The Bay Area turns out more voters, giving local politicians an unexpected edge over candidates from the more populous Los Angeles County.
Anthony York reports in Capitol Weekly: “The Bay Area advantage can help explain why Board of Equalization member Betty Yee holds an early edge over Assembly Speaker John Pérez in the race for state controller. It may also explain why seven of the nine Democrats who hold statewide office in California hail from the Bay Area.”
A new poll shows some Republican voters prefer Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to GOP candidate Neel Kashkari.
Resurfacing at his new KQED gig, John Myers reports: “Yes, you read that right — less than six weeks from the June 3 election, a new statewide poll shows the veteran Democratic governor with more Republican support than one of the most talked about Republican challengers.”
“…among Republicans, he’s the choice of 7 percent of those surveyed, while Kashkari only musters 5 percent GOP voter support.”
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) is out with a new book that accuses Neel Kashkari of lying to her while he led the bank bailout, known as TARP.
Seema Mehta reports in the L.A. Times: “At the same time we were receiving reassurances from the head of TARP that the big bailouts were finished, his colleagues were down the hall negotiating this gargantuan deal to bail out Citibank for a second time,” Warren wrote. “I was stunned – and furious…. Our panel hadn’t even had our first organizational meeting, but whatever vision I’d had of cooperation and candor had vanished.”
“Kashkari, a GOP candidate for California governor, has staked his bid on his experience running TARP.”
A tribal leader ensures the legislative wheels are in motion to legalize online gambling in California.
John Howard reports in Capitol Weekly: “Robert Martin, the chairman of the casino-owning Morongo Band of Mission Indians, said his tribe had reached an agreement to with PokerStars, the Europe-based online gambling site, and three major California card clubs – Hawaiian Gardens Casino, the Commerce Club and the Bicycle Casino – to offer online poker. PokerStars, the world’s largest purveyor of online poker, has some 50 million registered players around the world.”
Secretary of State hopefuls gathered yesterday for a debate hosted by the Sacramento Press Club.
Jim Miller reports in the Sacramento Bee: “Seated in a ballroom about six blocks from Bowen’s office, Peterson, Schnur, Cressman and Padilla echoed each other’s criticism of the state’s Cal-Access campaign-finance database and a paper-based business filing system.”
The governor appointed a new chair for the state’s political campaign watchdog.
Melody Gutierrez reports in S.F. Gate: “Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Judge Jodi Remke to lead the California Political Practices Commission, his office announced Wednesday.”
“Remke, who lives in Oakland, is the presiding judge at the State Bar Court of California, which oversees complaints of attorney misconduct. She replaces Ann Ravel as chairwoman of the campaign ethics watchdog agency. Ravel, who lived in Los Gatos, left the position last year after she was appointed to the Federal Election Commission.”
In the tight 26th congressional district race, Tony Strickland’s endorsement from former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney could provide a necessary bump.
Christopher Caldelago reports in the Sacramento Bee: “A recent story on Romney's reemergence said he's publicly supported at least 16 candidates this cycle, many of them favorites of the establishment who backed his campaigns.”
“In Romney's latest endorsement, he said Strickland would fight to limit government spending and support economic policies designed to create jobs.”
California’s handedly support new education standards know as Common Core, according to a new poll.
Sharon Noguchi reports for the Mercury News: “A statewide poll taken this month shows that 72 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans favor the new standards.”
Drones are a technological advancement with much, often ominous, potential – including a budding music career?
Metro reports: “The KMel Robotics team put together the drone band to bash out some classics, including the US national anthem and the opening theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“As the video uploader explains, ‘the hexrotors create music in ways never seen before, like playing a custom single string guitar hooked up to an electric guitar amp.”
