Ive been told hes a long shot. That he is not Latino. That hes
not from L.A. That there are closer associates to Nunez that have a
much better shot at the speakership.

But that hasnt stopped Pasadena Democrat Anthony Portantino from
positioning himself at the forefront of the race to succeed Fabian
Nunez as leader of the California Assembly, according to the SacBees Dan Walters.

When we last wrote about this,
we noted that Portantino was a prolific fund-raiser with ties to labor
unions and in his first term in office, all apparent prerequisites for
a successful speaker candidate. But at the time it seemed that while
the former La Canada Flintridge mayor had a better chance at the post
than his other colleagues in the San Gabriel Valley Caucus, he was
likely a long shot compared to LA-centric, Nunez proteges such as Karen
Bass or Kevin De Leon.

Since then Portantino has raised even more money ($535,000 in 2007)
and according to Walters, could soon up his union clout by securing
support from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.