2010 CA Statewide Primary Results

Yesterday was the statewide primary election. Results for Los Angeles County are available here, and statewide results are available here.

Statewide Races

Constitutional Offices
MadProfessah was correct in every statewide constitutional office except Superintendent of Public Instruction, where the top two (non-partisan) candidates were Larry Aceves and Tom Torlakson, who are both registered Democrats just squeaked ahead of my endorsed candidate Gloria Romero.

Propositions

MadProfessah was correct in 3 of the 5 propositions, although it was a scary night, because initially it looked the pro-business scams Prop 16 (PG&E) and Prop 17 (Mercury Insurance) looked like they were passing, but happily they were rejected. Sadly, Proposition 15 failed and Proposition 14 passed. This means that from now on, all June primary races will be a "jungle primary" where the Top 2 candidates will face each other, REGARDLESS of which party they are a member of. ONLY those two names will be allowed to appear on the November ballot, with no write-in option.

Proposition Number (Topic)        MadProfessah     RESULTS  
13 (Seismic Retrofit Assessment)        YES          YES      
14 (Top 2 "Open" Primary Amendment)     NO           YES        
15 (CA Fair Elections Act)              YES          NO
16 (PG&E Utility Monopoly Protection)   NO           NO
17 (Mercury Insurance Premium Change)   NO           NO

Statewide Constitutional Officers   MadProfessah    DEMOCRATS  REPUBLICANS

U.S. Senate                            Boxer*        Boxer*    Fiorina 

Governor                               Brown         Brown     Whitman 

Lieutenant Governor                    Newsom        Newsom    Maldonado
Attorney General                       Harris        Harris    Cooley
Secretary of State                     Bowen*        Bowen*    Dunn
Treasurer                              Chiang*       Chiang*   Strickland
Controller                             Lockyer*      Lockyer*  Walters
Insurance Commissioner                 Jones         Jones     Fitzgerald
Superintendent of Public Instruction   Romero        Aceves(D) Torlakson(D) 

Statewide Legislative Races

You can click on the Assembly District number for the actual vote counts. MadProfessah endorsed candidates are in italics, with winning candidates in bold. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk*.

AD-43. MadProfessah-endorsed Mike Gatto won the special election to replace Paul Krekorian and won the Democratic primary election.
AD-44. Anthony Portantino* .
AD-45. Gil Cedillo.
AD-46. John Perez*.
AD-47. Holly Mitchell, won a tight race over CA Democratic Party Secretary Reggie Jones-Sawyer 43%-37%.
AD-48. Mike Davis*.
AD-49. Mike Eng*.
AD-50. Openly gay Ricardo Lara won his primary to and will become the second openly LGBT person of color elected to the California Legislature in November (after John Perez).
AD-51. Steve Bradford*.
AD-52. Isadore Hall*.
AD-53. MadProfessah endorsed openly gay, African-American Mitch Ward in this huge primary to replace Attorney General hopeful Ted Lieu, but former Equality California board member and registered lobbyist Betsy Butler won the primary and will be elected in November.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County Assessor. MadProfessah endorsed openly gay John Noguez becomes the first openly gay County Assessor of Los Angeles County.

Measure E. MadProfessah endorsed a Yes position on this County measure to benefit Los Angeles Unified School District. The measure leads 53-47, far less than the two-thirds needed to be enacted.

Superior Court Judges.
5 of the 6 judicial candidates endorsed by MadProfessah won, the same ratio as the Los Angeles Times, although we got different races wrong. Click on the office number for the vote counts.

              RESULTS     LA TIMES          MadProfessah
Office 28:    Hammock     Randy Hammock     Ameli
Office 35:    Bruguera*   Bruguera          Bruguera
Office 73:    Matz        Matz              Matz
Office 107:   Salkin      Tony de los Reyes Salkin
Office 117:   Schneider   Schneider         Schneider
Office 131:   Nelson*     Nelson            Nelson

Get ready to vote again in November!

Saturday Politics: CA-GOV, CA-SEN, AD-43, AD-47

It's Saturday, so it's time to talk politics again. This week's edition will discuss tightening polls in California's governor and senator races, homophobic developments in the 43rd Assembly District race, and an endorsement in the 47th District.

