Recently in Election 2010 Category

After giving himself an extra week in office, Gavin Newsom used the time to put a final stamp on his seven years as mayor.S.F. Chronicle

He pushed his choice for interim mayor in a final skirmish with his more liberal rivals on the Board of Supervisors. He moved the police chief he once hired over to the district attorney's office. And he announced major agreements with bankers and environmentalists while generally cleaning his desk before moving to Sacramento.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/09/BABG1H6DGC.DTL#ixzz1Adr7Vg1z

SACRAMENTO - Democrat Jerry Brown was sworn in Monday as California's 39th governor, returning to the office he left 28 years ago but inheriting a much different and more troubled state than the one he led then. AP in the Daily News.

The man who once was California's most famous bachelor took the oath of office after being introduced by his wife of five years, former Gap Inc. executive Anne Gust Brown, inside Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.

As California Supreme Court Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye administered the oath, Gust Brown held a Bible that had belonged to her grandfather and was used during her wedding with Brown.

By most measures, California's Legislature performed dismally this past session. Karen de Sa in the Daily News.

It passed a budget a record 100 days late, and grossly underestimated the fiscal crisis - a situation so severe that lawmakers returned to the Capitol earlier this month for a special session to grapple with a $6.1 billion deficit.

But the dire situation did not inhibit legislators from carrying bills crafted by outside interests who reward them with campaign contributions, a continuing Mercury News investigation of the California legislative process shows.

hey called themselves "Brownies" - the starry-eyed young activists who in the 1970s made possible Jerry Brown's quixotic first two terms as governor.Tony Castro in the Daily News,

Many had worked hard getting him elected. Others worked even harder during his eight years in office. They all saw in Brown the California political dream and an inspiration that renewed youthful idealism dampened by Vietnam and Watergate.

"We were young. We were idealistic. And I think that in Jerry, we saw a chance to claim California for ourselves," says Irene Tovar, a Mission Hills political activist who served in the Brown administration as president of the State Personnel and the Public Employment Relations boards.

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown has invited state lawmakers and local government officials to a budget forum to get "everyone working from the same set of facts" surrounding the state's projected $25.4 billion shortfall.

Brown invited Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's finance director, Ana Matosantos, and Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor to deliver presentations at the forum Wednesday, spokesman Sterling Clifford said.

The meeting at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium will come just two days after Schwarzenegger calls lawmakers back to deal with the $6 billion deficit in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

A testy District Attorney Steve Cooley on Wednesday defended his unsuccessful effort to be elected state attorney general, and left open the possibility he will seek a fourth term as the county's top prosecutor.Daily News.

In his first news conference on the election since the polls closed on Nov. 2, Cooley offered praise for Attorney General-elect Kamala Harris, saying the election allowed for an exchange of ideas and issues.

"She claimed victory that she justly earned in a very, very close election," Cooley said at a news conference in his Criminal Courts Building office.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Can everyone please stop talking total nonsense about the California budget? MarketWatch.

I know that facts and truth seem to be optional these days. I know that in the exciting new world of infinite media everyone can choose to believe whatever fantasies they want. But in the case of California, it's getting on my nerves.

Republicans are relishing the coming of a new day on Capitol Hill. But across the country in California, the party of Nixon and Reagan is drifting toward obscurity.AP in the Daily News.

The latest sign of imperiled health: In a year Republicans notched big victories in Congress, governor's offices and statehouses around the nation, California Democrats made a clean sweep of eight statewide contests on Nov. 2. Democrats padded their majority in the Legislature, where the party controls both chambers and no congressional seats changed parties.

California counted more registered Republicans in 1988 than it does today, even though the state population has since grown by about 10 million. Setting aside the politically ambidextrous Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose celebrity eclipsed his Republican registration, the California GOP counts only a single victory in 21 statewide contests since 2002 - that of insurance commissioner in 2006.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley on Wednesday conceded the state attorney general's race to San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris, sealing a Democratic sweep of all statewide offices. Daily News,

Citing the large gap he would have to overcome with just 150,000 of nearly 9 million ballots left uncounted, Cooley threw in the towel three weeks after Election Day and congratulated Harris, the first woman and first minority elected to the post.

