In the 35th senate district, only 17.2% of registered voters turned out (with the vast majority voting absentee) and
Tom Harman holds a 530-vote lead over Diane Harkey.
"'We’re pretty excited, pretty optimistic,' said Harman, 64, an attorney, who held an election-night party at his Huntington Beach home. 'I think voters are showing that they want somebody they know, somebody who’s been up there (in Sacramento), somebody who’s experienced.'"
"Harkey was far from resigned," writes Martin Wisckol for the Register.
"'It’s going to be a nail biter – I think we’re not going to know for a couple of days,' said Harkey, a former banker."
Since no candidate received 50% of the vote, either Harman or Harkey will face Democrat
Larry Caballero for a June 6 runoff.
Down the coast in San Diego County, "Democrat
Francine Busby easily led the field of 18 candidates seeking to replace disgraced former Rep.
Randy “Duke” Cunningham Tuesday and will face a June 6 runoff, apparently with Republican
Brian Bilbray," writes John Marelius for the Union Tribune.
"Bilbray, a former San Diego congressman, clung to a slim [
880-vote] lead over businessman
Eric Roach with most of the ballots tabulated."
Now, that the warm-up exercises are over, can we get on to the main event?
"Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Phil Angelides said Tuesday he
would pursue ballot initiatives to close tax loopholes and increase taxes on the state's highest income earners as governor if he cannot persuade the Legislature to approve those changes," writes Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
Would that be a special election in 2007? Political consultants are dying to know.
"'I'm going to take my level-best shot at doing it first with the Legislature and, if necessary, the people of the state
at a regular election, not a special election,' Angelides said."
Oh well, it was worth a try.
"In a meeting with The Bee's Capitol Bureau, Angelides cast education funding as a 'moral issue.' He accused Democratic rival and state Controller
Steve Westly, as well as Republican Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, of lacking fiscal plans to pay for schools and the state's budget deficit."
In a neat rhetorical twist, the man who once touted his
litany of party endorsements is now
calling himself the underdog. "'
Look, I think I'm the underdog in this race right now,' Angelides said in a breakfast meeting with the The Bee's Capitol Bureau. 'I'm being outspent dramatically on TV and will be all the way to the finish line.'"
Dan Walters asks
what it would take to "fully fund" the public schools.
"So what would "fully fund" mean? Would it mean meeting the Proposition 98 guarantee, which would leave California's status relative to other states virtually unchanged? Would it mean reaching the national average, which would cost $3 billion to $6 billion a year, depending on what number one accepts as the national average? Or would it mean matching New Jersey and other top-top spending states, which would cost about $30 billion more? And would more money produce better results? Let the debate begin."
Now that our head hurts, can we get back to politics?
The AP's Laura Kurtzman
sits down with "front-runner" Steve Westly but gets few answers. "Westly has tried to parry the attacks by presenting himself as the more reasonable of the two candidates. He said Angelides' reflexive opposition to the bond, at a time when many other Democrats deemed it necessary to keep the state solvent, was irresponsible."
"'No one should want the state of California to run out of money,' he said."
"Still, Westly refused to say how he would address California's current fiscal problems, although
he promised to outline his approach to the budget in the coming days."
Highlights from the Q&A can be found
here.
Meanwhile, the governor yesterday attended the environmental summit at San Francisco City Hall,
entering like a lion and exiting like a lamb. "Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger called Tuesday for California to become a national leader in combatting global warming but cautioned that the state should move slowly in imposing controls on industries that emit greenhouse gases, a step environmentalists argue is a priority," reports Mark Martin in the Chron.
"'
We could really scare the business community,' Schwarzenegger warned during a summit at San Francisco City Hall at which he called for programs to help companies cut the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists say cause global warming."
"'This isn't what we were hoping to hear,' said
Karen Douglas of Environmental Defense, who called Schwarzenegger's support for fighting global warming but tepid response to an emissions cap as a 'bit of a Jekyll and Hyde approach.'"
But that won't stop the governor from continuing on with Environment Week. Today, he appears at a
clean energy event at UC Davis.
A new Field Poll confirms immigration is once again on Californians' minds. "More than
9 of 10 California voters believe immigration issues should be an important concern in the fall governor's race, although they're mostly split on exactly how the candidates should deal with those concerns," reports the Chron's John Wildermuth.
Back in Sacramento, the agenda is being whittled down for the remainder of the legislative session. "Legislation touted as a way to lower vehicle crash-repair costs
has been shelved indefinitely by Assemblyman Leland Yee," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"
Assembly Bill 1852 was meant to reduce the use of carmakers' costly crash-repair parts and to encourage sales of cheaper generic brands."
"Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, proposed creation of a state-sanctioned process to certify that a generic part is of 'like kind and quality' to the one produced by a vehicle manufacturer."
"Critics claimed that AB 1852 was a thinly disguised boon to insurance companies, which would benefit from lower repair costs."
Would you be willing to
go to jail for fake breasts? Apparently, one Beverly Hills doctor would. "
Frederic Corbin, 62, is accused of smuggling illegal silicone breast implants into the United States and placing them in his patients. Federal prosecutors also allege that the doctor, who has offices in Beverly Hills and Brea, falsified patients' medical records so they could receive American silicone implants that doctors were testing. If found guilty, he could face as many as 10 years in prison."
