The bells that rang in the new year also seem to be the opening bell for election season 2005. With this weekend's passing of Rep. Robert Matsui, the state has lost one of its strongest Democratic voices in Washington, and its longest-serving congressmen. The Bee remembers Matsui in a seven-story package this morning including
this piece, and
a farewell from Dan Walters.
But as with all political passings, it is also rife with political implications.
We wonder what Richie Ross' Blackberry messages were like this weekend. Two of the potential candidates for the seat are Ross clients -- Sen. Deborah Ortiz and former Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg. Other potential candidates include Roger Dickinson, Grantland Johnson. And heck, as long as we're throwing out names, let's add Phil Isenberg, who may not want to leave to confines of the lobbying corps, and newly elected Assemblyman Dave Jones. Our outsider/maverick candidate: Former NBA star Kevin Johnson, who has been involved in charter school issues since leaving the NBA.
The special election date will be set by Gov. Schwarzenegger some time in the first half of this year.
It has become something of a tradition that the widow of the deceased congressman run at least to fill the current term, and the Bee reports
Matsui's widow Doris, a Washington lobbyist, is considering running for the seat. But Joe Baca proved that not all political wives are assured of being elected.
Our reading of
the law puts the odds on the election taking place in May. The law is a bit ambiguous, and in the grand legal tradition, poorly worded, so who knows? Perhaps the Matsui special election will coincide with the statewide special election the governor is all but sure to ask for in his state of the state address, at least according to LAT's Peter Nicholas, who broke the story on the guv's speech over the weekend.
LAT's Morain
connects the dots between Kevin Shelley and Don Perata, writing that the FBI will be hovering when the gavel comes down. And for the record, Debra Bowen doesn't seem too worried about her 2006 primary. Here's the line from Morain's piece: "Bowen says Shelley is so weakened that 'the likelihood of there being a difficult battle' with him is low."
Bowen isn't the only one ready for a fight. her fellow Democrats in the Legislature say they will be running back to the center this year, even if that means taking on the governor. But the Speaker also
sends a message to Mark Leno and Gil Cedillo. "We want to be able to articulate where we're spending our time," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuņez (D-Los Angeles). "Are we spending the majority of our time on gay marriage or driver's licenses? No."
Then again, Nuņez promised to be the bearer of middle class values when he took the gavel last year, right before adding his name as author to the drivers' license bill in the closing days of last year's session.
But the governor's speech on Wednesday will, in essence, set the table for this year's legislative agenda, at least the GOP agenda. And once again, he is expected to take out his hammer,
threatening lawmakers with an election later this year if they fail to act on his proposals.
Perata, for one, is not impressed. "What it would say to me is he is not relying on us to be a partner in this process, he is going to bypass the Legislature for major decisions,''
Perata tells the Mercury News. ``Calling a special election ought to be a last resort and a desperation move. It shouldn't be the opening move of a legislative session.''
Labor seems to have taken a clue from the governor and the Chamber of Commerce, and is threatening to go to the ballot box themselves if the governor fails to sign off on a
minimum-wage increase.
Hey, if
these guys can work together, why can't partisans in Sacramento?
In Other News:Boalt law school to go private? The new dean of Berkeley's law school says it should.
The Chron writes the political obituary of
outgoing supervisor Matt Gonzales.
Meanwhile, from the world of literature, an anxious public awaits
the release of Amber Frey's tell-all.
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