Saturday Politics: AD-50 Gets Complicated

Assemblymember Betsy Butler represented
the 53rd Assembly District since 2010

Of course at MadProfessah.com we have been paying close attention to the impacts of redistricting on California politics in particular. You may recall that last year MadProfessah closely covered the ins and outs of the highly contested race for the 53rd Assembly District seat, where a viable openly gay, Black candidate was running. The seat was run by Equality California board member, lobbyist and straight ally Betsy Butler.

In redistricting the old 53rd was split between 3 new districts, the 62nd, 66th and 50th. Now, Butler has decided to move into the 50th and run for "re-election" from that district, instead of the 62nd where her current residence is. However Assemblymember Steve Bradford, who is African American, intends to run in the 62nd which has a significant Black population. However, the 50th District contains the liberal pockets of Santa Monica and West Hollywood and openly lesbian candidate Torie Osborne has announced her intention to represent this district. Previously, Osborne's ex-girlfriend, Sheila James Kuehl, was the first openly LGBT person ever elected to the California legislature and had been elected to represent West Hollywood in a similar district.

Butler's decision has not endeared her with LGBT activists.

But Osborn is facing powerful opposition from an unexpected source: Assembly Speaker John Pérez. The speaker is backing Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, who plans to move from Marina del Rey into the new 50th district. 

If neither side backs down, the contest could cost millions and drive a wedge through the L.A. Democratic Party. 

"This is gonna be the most exciting Assembly race in Southern California," said party chair Eric Bauman. Osborn's supporters hope it doesn't come to that. They argue that a seat that includes West Hollywood should be represented by a gay person. (Butler is straight.) 

[...] 

Much of Butler's current district has been drawn into the new 66th district, which is split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Butler apparently feels she stands a better chance in the 50th, which leans heavily Democratic.

Bauman, who is an adviser to Pérez, pushed back against the claim that the 50th ought to be represented by a gay person.

"It's not a gay seat," he said. "There are many gay people in the Legislature now. That's a bogus argument."

Bauman said that Osborn would make an "outstanding" legislator. But, he said, "I think it's logical for any leader of any Legislative house to protect their members first."

There are other Democrats in the race, including Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. West Hollywood Councilman Jeffrey Prang dropped out earlier this month, because he did not want to challenge Butler. 

It should be very interesting!

SD-28: Ted Lieu Wins Special Election

former Assemblymember Ted Lieu

Ted Lieu, a Democratic former 53rd District Assemblymember and strong LGBT ally, won Tuesday's special election in the 28th State Senate District to replace the late Jenny Oropeza. In the first election held under the state's open primary law, Lieu won 57.14% of the vote containing a field of 8 candidates from several parties.

In the 17th State Senate District Sharon Runner, the odious Republican co-author of numerous "tough on crime" ballot measures, won the special election to fill the seat formerly held by her husband George Runner, who was elected to the State Board of Equalization in November.

SD-28: Ted Lieu Announces Run For Oropeza's Seat

Assemblymember Ted Lieu has announced his plans to run for the late Jenny Oropeza's State Senate seat in the 28th District. Sadly, Oropeza died on October 22, but was re-elected posthumously in the statewide general election on Tuesday November 1st.

Lieu currently represents the 53rd Assembly district, but will lose his seat on December 6th when Betsy Butler is sworn in to represent the South Bay-area district because Lieu decided to run for Attorney General this Spring since he was forced to leave the Assembly due to term limits. He lost in the Democratic primary in June 2010 to Kamala Harris, who is still in a too-close-to-call race with Republican Steve Cooley to be California's next Attorney General.

Another person who lost in the June 2010 Democratic primary, this time in the Lieutenant Governor's race (to Gavin Newsom) was Janice Hahn, who announced today that she would not run in the special election and endorsed Lieu. Another perso who may announce  a bid for the seat is Warren Furutani who represents the 55th Assembly district which covers part of the 24th Senate District. Furutani was able to win the 55th Assembly district when Laura Richardson gave it up to run against Oropeza in an August 2007 special election when Congresswoman Janice Millender-McDonald's 37th Congressional district opened up due to her untimely death. Richardson won that race and now represents CA-37.

Of course all these district lines will become open seats in the next election in 2012 when the lines are redrawn, thanks to Proposition 11 and Proposition 20 by an independent "citizen's" redistricting commission with data from the 2010 Census.

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!

VOTE TODAY: CA Statewide Primary Election

Today is the the June 8 Statewide Primary Election, Here are my endorsements compared to those from other organizations like the Los Angeles Times, Calitics.com, CA Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Stonewall Democratic Club (LGBT group) and Courage Campaign'sProgressive Voter Guide (pdf).