CA-GOV. Recent polling from PPIC has shown that Meg Whitman's once HUGE lead over Steve Poizner has diminished to single digits, 38 to 29, in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Research 2000 also shows Whitman with a lead, 46 to 36. Jerry Brown now has a lead over either of the Republican hopefuls, leading Whitman 42 to 37 and Poizner 45 to 32. The two Republicans have now spent a combined $82 million in their primary battle (billionaire Whitman $68m, Poizner $24m). The primary election is Tuesday June 8th, although voting by mail has been possible for the last two weeks.

CA-SEN. Incumbent senator Barbara Boxer has finally received some good polling news. Her job approval rating reached 50% (according to PPIC) and she leads all three potential Republican challengers: Carly Fiorina (48-39), Chuck Devore (50-39) and Tom Campbell (46-40).

AD-43. From Burbank Blogger comes a disturbing story about homophobia and ethnicity by Mike Gatto's Republican opponent Sunder Ramani. In the race to replace Paul Krekorian in the 43rd Assembly District with a significant Armenian population, apparently people employed by Ramani have been calling Armenian households and telling them (in Armenian) not to vote for Gatto because he supports "homosexual legislation." Burbank Blogger even has proof this is going on because one of the phone calls has been taped and the audio posted to YouTube (with English translation). The race for the 43rd has become increasingly bizarre, with a freak misprint in vote-by-mail ballots making the complicated election (there's both a special election run-off and a general primary election on the same ballot) even moreso. MadProfessah has endorsed Gatto and hopes that Ramani is punished for stooping to under-the-radar appeals to ethnic homophobia.

AD-47. The race to replace soon-to-be-Congressmember Karen Bass is starting to get more attention in the LGBT community. Reggie Jones-Sawyer won the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club last month, but Holly Mitchell has more cash on hand ($150k to $80k) and the official California Democratic Party nomination. Both are strong supports of full LGBT equality.

Saturday Politics: CA-33, AD-43, SD-15, CA-AG and CA-LG

Kamala Harris

In today's edition of Saturday Politics we have stories about Karen Bass's run for Congress, developments in the California Attorney General race and details about the new (and the next) Lieutenant Governor of California.

CA-33. Assemblymember Karen Bass path to the United States House of Representatives has been cleared by the decision by a deep-pocketed rival named Howard C. Mandel to not challenge the former Speaker of the Assembly for the Democratic nomination for the 33rd Congressional District, currently represented by retiring Diane Watson. Multiple sources tell MadProfessah that the good doctor, who had been prepared to spend up to $500,000, has been quietly convinced by leaders in the Jewish community that they support Ms. Bass's run for the Congressional seat. This leaves Bass' only remaining challenger the perennial candidate Felton Newell.

AD-43. Following his decisive win in the April 13th special primary election and his primary opponent's withdrawal from the race, Mike Gatto has secured the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club in both races happening June 8, 2010: the special election run-off and the Democratic primary election.

CA Attorney General. While MadProfessah endorsed San Francisco District Attorney on Wednesday, the same day that former Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly wrote a check for $4 million to double his campaign war chest for the Democratic nomination for the Attorney General.

CA Lieutenant Governor. The race between Los Angeles City Councilmember Janice Hahn and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has gotten pretty tense. The two ad elaborate, duelling parties at the California Demorcratic Convention in Los Angeles, where neither was able to gather the state party's official endorsement. At the Equality California statewide candidates forum last Sunday, the two refused to share a stage. Interestingly, Hahn easily earned the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club on Monday, despite the fact that Newsom is well-known in the LGBT community as an early champion of marriage equality.

SD-15. In other Lieutenant Governor news, State Senator Abel Maldonado was sworn in this week as the new Lieutenant Governor after winning confirmation a few months after the Assembly rejected his nomination, giving the Republicans 3 of the 8 statewide constitutional offices (including Governor and Insurance Commissioner). Maldonado's ascension leaves his seat in State Senate District 15 open, and openly gay former Assemblyman John Laird has made no secret of his desire to switch the seat to the Democrats. If he wins, he would become only the second openly gay man to serve in the State Senate, following Mark Leno.

