for a recount in two counties of the 40th Senate District, where she trails her primary opponent, former Assemblyman Juan Vargas, by just 22 votes.
Capitol Weekly reports, "Assemblywoman Mary Salas, D-San Diego, has requested a recount of ballots in San Diego and Riverside counties in hopes of overcoming a 22-vote deficit between her and Democrat Juan Vargas in the 40th Senate District.
San Diego Registrar Deborah Seiler confirmed that Salas
made the request just before 5 p.m. Monday. Officials in Riverside said
they also
received a request to tally their ballots again.
The sprawling
40th District includes all of Imperial County and parts
of Riverside and San Diego counties. San Diego was
the only county where Salas outpolled
Vargas."
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced her opposition to a November ballot measure that would legalize marijuana.
The LA Times reports, "Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California’s senior senator, has lent her support to the campaign to defeat Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure on the state’s November ballot.
"The prominent Democrat, first elected to the Senate in 1992, signed the ballot argument against the initiative. On Monday, she issued a statement through the opposition campaign calling the measure “a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe.”
Roger Salazar, spokesman for Public Safety First, said the opposition committee sought Feinstein’s support.
“She’s one of the most respected figures in California,” he said. “She has a great history with law enforcement and dealing with this type of issue. We’re looking at a bipartisan effort.”
Could the retun of Jerry Brown also mean the return of the death penalty as an issue in Califorina politics? Bob Egelko has the analysis.
"The contrasts at the top of the major parties' tickets could not be starker.
"Democrats Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris, the candidates for governor and attorney general, oppose capital punishment and have acted on their beliefs - Brown by vetoing a death penalty bill when he was governor in 1977, Harris by refusing to seek death sentences as San Francisco district attorney.
"Their Republican opponents, Meg Whitman and Steve Cooley, support capital punishment. So do most Californians, according to Field Poll surveys going back half a century, although the majority has fallen from 83 percent in 1986 to 67 percent in 2006."
Can the ghost of Rose Bird be far behind?
Meg Whitman launched a new television ad Monday, attacking Jerry Brown's labor-union support.
Seema Mehta reports, "Another week, another ad in the California governor’s race. This time, it’s Republican nominee Meg Whitman, who Monday launched a 30-second television ad that paints Democratic rival Jerry Brown as in the pockets of labor unions.
“They want Jerry Brown because he won’t rock the boat in Sacramento. He’ll be the same as he ever was. High taxes. Lost jobs. Big pensions for state employees,” says a narrator over ominous music and black-and-white images of Brown and the Statehouse. “The special interests have chosen their governor.”
You can watch the ad here.
A new poll shows a majority of Californians still support President Obama, even though more than half of those surveyed believe the country is on the wrong track.
Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo says Obama's numbers (54 percent approve - 39 percent disapprove) offer "a more favorable assessment than Obama is getting in recent national surveys that show as many Americans approving as disapproving of the president's performance."
The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay military service members faces a legal test in Riverside County.
Phil Willon reports, "The U.S. government's "don't
ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay
military service members will be at the center of a
legal battle played
out in a federal courtroom in Riverside on Tuesday,
with the policy
facing its first major constitutional challenge since
a 2003 U.S.
Supreme Court decision in a Texas case struck down
anti-sodomy laws.
In its lawsuit against the government, the Log Cabin
Republicans, a gay
rights group, argues that the Texas ruling means the
military can no
longer interpret a mere admission of homosexuality
as justification for a
discharge."
And finally, looks like World Cup oracle Paul the Octopus is on the lam.
Reuters reports, "Some Germans are calling for a public roasting of the oracle octopus who correctly picked the winner of all six of their national soccer team's World Cup matches -- including a bitter defeat to Spain on Wednesday.
"Paul, a two-year-old octopus in a German aquarium, turned into a global celebrity for his uncanny ability to predict the winner of all Germany's matches -- even a group stage defeat to Serbia and an ousting by Spain in the semi-finals.
"Nothing beats grilled octopus," said Dolores Lusch, a Germany fan who works on a Berlin fish stall. "Cut him up in thin slices and grill him on all sides with a dash of lemon juice, olive oil and garlic on it. Delicious!"
The irony, of course, is that suggestion is a very Spanish way to prepare octopus...