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

Statewide Constitutional Officers   MadProfessah  LA TIMES  STONEWALL   CA DEMS
Governor                               Brown         None        Brown       Brown
Lieutenant Governor                    Newsom        Newsom      Hahn        None
Attorney General                       Harris        Harris      Lieu        None
Secretary of State                     Bowen*         None        Bowen*      Bowen*
Treasurer                              Chiang*        None        Chiang*     Chiang*
Controller                             Lockyer*       None        Lockyer*    Lockyer*
Insurance Commissioner                 Jones         Jones       De La Torre Jones
Superintendent of Public Instruction   Romero        Aceves      Torlakson   None

Statewide Legislative Races

AD-43. MadProfessah, LA CDP, Stonewall Dems and Los Angeles Daily News have all endorsedMike Gatto.
AD-44. The incumbent here is Anthony Portantino* and has been endorsed by Los Angeles Democrats and Stonewall Democrats but NOT MadProfessah.
AD-45. MadProfessah lives and votes in the 45th Assembly District but can not, in good conscience, endorse State Senator Gil Cedillo's cynical attempt to hold on to elected office for two more years by switching seats with current Assemblymember Kevin De Leon. Especially after he ran an unnecessary (and losing) campaign against Judy Chu in the 32nd Congressional District Special Election last year.
AD-46. Openly gay speaker of the Assembly John Perez* is the incumbent here and is endorsed by MadProfessah.
AD-47. One of the toughest primary fights this summer is between Holly Mitchell and Reggie Jones-Sawyer. MadProfessah, Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass (current officeholder), CA Democratic Party and LA County Dems have all endorsed Holly Mitchell, while Stonewall Dems have endorsed Reggie Jones-Sawyer.
AD-48. The incumbent here is Mike Davis*, who was outed recently by a friend at a recent Stonewall Democratic Club meeting but who has not been endorsed by that club or MadProfessah.
AD-49. The incumbent is Mike Eng*, husband of strong LGBT ally Congressmember Judy Chu, and is endorsed by MadProfessah, Stonewall Dems and Los Angeles County Dems.
AD-50. Openly gay Ricardo Lara is trying to become the second openly LGBT person of color elected to the California Legislature.
AD-51. Strong ally of LGBT rights Steve Bradford* is the incumbent here and is endorsed by MadProfessah, Equality California, Los Angeles Dems and Stonewall Dems.
AD-52. The incumbent here is Isadore Hall* who has NOT been endorsed by MadProfesah, but who has been endorsed by LA County Dems and Stonewall Dems.
AD-53. MadProfessah has endorsed openly gay, African-American Mitch Ward. Equality California and Stonewall Dems have endorsed Betsy Butler. Honor Pac (LGBT Latino group) has endorsed Kate Anderson.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County Assessor. MadProfessah endorses openly gay John Noguez. The Los Angeles Times has endorsed John Y. Wong.

Measure E. MadProfessah endorses a Yes position on this County measure to benefit Los Angeles Unified School District. It is a $100 increase per parcel which LAUSD says will go to save the jobs of teachers. The Los Angeles Times urges a NO vote, while the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and Stonewall Democrats urge a YES vote.

Superior Court Judges.
I know it is really hard to make an informed choice about the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge races, so I always try and include what people who follow these races are saying about them. The Los Angeles County Bar Association has a page where they rate, but do not endorse, judicial candidates.

               LA DEMS          STONEWALL LA TIMES         MadProfessah 
Office 28:    Mark  K. Ameli      Ameli      Randy Hammock     Ameli
Office 35:    Soussan Bruguera*   Bruguera   Bruguera          Bruguera
Office 73:    None                None       Matz              Matz
Office 107:   Valerie Salkin      Salkin     Tony de los Reyes Salkin
Office 117:   Alan Schneider      Schneider  Schneider         Schneider
Office 131:   Maren E. Nelson*    Nelson     Nelson            Nelson

I've already voted!

AD-53: Lau Denied CDP Endorsement By 1 Vote

An interesting race in the 53rd Assembly District has had some exciting developments recently. On April 12th, Betsy Butler (the candidate with most cash) won the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club by a vote of 38-22 (a margin of victory of a mere three votes, since the threshold is 60 percent, or at least 36 to 24) over openly gay Mitch Ward, the African American mayor of Manhattan Beach. This was seen as a surprising result by many, with an LGBT Democratic club endorsing a straight ally over an openly gay candidate. MadProfessah a member of the Steering Committee of the club, introduced Mayor Ward before he addressed the members of the club in the wee hours of the meeting. It was the most closely contested endorsement result of the evening.