That's it for this week. Feel free to send tips for future Saturday Politics stories by twitter (@madprofessah), email or in the comments!

AD-43: Gatto Prohibitive Favorite As Main Rival Exits

MadProfessah-endorsed candidate for the 43rd Assembly District seat and top vote-getter in the Tuesday April 13th Special Primary election Mike Gatto is now the prohibitive favorite to win the seat after his main rival Nayiri Nahabedian announced that she is suspending her campaign.

MadProfessah actually heard the news at the California Democratic Convention on Saturday from multiple sources but since it had not been confirmed in writing until the Daily News printed a story about it today and the candidate's website was not updated with the information, I waited until today to report the news.

From the Daily News article:

A consultant to Nahabedian said Tuesday the Glendale school board member won't campaign for the June 8 primary for the next full two-year term in the Assembly's 43rd District. Her name, however, will still appear on the ballot alongside Democrats Gatto and Chahe Keuroghelian and Republican Sunder Ramani because it is too late to remove it.

[...]

Paul Mitchell, a campaign consultant, said Nahabedian decided to stop campaigning after talks that included Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles. Mitchell said Nahabedian wanted to create "unity among the Democrats" and avoid "confusion" for voters in the Gatto-Ramani runoff.

[...]

"While I'm pleased to have one less opponent in the race, I'm taking nothing for granted," Gatto said. "These races are not done yet."

Having placed first in the special primary election, Gatto would be the only Democrat to be eligible to fill out the rest of Paul Krekorian's term in the June 8 run-off election. Additionally, he is now the prohibitive favorite to win the legislative primary election (also on June 8) to be the Democrat on the November ballot to win his first of three two year terms to represent the 43rd Assembly District.

Congrats, Mike!

AD-43: Gatto Is #1!

In yesterday's special election to replace Paul Krekorian in the 43rd Assembkly District, MadProfessah-endorsed Mike Gatto not only placed first among the three Democrats, he received the most votes over all:

As of Date: 04/13/2010 Time: 23:04                            Votes  Percent
                                                                         
STATE ASSEMBLY               43RD TERM ENDS 11/10                          
                                                                         
 MIKE GATTO             DEM                                10,584    32.34
 SUNDER   RAMANI        REP                                10,403    31.79
 NAYIRI NAHABEDIAN      DEM                                 7,298    22.30
 CHAHE KEUROGHELIAN     DEM                                 4,444    13.58
                                                                         
TOTAL PRECINCTS        225            PRECINCTS REPORTING       225   100.00
REGISTRATION       201,352  

This means that on June 8, Mike will face the Republican candidate in the run-off to fill the rest of Krekorian's term through November 2010. He will also probably be the favorite to win the Democratic nomination (against Nahabedian) in the primary election which happens on the same day.

So, basically you will need to vote for Mike twice on that day.

AD-43: Gatto v Nahabedian, round 1 is today!

Nayiri Nahabedian	Mike Gatto

Today is the special election in the 43rd Assembly district. MadProfessah has endorsed Mike Gatto, while the Stonewall Democratic Club (of which I am a member of the "board" or steering committee) has endorsed Nayiri Nahabedian. However, the LGBT community is clearly split between the candidates.

In the very likely event that no candidate gets more than 50%, the two will continue to battle on until June 8, 2010 when there are two simultaneous elections: a run-off between the top Democratic vote getter in today's election versus the top Republican and a primary election where the top Democratic vote getter adavances to the November 2010 ballot in this overwhelmingly Democratic district. The person who wins the first election only gets to serve until Janauary, while the person who wins the second election will get to serve either 2 (or more likely 6) years.

We'll know which one has the advantage going into the June 8, 2010 elections when the returns come back today, but already one thing is clear, this race will probably break records for turnout in a special election. As of last Wednesday, more than 16,000 absentee ballots had been received by the Los Angeles County Recorder-Registrar (8% of the electorate).

For updates through the night, check lavote.net.