"While the margin is extremely narrow and ballots are still being counted, my campaign believes we cannot make up the current gap," Cooley said in a statement.

California's most intriguing up-and-coming political figure isn't Gov.-elect Jerry Brown. Capitiol Weekly.

It's his wife.

Anne Baldwin Gust Brown is viewed by her campaign colleagues as tightly organized and professional, reflecting an impressive corporate and legal background. They say she wears the pants and calls the shots, while reporters regard her as evasive, even prickly.

As the vote counting in the attorney general race continues -- as well as bickering among the campaigns -- we have some real news to report: The state's campaign finance watchdog confirmed today that it has launched an investigation into Steve Cooley's gift-taking in recent years -- a practice detailed in The Chronicle. S.F. Chronicle.

The FPPC's investigation, however, is not an indication that the agency believes Cooley has done anything wrong.

The field of contenders for the next City Council and school board elections began to firm up Saturday, as more than 80 candidates made the deadline in the first stage of qualifying for the March 8 ballot. Daily News.

Saturday was the last day for candidates to take out "declaration of intention" papers to run for City Council, Los Angeles Unified School District board and the Los Angeles Community College District board.

However, the City Clerk's Office said a complete list of candidates will not be available until Monday.

****
Final updated list
Go the City Clekr's webpage for tjhe final list of declared candidates:
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/election/Candidates/declarat.pdf

Neither side is willing to concede as the count for who won the Attorney General's race in last Tuesday's election continued.
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley has taken a lead in the count of provisional and absentee ballots, aide to San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris are telling supporters to not give up hope.
Most of the ballots counted so far are from conservative regions, spokesman Brian Brokaw said and they expect to see "abrupt swings" as more votes are counted.
The Harris camp has begun enlisting volunteers to monitor the vote counts and said more than 1,000 have been dispatched around the state.
The Cooley campaign has been urging supporters to hang on and wait to see the final count.
Neither side has said if they will ask for a recount. California does not have an automatic recount, but the campaigns _ or any voter _ could request a recount on a county-by-county basis by Dec. 5.

The once and future governor, Attorney General Jerry Brow, won election on Tuesday in a runaway victory over billionaire Meg Whitman as Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer won what turned ot to be an easy re-election. Daily News electioncoverage.
The California voer willingness to embrace experienced politicians seemed to defy the national anti-incumbent sentiment throughout the state as returns showed no major upsets in races for Congress or the state legislature. The only newcomers elected, for the most part, were for seats opened due to term limits.
Boqwn, the last Democrat to serve a full two terms as governor, wrote to supporters following his victory that California will continue to face tough times, but that he is hopeful for the future.
"I just got off the stage at the Fox Theater in Oakland. I chose this theater because it is a symbol of renewal -- of what is possible in our state," Brown wrote.
"I want everyone in California to know we might, and we will, have tough times, but if we all pull together and if we operate with honesty, transparency, tell it like it is, and level with you, we can meet the challenges ahead.
"What we need is a larger sense of agreement and the only way we can get beyond where we are -- which is polarization, division and hostility -- is to get past these partisan divisions. So I take as my challenge the responsibility of forging a common purpose. Not just a common purpose based on compromise, but a common purpose based on a vision of what California can be.
"And I see a California once again leading on renewable energy, leading on education. We are all God's children and while I understand politics, I will always carry with me my sense of that missionary zeal to transform the world -- that's always been my calling. That's what it's all about -- the vision. :

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hits the campaign trail in California and Nevada today.
The mayor will be appearing at a rally on behalf of the California Democratic ticket of Jerry Brown for governor and the re-election bid of Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Then, he is off to Nevada to support get out the vote rallies among Latinos for Sen. Harry Reid and Nevada Democrats. He is scheduled to return to Los Angeles at 9 p.m. tonight.