"Democrat
Lou Correa took the lead Thursday for the first time in the tight 34th state Senate District race and is 282 votes in front of Republican Lynn Daucher," reports the Register's Martin Wisckol.
"There are about 4,000 absentee and provisional ballots left in the count, which is expected to be completed next week. The final batches of ballots have favored Correa, a trend he expects to continue."
"Last-minute write-in candidate
Otto Bade has 891 votes, and some backers of both Daucher and Correa are saying he could be responsible for a Correa win."
"Bade, a Republican, had campaign materials mailed and calls made on his behalf by Californians United, a committee that also backed Correa."
"State Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuņez's political committee
received an election-day windfall - a $4 million check that he plans to use for dinners, retreats, political advice and polling to benefit Democratic legislators," reports the AP's Michael Blood.
"Officials on Thursday said the Nov. 7 check from the state Democratic Party amounted to a refund of unspent funds that Nuņez, one of the most powerful Democrats in Sacramento, raised to benefit the party and its candidates. It gives the speaker a cascade of cash at a time when his committee is prevented from raising new dollars, because he cannot run again for the Assembly under term limits."
"But a spokeswoman for one watchdog group questioned whether the arrangement was legal, since the source of the funds could be companies or individuals that already contributed the maximum allowable amount to Nuņez."
"'
It's money laundering and they are contributions the speaker should return,' said
Carmen Balber of the nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which has disagreed with Nuņez over fundraising issues in the past. State Democratic Party Chairman
Art Torres did not return a phone call to his office."
"After months of record-gathering and written requests to public agencies, The Associated Press
has compiled a detailed picture of the Schwarzenegger purge," writes the AP's Aaron Davis.
"
Half the administration - or 92 employees - left the governor's payroll, most within a six-month window after the November 2005 special election."
"What the purge means depends on the lens through which it is seen."
"In one view, it was a practical move, allowing Schwarzenegger to transform his administration into a bipartisan machine that helped him plow his way to re-election. A handful of top officials have been planning to leave after Schwarzenegger's re-election, but an exodus similar to the one earlier this year is highly unlikely."
Meanwhile, press secretary
Margita Thompson announced her departure yesterday, following Wednesday's announcements of education secretary
Alan Bersin and legislative secretary
Richard Costigan. Expect
Bonnie Reiss to join the parade very soon.
The LAT's Peter Nicholas
writes "Thompson has been with the governor since the start of his term, and with his reelection victory secured, said she was a bit weary and ready to move on."
"She will become vice president of corporate communications for Health Net in Woodland Hills. One of her mentors, former Schwarzenegger chief of staff
Patricia Clarey, became chief operating officer of that company in March."
And, just in time for the year of health care.
Dan Walters
wants the governor to talk about the deficit. "We have three choices when it comes to the state budget: ignore the deficits and continue living on borrowed money until the banks cut off our credit cards, reduce spending (and put up with the howls from affected groups) or raise taxes (and run counter to the voters' skepticism about giving politicians more money to spend that was also voiced in this month's election)."
"Schwarzenegger has four more years as governor, and they should begin with some straight talk about the state's shaky finances, not economic fantasies."
"A federal judge ruled Thursday that an
'expansive investigation' is 'not warranted' to determine whether the Schwarzenegger administration and the prison officers union worked to undermine prison reform in the state," writes Andy Furillo for the Bee.
"The order by U.S. District Judge
Thelton Henderson in San Francisco rebuffed a recommendation from Special Master
John Hagar that he be allowed to conduct hearings into possible collaboration between the administration and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association."
"California's prison health care czar used his
first appearance in front of a governmental body Thursday to say there will be no fooling around when it comes to fixing what he termed a 'horrid' system that is in 'an utter state of disrepair,'" reports the Bee's Andy Furillo.
"
Robert Sillen, the court-appointed prison health care receiver, said
he's willing to back up the truck to raid the state treasury if need be, waive whatever civil service protections and state laws that get in his way and seek contempt-of-court citations against any state employee who tries to thwart his efforts to renovate California's $1.5 billion prison medical system."
"'We're on our way,' Sillen said, at the conclusion of his 1 1/2-hour testimony before the Little Hoover Commission. 'We'll get medical care where medical care has to be, because I think we have the authority to do that over time. It's just a monstrous path to get there.'"