AD-43: One Week Until Election Day

Hans Johnson, president of Progressive Victory; Mike Gatto, Democratic Party-endorsed candidate for California's 43rd Assembly seat; Luis Lopez, president of HONOR PAC; and Jimmie Woods Gray, UTLA and former chair of the L.A. County Democratic Party

It's one week until the special primary election in the 43rd Assembly district to replace Paul Krekorian. The two main candidates are Mike Gatto (who MadProfessah and the CA Democratic Party has endorsed) and Nayiri Nahabedian (who the Stonewall Democratic Club has endorsed).

The above picture was taken at an event (in the district) at the site of The Black Cat, a gay bar in Silverlake steeped in Los Angeles pre-Stonewall gay history which now houses Le Barcito.

Hans Johnson was one of the primary organizers for an LGBT fundraiser for Mike Gatto which raised over $4000 for the candidate. Luis Lopez, president of the leading Latino LGBT political organization in the state is Johnson's domestic partner and Jimmie Woods Gray is with the United Teachers of Los Angeles.

The picture demonstrates that teachers and "teh gays" are supporting Mike in the race to fill the 43rd Assembly District. If you live in Glendale, Burbank, Silverlake, Atwater Village, you should too!

AD-43: Shock! Nayiri Wins Stonewall Dems Nod

Nahabedian	Gatto

In a shock to most political insiders, Nayiri Nahabedian, Glendale School board members and AD-43 candidate, won the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club, one of the oldest and most prominent LGBT democratic clubs in the country, despite the fact that her main opponent Mike Gatto, has been a longtime paid member of the club for well over a decade and a strong LGBT ally.

MadProfessah is a Stonewall Democratic Club board member (technically, elected Steering Committee member) of Stonewall, and although I have participated in other endorsement panel hearings, I was not on the committee that recommended an endorsement for Gatto by a vote of 4-3. However, at the meeting of the membership on Monday March 22nd, the vote was 23-10 to endorse Nahabedian, which observers chalked up to an impassioned speech by former Assemblyperson Jackie Goldberg, who is openly lesbian and best well-known for the primary author of AB 205, California's Comprehensive Domestic Partnership Act. Stonewall does not allow candidates to speak at a club meeting in which their race is being considered by the membership, but allows 3 people to speak in favor and in opposition to motions on the floor.

Gatto has been endorsed by yours truly, but more importantly he has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party. This surprising result at the Stonewall Democratic Club is the second time that Nahabedian has mobilized (some would say "packed") a Democratic club meeting to overturn the recommendation of a club's endorsement committee for Gatto. DPSFV (Democratic Party of San Fernando Valley) had recommended Gatto but the endorsement was changed to open endorsement by a vote of the membership.

The special primary election will be help on April 13th to see who will replace Paul Krekorian and then on June 8th the Democratic primary will be held for who gets the nomination for the November election to represent the 43rd Assembly district in January 2011.

Saturday Politics: AD-43 and AD-53

Saturdays are local politics days at MadProfessah.com

Today there are stories about two Los Angeles area State Assemby races that I have been following closely, AD-53 and AD-43.

In the 53rd Assembly District race to replace termed-out Ted Lieu (who is running for California Attorney General) openly gay Mayor of Redondo Manhattan Beach Mitch Ward has been endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. Ward is competing in a crowded field which includes straight Equality California board member (and registered lobbyist) Betsy Butler, her ex-boyfriend Jim Aldinger, city prosecutor Nick Karno, enviromentalist James Lau, former staffers Kate Anderson and Edgar Saenz, and for good measure, a 22-year-old Tea Party activist named Neal Mintz. Only Aldinger and Ward have held elected office before. The big news this week is that HONOR PAC, California's Latino LGBT political action committee has endorsed Anderson in the race. MadProfessah has endorsed Mitch Ward. Lau has been the most successful fundraiser to date and still has the most cash on hand, closely followed by Butler, Anderson and Karno who each have close to 200,000 to spend before the June 8 primary.

