It's eclipsed by the campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate, but the race for lieutenant governor between Gavin Newsom and Abel Maldonado is a classic political battle. The Chronicle's John Cote has the story.
"And while most statewide attention this election season is on the race for governor or the U.S. Senate, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado are locked in a fierce tussle for the state's No. 2 job in a race that some political analysts say is defying convention."
"It's not the same dynamics as the governor's race or the Senate race," said Barbara O'Connor, a Cal State Sacramento political communications professor emeritus. "It's got different characteristics." That's in large part because of who the candidates are, analysts said."
Looking for hot political races? Check out Sacramento's eastern suburbs, which has three of them. Bee columnist Dan Walters takes a look.
"Three-term Rep. Dan Lungren – a former state attorney general and the 1998 Republican candidate for governor – is one of the very few GOP congressional members sweating re-election this year."
"Why? The 3rd Congressional District still has a three-point GOP registration edge, but the margin has been shrinking. Lungren barely won re-election in 2008 as Barack Obama won the district, and Democratic physician Ami Bera has collected lots of money from fellow Indian Americans for hard-hitting television ads."
By the way, who is Ami Bera? The New York Times's Jesse McKinley has the tale.
"But Mr. Lungren certainly knows Dr. Bera’s name now. A 45-year-old political newcomer, Dr. Bera has captured the attention of leaders of both parties with an impressive streak of fund-raising — some $2.1 million and counting — and sharp-elbowed advertising, which has put Mr. Lungren in a rare role this year: the endangered Republican incumbent.
"In 2008, President Obama narrowly won the district, a knobby strip that runs from west of Sacramento to the California-Nevada line, and Democrats have gained in voter registration over the years, though Republicans say they have recently seen their numbers grow. But in Mr. Lungren’s mind, the district is competitive for a simpler reason: money."
For those weary of the campaign trail, take a look at the report on Congresswoman Laura Richardson's real estate woes by Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and Malcolm Maclachlan.
"The Sacramento home of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) has been listed for a short sale, months after Sacramento County documents indicated the Congresswoman was behind in her payments by more than $42,000."
"Richardson's real estate woes have been well-chronicled since Capitol Weekly broke the story of her Curtis Park home slipping into default in 2008. Richardson's home was seized by the bank and sold
at auction, apparently without Richardson's knowledge.
Richardson said she learned her house was sold only
after reading the news reports, and challenged the
original story that reported the sale."
Meanwhile, prosecutors say state Sen. Rod Wright, facing felony voter-fraud counts, lied about his residences.
The Times' Jean Merl has the story: "The transcripts, unsealed in the wake of Wright's indictment last month on eight felony counts that include perjury and voter fraud, outline the Los Angeles County district attorney's case against the Los Angeles-area Democrat."
"Based on such evidence as utility bills and testimony
from
tenants in a small apartment complex Wright owns in
Inglewood — which he claimed
as his residence in his campaign for the 25th Senate District — the D.A. is
alleging that Wright has lived since 2000 in a house in Baldwin Hills, which is
in the adjacent 26th Senate District."
Big green: California's marijuana crop is estimated to be worth about $19 billion, reports Guy Kovner of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
"The value of California’s 8.6 million-pound pot harvest is about $14 billion, dwarfing wine grapes at about $2 billion, according to state reports. Making it legal, as Proposition 19
on the Nov. 2 ballot proposes to do, presumably would allow banks
to lend money, businesses to hire workers and create
distribution and retail networks.
“There’s definitely a positive economic impact,” said Robert Eyler, Sonoma State University economics department chairman."But the catch, as Eyler and others point out, is that no one knows how the ballot measure — the handiwork of Oakland marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee — would play out."
And finally, we peer into our "Forest Friends" file to find the tale of the squirrel -- cute, a pain and a tasty dish, all at once. It turns out that Squirrel Awareness Month coincides with the opening of squirrel hunting season. Only in Texas.
"As you read this, there are East Texans planning post-hunt meals of fried squirrel or squirrel stew with dumplings, sometimes served at special squirrel hunting camps."
"The scientific rationale for most state-sponsored hunting programs is habitat preservation, wildlife experts say, but squirrels don't threaten habitat because they can live anywhere and the population is stable. In the case of squirrels, hunting is tradition."
“It is a cultural thing in the Piney Woods,” Lightfoot said.
Jed Clampett eat your heart out...