SATURDAY POLITICS: Molina Snags Endorsements By Villaraigosa, Boxer, Cedillo

This week former Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina announced endorsements of her race for Los Angeles City Council by three prominent Democratic politicians: U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and current Los Angeles City Councilmember Gilbert Cedillo.

The revelation of three big names at once is being viewed (by some political observers) as a misstep by Molina, since typically one unveils big-name endorsements piecemeal in order to get media attention for each one separately. However, even if that is true, it is pretty significant that Molina was able to get the endorsement of a current colleague of her opponent, incumbent City Councilman Jose Huizar. Additionally, Villaraigosa supported Huizar as his replacement back in 2005 when he ran (and won) his race for Mayor. The current Mayor, Eric Garcetti has not yet endorsed in the race.

The Los Angeles County Democratic Party has endorsed Huizar. The primary election will be held March 3, 2015. If the public approves two disingenuous, dubious and dangerous charter amendments in that same election, the winner of that race will get to serve an unprecedented 5-and-a-half year term.

In other interesting political developments, Villaraigosa is making more encouraging noises about running for Boxer's Senate seat in the June 2016 primary, even though Attorney General Kamala Harris made her intentions known earlier this week and most people expected Villaraigosa to be more interested in the 2018 Governor's race, not the 2016 Senate race. Maybe the former Mayor is getting antsy at waiting, or is he afraid that he won't make the top 2 in a crowded field that will likely include Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Treasurer John Chiang and many more?

UPDATE: ENDA Cloture Vote Scheduled For Monday Night

A historic vote will happen in the United States Senate on Monday night. The nation's most important legislative body will vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the federal bill that would ban LGBT employment discrimination nationwide. This is historic because it is the first time in 17 years the bill has a realistic chance of passing the Senate; in 1996 an earlier version of ENDA failed by 1 vote, 49-50. It's possible, but unlikely, that history could repeat itself, because by my count there are currently only 59 public supporters in the Senate and in the new modus operandi of the body all significant pieces of legislation have to reach a 60-vote threshold of support in order to pass.

Currently there are 29 states where there are no state laws protecting against sexual orientation-based employment discrimination and there are 33 states where there is no state-based protection for employment discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression. ENDA becoming law would mean LGBT people would be protected nationwide and would be one of the rare examples of the federal legislature acting in the interests of LGBT people.

According to The Advocate, after a successful cloture vote on Monday, actual passage of the bill would occur on Wednesday November 6.

Saturday Politics: DiFi's Low Poll Numbers, Cash Problem

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, no longer California's most popular politician?

Dianne Feinstein, long thought to be the most popular politician in California, has been running into some rough times lately. MadProfessah blogged about her poll numbers approaching the danger zone in June 2011 and now comes word of a more recent poll (September 16) confirming the conservadem's fall from grace.

Reuters reports:

The Field Research Corp poll estimated voters who do not want Feinstein to win reelection in 2012 to another six-year term at 44 percent, compared to 41 percent who favor her.

That is the first time the Field Poll has seen a larger share of voters say they are opposed to seeing Feinstein win reelection compared to the percentage who favor her election.

Feinstein is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and has a reputation for being more conservative than California's other Senator, Barbara Boxer, also a Democrat.

In nearly every Field Poll over the past two decades, voters who approved of Feinstein outnumbered by double-digit margins those who disapproved, researchers said.

But the Field Poll showed only 41 percent said they approved of her job performance while 39 percent disapproved, representing the lowest rating of Feinstein's tenure.

Besides the low poll numbers, Sen. Feinstein is also caught up in the burgeoning Kinde Durkee accounting scandal. Apparently her $5 millon war chest for next November's re-election has been wiped out. Feinstein is responding by using $5 million of her (husband's) money to replace the amount stolen by the corrupt Democratic political accountant.

Politico reported about Feinstein's troubles last week:

Feinstein’s campaign already had a cloud hanging over it: This will be the first major race she navigates without her longtime strategist Kam Kuwata, whose death in April stunned political observers and left a gaping hole in her operation.

Those developments, coupled with Feinstein’s age — she’ll turn 79 next year — have fueled retirement speculation. While a formal announcement isn’t planned until 2012, Carrick told POLITICO that Feinstein will pursue a fourth term. But a volatile environment that continues to punish politicians with longtime ties to the establishment could still provide an opening for a robust Republican challenge.

While most see a weakened Feinstein still sailing to a comfortable victory, some believe a legitimate GOP challenger could be a boon to both sides. The scandal forced Feinstein to begin fundraising from scratch, and donors are hesitant to throw money at a campaign that so far faces no serious threats.

“There’s nothing more frustrating than shadow boxing,” said Carrick. “That’s a fundraising issue too. You get some people to say, ‘I’ll give when she has a serious opponent.’”