In the 43rd Assembly District race to replace now-Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, internal polls show a narrow lead for attorney Mike Gatto where the most popular candidate is "Undecided." Last week, we reported that Andrew Westall had dropped out of the race but in the poll conducted of 400 residents in the district he was included and the results were Gatto 16%, Nayiri Nahabedian 12%, Westall 10%, Chahe Keuroghelian 6% among Democratic primary voters with 56% undecided. Interestingly, when told information about the candidates, Gatto had the largest increase, rising 26 points to 42%, Nahabedian 19% (+7), Westall 14% (+4), Keuroghelian 8% (+2) and Undecided falling 39 points to a mere 17%. Gatto also leads the money race, but the path to victory is complicated by the three elections that one needs to win in order to claim the seat in November.

Feel free to send me any suggestions for future Saturday local politics stories!

AD-43: And then there were two!

Mike Gatto, candidate for AD-43

More local political news. In the race to replace former Assemblyman Paul Krekorian in the 43rd Assembly district, another candidate has dropped out and so there are now only two main candidates remaining: MadProfessah-endorsed 35-year-old Stonewall Democrat Club member Mike Gatto and Glendale school boardmember Nayiri Nahabedian, 40.

Councilmember Herb Wesson staffer Andrew Westall suspended his campaign after the sudden death of his colleague, Wesson's chief of staff of a brain aneurysm over the weekend. Westall endorsed Nahabedian as he exited the race.

The special primary election is on April 13th, and then there's a primary election and the special general election on June 8th. The candidate who wants to be the Assemblymember from the 43rd Assembly district should win all three, but the primary election on June 8th is the most important.

According to the Secretary of State's financial records, Gatto had $200,000 plus on hand as of 12/31/2009 while Nahabedian appears to have had significantly less than $100,000. Typically (but not always, Meg!) the person who spends the most and/or raises the most wins these elections.

AD-43: Gatto Leads Crowded Field To Replace Krekorian

After Paul Krekorian was elected to the 2nd District of the Los Angeles City Council numerous people have stepped up to replace him in representing the 43rd Assemby District. One of them is my friend Mike Gatto. The others are Glendale school boardmember Nayiri Nahabedia and City Councilmember Wesson's staffer Andrew Westall.

What is so wild is that in order to represent the 43rd District next year at this time the successful candidate will have to win four elections:

1) On April 13th, 2010 there will be a special election to fill the seat.
2) If no one gets more than 50% of the vote then there will be a run-off election on June 8, 2010 for the right to serve out the rest of Krekorian's term.
3) However, also on June 8, 2010 will be a primary election for the right to be on the ballot to represent the 43rd district for a full 2-year term.
4) November 2, 2010 will be the statewide general election for 43rd District

It should be interesting to see which candidate gets through this punishing gauntlet of elections, with the concomitant fundraising and public appearance demands such non-stop campaigning requires.

MadProfessah endorses Mike Gatto.

LA CD-2: Krekorian Wins City Council Seat

Yesterday's run-off election in the 2nd District of the Los Angeles City Council was won easily by MadProfessah-endorsed candidate Paul Krekorian (43rd District Assemblymember) over Christine Essel. Turnout was even lower than expected, with only 15.35% or less than 20,000 votes cast in a district which has around 125,000 registered voters. More than half of the votes were cast by mail and Krekorian had a nearly 60-40 edge in those votes.

The final results were:

VOTES	PERCENT
COUNCIL DISTRICT 2
	CHRISTINE ESSEL	8,304	43.44
	PAUL KREKORIAN	10,810	56.56

This means that there will be an upcoming special election to replace Krekorian in the 43rd District. MadProfessah friend (and hunky straight ally) Mike Gatto will be a candidate in a crowded field.

Los Angeles CD-2 Election Today: Paul Krekorian

Today is the decision day for the 2nd District Los Angeles City Council race between businesswoman Christine Essel and Assemblymember Paul Krekorian, the top two finishers in the September 22nd special election. The seat became vacant when Wendy Greuel was elected City Controller in July. If Krekorian is elected (as MadProfessah hopes) then there will be another special election to replace his seat in the 43rd Assembly district. Greuel has endorsed Essel to replace her.

