Yesterday was a busy day for California political newsies. On the national front, President Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline, sending Tom Steyer into a happy dance. Then, only moments later, former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced via Facebook that he would not seek the seat of retiring Senator Barbara Boxer. Hizzoner’s decision opens the playing field for candidates who might want to take on the only declared major candidate, Kamala Harris.
Michael Finnegan and Seema Mehta have the story at the Los Angeles Times.
“Villaraigosa's exit could draw heightened interest in the race from other Southern California Democrats who are weighing whether to run. They include Reps. Loretta Sanchez of Garden Grove, Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles and Adam Schiff of Burbank.
“But all of them lack the public name recognition that Villaraigosa gained in more than two decades as a staple of news coverage in California's largest media market….
“Much can occur, however, in the next 19 months. Boxer's improbable victory in the 1992 Senate race is testament to the potential of relatively obscure House members to vault to the head of the field in a tough statewide contest.”
It was a big day for the state Senate’s Republicans as well, with the surprise announcement that they had elected a new leader. We’ll celebrate Jean Fuller’s election as Senate Minority Leader yesterday by linking to Fuller’s hometown paper, the Bakersfield Californian.
From Christine Bedell: “California Senate Republicans unanimously elected Jean Fuller of Bakersfield their next leader Tuesday, the latest local lawmaker to nab a high-profile post.
“When Fuller assumes the Senate Republican leader post in November, she will be the first woman to do so….
“Asked about the significance of her being the first woman elected to the post, Fuller said it's "amazing" that she'll be there at a time when the Assembly Republican leader is also a woman, Kristen Olsen of Modesto.
"’It's a reflection of the times and changing face of America,’ Fuller said.”
By contrast, Democratic Senate leader Kevin de Leon had a bad day yesterday when the Associated Press revealed that taxpayers paid more than $25,000 of his lavish swearing-in celebration’s bills after the event’s organizers had claimed that no public funds were used. Great reporting from Judy Lin:
“Organizers of last fall's swearing-in celebration for Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said no taxpayer money was used to put on the event at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, but a review by The Associated Press found taxpayers subsidized more than $25,000 for legislative staff and security to attend.
“Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins also spent $15,000 from her budget to fly staff members to swearing-in events at the Capitol and in San Diego's Balboa Park, the AP found.”
At Capitol Weekly, Paul Mitchell looks at the possible repercussions of a Supreme Court case to be heard next week regarding state redistricting commissions. Short take: this could be huge.
“A case before the U.S. Supreme Court, with arguments set to be heard on March 2, could reduce the role of the State Redistricting Commission, invalidate the 2011 Congressional lines, and hand to the legislature the immediate responsibility of redrawing 53 valuable seats….
“If the commission is ruled unconstitutional… California, would have to perform a mid-decade redraw of their Congressional Districts, while legislative and other offices would not be impacted…
“To spice up the redistricting even further, add to the mix the the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling Section 5 of the Federal Voting Rights Act. In 2011 the Federal Department of Justice had the authority to strike down the entire plan if commissioners retrogressed the ethnic voting potential within any district in a Section 5 county. That leverage is now gone.”
“The 7th State Senate District's special election has taken an odd turn as a committee known for backing Asian-American Democrats spends on behalf of a white Republican who dropped out of the contest weeks ago. Josh Richman has the story at the San Jose Mercury News.
“The Asian American Small Business PAC has reported independently spending $46,380 on research, polling and a mailer on behalf of Michaela Hertle. That's bad news for the candidate Hertle has endorsed: Democrat Steve Glazer.
"’It's gutter politics,’ Glazer said. ‘There's no Asian-American in the race, and the Republican has withdrawn and endorsed me. It's clearly an attempt to confuse the voters.’"
And, in what may be a Roundup first: a ‘twofer’ for Josh Richman who also covered presumed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who took aim at the tech industry’s glass ceiling when she spoke at a women’s conference in Silicon Valley yesterday.
"’While nearly 60 percent of college graduates are now women, they earn only 18 percent of the computer science degrees. That's actually less than half of what it was in the 1980s," she said. "We're going backwards in a field that's supposed to be about moving forward. We cannot afford to leave all that talent sitting on the sidelines….’
“Clinton argued Tuesday that it's a matter of making sure that girls have access to the same technical and professional education as boys; that there are jobs for them when they're ready to work; that they're paid the same for those jobs as men are; and that women have equal access to capital for starting their own businesses.
“She also said a national paid-leave program is long overdue because the U.S. is one of few developed nations still lacking one. California, she added, has had one for a decade and it seems to work well.
“Women, she said, also remain underrepresented in many industries across the U.S. and in countries around the world -- and that's not good for any economy or society, she said.
"’Where women are included, you're more likely to have democracy; you're more likely to have stability and prosperity,’ she said. ‘It's not just a nice thing to do.’"
And, speaking of nice, the NYPD is using a new tool in their new program to teach New York cops how to be nice: the 1989 Patrick Swayze flick, Road House.
“Police bosses are using a scene from the 1989 action flick “Road House” as part of the mandatory, three-day retraining course for 22,000 cops, The Post has learned.
“’You have to have a thick skin,’ an instructor told cops forced to take part in the $35 million program before hitting play on the two-minute clip from the cult classic, sources said.
“In the scene, Swayze — playing a tough-guy bouncer, Dalton — teaches his goons at the rowdy bar Double Deuce how to handle unruly customers.
“First, he spells out three rules, with the third being simply, ‘Be nice.’
“’If somebody gets in your face and calls you a c–ksucker, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won’t walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can’t walk him, one of the others will help you, and you’ll both be nice,’ he says.
“’I want you to remember that it’s a job. It’s nothing personal.’”
No word on whether Swayze’s estate will be getting any residuals…