But on Saturday April 17th at the Los Angeles convention of the California Democratic Party an even closer vote happened. James Lau was prevented from getting the endorsement of the state party at a caucus because he failed to garner 60% of the votes cast by one vote. And that one vote was a provisional vote that was for Lau, but was disqualified because the delegate turned out not to live in AD-53 and was thus ineligible. Butler and Ward were the only other candidates to receive votes. Other people who had not been following the race closely were surprised to see Lau with such a strong showing, but since he was once in the leadership of the 53rd Assembly District local Democratic club.

Saturday Politics: Ward's Internal Poll Shows Lead in AD-53

Mitch Ward released an internal poll showing him with a lead over the other candidates in the race to replace Assembymember Ted Lieu in the 53rd district. According to the telephone poll of 400 likely June 2010 Democratic primary voters between February 23-25, Ward was supported by 13%, James Lau 4%, Kate Anderson 4%, Betsy Butler 3% with "lower amounts for other candidates."

Considering that the poll has a margin of error of +/- 5 points, these results are not that unusual for 3 months before a low-profile election. But, wait, there's more!

According to the memo prepared by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research, after voters learn more information about the candidates after being read "detailed and fair paragraphs" Ward takes a lead of 32% with all the other candidates garnering no more than 9% each.

The memo attempts to explain Mitch Ward's lead by showing that voters preferred a qualified candidate from the South Bay to a qualified candidate from the Venice and Marina del Rey area by a margin of 40% to 26%. Mitch Ward is the current Mayor of Manhattan Beach, and is the only major candidate whose political base is South of Los Angeles Airport. The memo goes on to note that two of the last three people to represent the district not only had race in common (Ted Lieu and George Nakano are both Asian American), but they were also both from the South Bay.

I guess we'll find out on June 8, 2010. MadProfessah has endorsed Mitch Ward, who if elected would become the first openly gay, African American person ever elected to the California legislature and the 3rd Black LGBT person to be elected to a state legislature, ever.

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!

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.

AD-53: Money Changes Everything?

The new front runner in AD-53?

The race to replace Ted Lieu in the 53rd State Assembly District has taken a strange turn since MadProfessah first reported on it in May. One candidate, Al Muratsuchi, has decided not to run and another has surprisingly joined the race, and the newcomer happens to be the ex-boyfriend of one of the other top candidates (not the gay one)!

According to a Daily Breeze article by Gene Maddaus, Jim Aldinger is the former boyfriend of Betsy Butler and she once sued him for $5,000 after they broke up to get some furniture back he attempted to bogart.

Aldinger and Butler parted on bad terms about seven years ago. He refused to relinquish some furniture that she'd had delivered to his house, and she had to sue him to retrieve it.

In 2004, a judge ordered him to pay her $5,000.

Both candidates say that episode is in the past and should not be relevant to the coming campaign. But their history together is likely to make the race somewhat awkward, at the least, and also raises questions about Aldinger's motives for running.

Aldinger, 48, said he is not motivated by resentment or hostility toward an ex-girlfriend who took him to court.

"This is something that's been in my mind for some time," he said. "This is not something that I would take lightly. I think I'm the most qualified."

Well, I guess all's fair in love, war and politics?

The question is, who is the frontrunner in this race? The August 2009 fundraising reports (pdf) by the Fair Political Practices Commission reveal some surprising data:

CANDIDATE                  CASH ON HAND       $RAISED    $SPENT
Jim Aldinger               $0                  $0         $322
Kate Anderson              $131,199           $135,090   $3,891
Betsy Butler               $101,487           $81,229    $25,277
Nick Karno                 $110,003           $115,768   $10,457
James Lau                  $211,030           $211,435   $2,267
Mitch Ward                 $32,725            $60,380    $29,154

The most important number is the amount of cash on hand right now, and clearly James Lau (who was not even on my list of potential candidates in May) is in the lead.

Interestingly, the openly gay Mayor Pro tem of Manhattan Beach Mitch Ward has spent the most money (so is clearly doing the most actual campaigning for the seat) is also way back in the middle of the pack on both money raised and cash on hand.

So, who is James Lau? According to his facebook page, he is the Director of the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and Chair of the 53rd Assembly District Democratic Central Committee. He is also apparently active on ActBlue and other online political junkie websites, like TotalCapitol.com.

MadProfessah will be continue to follow the contested Assembly races in Los Angeles County, especially where there is an openly LGBT candidate running.

Picture from Sunday's Juneteenth event

Here is a picture from last week's Juneteenth Pride Celebration and Awards organized by Jordan/Rustin Coalition. The openly gay Mayor of Manhattan Beach, Mitch Ward, is picture with Vallerie Wagner and Doug Spearman, winners of the first annual Barbara Jordan Award and Bayard Rustin Award, respectively.