I know that I will most definitely not donating to or voting for Dianna Feinstein, for anything, ever again. She lost me when she carried water for President George W. Bush to get some of his conservative federal judicial appointments through the United States Senate, teaming up with her "good friend" Joe Lieberman to give aid and comfort to the Republicans.

I don't care that she voted against DOMA in 1996 and supports the Respect for Marriage Act and  marriage equality. She's bad on a whole lot of other progressive issues, something which can NOT be said for California's other U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, who I would walk 3 miles in the snow, barefoot to support. It's amazing that California has two Democratic female Senators who are so very different on the issues.d

Republicans Kill Liu Nomination; Approve 19 Others

Goodwin Liu

What's that smell? I think it's the stench of "pragmatism" and horse trading. Apparently a deal has been reached between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to kill the nominations of four "controversial" federal judicial candidates in return for getting several other of President Obama's judicial nominations approved. The four judges that were anathema to Republicans just happen to be Goodwin Liu, Edward Chen, Louis B. Butler, Jr. and John J. McConnell, Jr.

MadProfessah has been following the odyssey of Liu's nomination because I met him once at joint State Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Proposition 8, where the Dean of UC Berkeley's Boalt School of Law. Liu is an unapologetic API LGBT ally and progressive jurist who some consider a likely candidate for a Supreme Court nomination in Obama's second term.

Officials familiar with the deal said Democrats agreed not to seek votes on the nominations of Goodwin Liu, associate dean at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, and three others, while Republicans agreed to confirm at least 19 of President Barack Obama's noncontroversial nominees.

If confirmed, Liu, 40, of Berkeley, would be only the second Asian-American serving on a federal appeals court and the only active Asian-American on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and is seen by some as a potential future U.S. Supreme Court pick. However, his nomination in February was almost immediately met by Republican opposition.

"Professor Liu is an outstanding nominee and it is most unfortunate that my Republican colleagues are blocking an up-or-down vote on his nomination," U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Tuesday. "I will keep fighting until he is confirmed."

The approval of judges means that Democratic-nominated judges are now a majority on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and increased their margin on the 4th Circuit to 9-5. There are 11 federal circuit courts of appeals.

2010 CA Statewide Election Results Summary

Here are the results from the 2010 Statewide General Election in California.

Proposition         MadProfessah    California
19 (Marijuana)      YES             NO  45-55
20 (Redistricting)  NO              YES 64-36
21 (State Parks)    YES             NO  41-59 
22 (Local Funds)    NO              YES 63-37 
23 (Suspends AB-32) NO              NO  41-59  

24 (Ends Tax Cuts)   YES             NO  40-60 

25 (Majority Vote)   YES             YES 54-46

26 (2/3 Fee Vote)   NO              YES 55-45   

27 (Undoes Prop 11) YES             NO  40-60

Statewide Races        MadProfessah California
Governor               Brown        Brown    

U.S. Senator           Boxer*       Boxer*   
Lieutenant Governor    Newsom       Newsom   
Attorney General       Harris       Cooley 
Secretary of State     Bowen*       Bowen*  
Treasurer              Lockyer*     Lockyer* 

Controller             Chiang*      Chiang*  
Insurance Commissioner Jones        Jones       
Supt. of Public Inst.  Torlakson    Torlakson

I'm very happy about Boxer and Brown winning but verklempt that the Democrats were not able to shut out Republican Steve Cooley from a statewide constitutional office.

UPDATE 11/03/2010 07:01am:
The attorney general race may not be over, folks! With 96.2% of precincts counted the totals are:

Peter Allen         GRN 180,931      2.6%
Steve Cooley        REP 3,182,605    45.5%
Robert J. Evans     PF 113,512       1.6%
Timothy J. Hannan   LIB 175,223      2.5%
Kamala D. Harris    DEM 3,222,987    46.1%
Diane Beall Templin AI 120,550       1.7%

If Haris holds on, it means Prop 8 will definitely not be appealed by the state of California, and she will be the first African-American person elected statewide in over 32 years! Go, girl!

WATCH: Boxer's Last Ad Is All Obama

CA-SEN: Boxer Phone Bank Flashmob In Weho 2pm Today

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer who is in a tightening re-election race with failed former Hewlett-Packard CEO Republican Carly Fiorina that could decide who controls the upper house of Congress will be in West Hollywood today at 2pm for a Phone Bank Flashmob.

Yesterday Fiorina was hospitalized with an infection yesterday and still has not returned to the campaign trail but the National Republican Senatorial Committee has bought another $3 million of television ads supporting her.

Boxer is a strong supporter of LGBT equality and last week released a list of LGBT community leaders supporting her (that includes MadProfessah).