Most LGBT activists, most notably the Stonewall Democrats (of which MadProfessah is an elected steering committee member) are rooting for Krekorian to win. John Cleary, Stonewall President wrote the following letter of support for LGBT Democrats and their allies in the 2nd City Council District:

This is a very important time in our city and we need a leader who will listen to our concerns and act on our behalf. On December 8, we hope you will support Paul Krekorian for Los Angeles City Council. Paul has received the strong endorsement of Stonewall Democratic Club, Stonewall Young Democrats, and Senator Mark Leno because Paul has always been a trusted friend of our community and a strong advocate on issues that matter to us.

Senator Mark Leno, Chair of the Legislative LGBT Caucus, said “Paul Krekorian has always been a trusted friend of the LGBT community and a leader on the issues that matter to us. Paul was a coauthor of my bill, AB 43, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, and he fervently opposed Prop. 8. Paul Krekorian believes in and will fight for equality for all, and he deserves your support.”

Paul was a strong ally in our fight in opposition to Proposition 8. He was also among the group of legislators who filed an amicus brief in support of marriage equality with the California Supreme Court.

In addition, Paul has a lifetime 100% voting record from Equality California and was a coauthor of a Senate Joint Resolution that called for an end to “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”

Paul has been a longtime board member of the AIDS Community Action Foundation. He was the author of AB 1894, mandating that health insurers pay for HIV/AIDS testing in all settings, regardless of primary diagnosis.

Paul Krekorian is the right person at the right time to serve on the City Council. He is also the only candidate with a proven track record of fighting for our community. Please join me in supporting Paul on December 8.

There are 123,750 registered voters in the 2nd City Council District, and nearly 10,000 absentee ballots have been returned. Overall turnout is expected to be about 20%.

Below is the PDF of the actual letter sent out to 5,000 residents of LA CD-2.
Krekorian Support Letter

Will California's Next Assembly Speaker Be Gay?

Freshman Assemblymember John Pérez is emerging as a leading candidate to replace Speaker of the California Assembly Karen Bass. In fact, Calitics is claiming it's all over but the wailing and the gnashing of teeth.

Perez entered the race after a number of his Assembly colleagues mounted an effort to draft him as a speakership candidate. Capitol sources said if Perez is able to secure a majority of his caucus, the vote on a new speaker could come by next week, when the Assembly reconvenes to vote on education legislation.

One of those involved in the Draft Perez movement was Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. Huffman told Capitol Weekly Tuesday, "I believe John now has the votes. I think it's over."

[...]

Perez did not appear to have a majority of his caucus's support Tuesday, but momentum for his bid was clearly growing. Assemblyman Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, another candidate for the job, has told members he has support from 22 members of his caucus -- four shy of the 26 Democrats informally needed to secure the job.

Neither Perez nor De Leon's office immediately returned calls seeking comment.

Pérez is well-known around these parts as the first (and only) openly LGBT person of color to
be elected to the California Legislature. Although, if HONOR PAC has its way, he will not be the last. Openly gay (Latino) Ricardo Lara is a leading candidate in the 50th Assembly District and opely gay (African American) Mitch Ward is a leading candidate for the 53rd Assembly District.

Pérez's main challenger for the Speaker job, Kevin de León is my local Assemblyperson, and I am an elected Delegate to the California Democratic Central Committee from the 45th Assembly District.

That being said, I would still love to have an openly gay Speaker of the Assembly.

L.A. CD-2: Krekorian and Essel in Dec. 8 Runoff Election

MadProfessah-endorsed candidate Paul Krekorian was the top vote-getter in yesterday's special election in City Council District #2:

TAMAR GALATZAN                  1,871 12.94%
JOZEF "JOE" THOMAS ESSAVI       306 2.12%
CHRISTINE ESSEL              4,104 28.39%
MICHAEL MC CUE                  339 2.35%
PETE SANCHEZ                    699 4.84%
DAVID "ZUMA DOGG" SALTSBURG     410 2.84%
FRANK SHEFTEL                   441 3.05%
PAUL KREKORIAN               4,929 34.10%
MARY BENSON                     1,198 8.29%
AUGUSTO BISANI                  158 1.09%

Turnout was a measly 11.74% out of 123, 750 registered voters with more than half (55%) of all votes cast by mail. Krekorian will face Christine Essel in the Tuesday December 8 run-off election. If Krekorian wins, it will set off another special election for his 43rd District Assembly seat that he currently holds.