AD-53: Hot Race Beginning To Get Coverage

Kate Anderson

Nick Karno

Al Muratsuchi

Mitch Ward

Betsy Butler

The Daily Breeze printed an article on the race to replace Ted Lieu (who is termed out in 2010 and is running for Attorney General) inthe 53rd Assembly District. At the California Democratic Convention in Sacramento last month MadProfessah was able to run into some of the major candidates in this (currently below-the-radar) electoral battle.

Here's an excerpt:

When the seat was last open, after the death of incumbent Mike Gordon in 2005, Democrats held a six-point registration advantage in the district. That advantage has since doubled to 12 points.

[...]

Perhaps the most formidable candidate at this early stage is Betsy Butler, who has secured several major endorsements despite being virtually unknown in the 53rd District.

Butler is the top fundraiser for Consumer Attorneys of California, a lobbying group for trial lawyers. Butler, 45, says she splits her time between her job in Sacramento and her home in Marina del Rey.

[...]

Lieu is staying neutral, at least for now.

The other candidates may have stronger ties to the local community, but they will have to struggle to compete financially.

Among them is Mitch Ward, who is the first black councilman ever elected in Manhattan Beach. Ward, 48, has the backing of his fellow council members, but he will have to introduce himself to the rest of the district, which extends from Venice to Torrance and Lomita.

Additionally, Nick Karno (deputy city attorney in Los Angeles and Venice Neighborhood Council member, 39), Al Muratsuchi (deputy State Attorney General and Torrance School Board member,44) and Kate Anderson (former aide to U.S. Rep. Waxman and lawyer, 37) are also considered in the article.

MadProfessah is interested in the race because if (as expected) Ward and Butler become the two top candidates in the race, as an elected delegate I will be voting on which one should receive the official nomination of the California Democratic Party at next Spring's convention in Southern California.

For LGBT People of Color this decision may be a difficult one because although Ward would become the first African American LGBT person ever elected to the California legislature. However, Butler is a longtime member of the board of directors of Equality California, the state's largest LGBT political advocacy organization and a very strong LGBT ally who is positioning herself as the more "viable" candidate.

It's almost like a mini-reprise of the Ragnarök battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Hopefully (for Ward) this battle turns out the same way.

Report from CA Democratic Convention: Day 2 & 3

The second full day of the California Democratic Convention was a very busy affair. There were many speeches by politicians in the main hall (Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, etc etc).

Because I had a blogger credential, I was able to attend U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer press conference after her speech at the convention which was attended by both bloggers and members of the "old media." It was a very interesting experience. I had a question prepared, but I was too shy to ask it. My qeuestion would have been:

Senator, according to several national LGBT civil rights organizations there are currently nine United States Senators (10 if you count Al Franken) who have publicly announced their support for marriage equality. I think many of us in this room are aware of your position on this issue, but my question is would you like to use this opportunity to go on the record in favor of marriage equality, especially in light of the state Supreme Court's imminent ruling on the legality of Proposition 8 and the ongoing discussion about a future ballot measure to legalize the practice if the Court upholds the measure?

But, the other questions asked at the press conference were pretty good, if a bit focussed on the potential challenge of Carly Fiorina.

Later, in the day I went to the "Recession Reception" hosted by Attorney General Jerry Brown at the historic Governor's Mansion. At the reception I ran into the openly gay mayor of Mahattan Beach Mitch Ward who is running for the 53rd Assembly District seat currently held by Ted Lieu who is running for Attorney General. Ward is the first person of color (African American) elected to the Manhattan Beach city council in over one hundred years. Also at the reception was Ward's main rival for the seat, Betsy Butler who says she has already received the endorsement of Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

Luis Lopez (President, HonorPAC, the Latina/o LGBT political action committee),
Hans Johnson (Board Member, NGLTF) and
Jerry Brown (CA Attorney General and Former Governor)

After the recession reception, I hung out with Luis and Hans and we ran into HonorPAC-endorsed, openly gay Long Beach city councilman Robert Garcia (who was the youngest person ever elected to that august body at the age of 31 a few weeks ago).

31-year-old openly gay Long Beach city councilman Robert Garcia with Luis Lopez

On Friday I had previously reported that I had run into openly gay, African American guy who is running for Ellen Tauscher's congressional seat in the 10th district. Here's a picture of Anthony Woods (left) with Tauren Jones, a volunteer for the African American caucus of the California Democratic Party.
(Notice the spiffy red-green-black pin on his lapel).