With even Meg Whitman endorsing Jerry Brown for Governor, the Senate race is the most important race in the State we must focus on. Come out today to meet Boxer at 2pm at Plummer Park and make some calls to friends and family urging them to vote for Barbara Boxer today!

MadProfessah Endorsements for CA's November 2, 2010 General Election

Finally, the moment you have been waiting for!  Here are MadProfessah's positions on how I will be voting in the November 2 Statewide General Election, compared with endorsements from other organizations like the Los Angeles Times, Calitics.com, CA Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Stonewall Democratic Club (LGBT group), CA League of Women Voters and Courage Campaign's Progressive Voter Guide. Previously, I had posted my endorsements for the June 8, 2010 primary election.

Proposition        ME   LAT  CALITICS CA DEM LA DEM LWV
19 (Marijuana)     YES   NO    YES    ---    YES   ---
20 (Redistricting) NO    YES   NO     NO     NO    NO
21 (State Parks)   YES   NO    YES    YES    YES   ---
22 (Local Funds)   NO    NO    ---    NO     NO    ---
23 (Suspends AB-32)NO    NO    NO     NO     NO    NO

24 (Ends Tax Cuts) YES   NO    YES    YES    YES   YES

25 (Majority Vote) YES   YES   YES    YES    YES   YES

26 (2/3 Fee Vote)  NO    NO    NO     NO     NO    NO

27 (Undoes Prop 11)YES   NO    YES    YES    YES   NO

Statewide Races          ME         LA TIMES DEMOCRATS
Governor                 Brown      Brown    Brown

U.S. Senator             Boxer*     Boxer*   Boxer*
Lieutenant Governor      Newsom     Newsom   Newsom
Attorney General         Harris     Cooley   Harris
Secretary of State       Bowen*     Bowen*   Bowen*
Treasurer                Lockyer*   Lockyer* Lockyer*

Controller               Chiang*    Chiang*  Chiang*
Insurance Commissioner   Jones      Jones    Jones   
Supt. of Public Inst.    Torlakson  Aceves   Torlakson

Bd. of Equalization, #1  Yee*       ---      Yee*    

Bd. of Equalization, #2  ---        ---      Parker

Bd. of Equalization, #3  ---        ---      Christian-Heising

Bd. of Equalization, #4  ---        ---      Horton*  

Jerome Horton is an African-American incumbent, but when he was in the state legislature he was an unreliable vote on LGBT issues. He has since tried to make amends, but MadProfessah can not in good conscience endorse him, although I will note that the Stonewall Democrats have.

There are several judicial races on the ballot for which it is often hard to get information on.

Other Races                ME        LA TIMES        DEMOCRATS
CA Sup. Crt. Chief Justice ----      Cantil-Sakauye

CA Sup. Crt. Justice       Moreno    Moreno          Moreno

CA Sup. Crt. Justice       ----      Chin            ---

Superior Court, No. 28     Ameli     Hammock         Ameli

Superior Court, No. 117    Schneider Schneider       Schneider

L.A. County Assessor       Noguez    Yong            
Noguez 
     

Additionally, every Court of Appeals Justice and three State Supreme Court justices are up for re-election (or re-appointment). The Los Angeles Times basically says that every incumbent justice is worthy of re-election. However, Justice Carlos Moreno is the only State Supreme Court justice that thought Proposition 8 violated the state constitution. Ming Chin was in the minority of the 2008 In Re Marriage Cases decision and should NOT be re-appointed. Tani Cantil-Sakauye is Governor Schwarzenegger's nominee to replace Chief Justice Ron George; if approved she'll be the first female and Phillipine-American to head California's highest court. Since we know so little about her, I can't support voting to confirm her. I think it's silly that George didn't wait until the new Governor to be elected  before retiring earlier this year anyway.

There are numerous openly LGBT people running for elected office. John Noguez for Los Angeles County Assessor. In statewide legislative districts there is Ricardo Lara (AD-50) and John Perez (AD-46).

CA-SEN: Boxer Maintains Measurable Edge

United States Senator Barbara Boxer is maintaining a distinct lead in her re-election race against former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.


The Saramento Bee explains why Boxer is currently favored to win her fourth Senate term:

The poll found that impressions of Boxer are sharply divided and highly partisan, with 93 percent of all likely voters having an opinion of her. It found that Boxer still has a high unfavorable rating of 48 percent. But it has declined from a high of 52 percent two months ago.

"She's hanging in," said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director. "It looks like she's had a pretty good month or two."

DiCamillo attributed the results to Boxer's television advertising, which began last week, while Fiorina unveiled her first television ad on Thursday. DiCamillo noted that Fiorina's unfavorable rating has jumped from 29 percent to 38 percent since July.

"Fiorina has definitely taken a hit," he said.

[...]

The poll found that most respondents are basing their choices on how they feel about Boxer. Among Boxer supporters, 67 percent said their vote is more a vote for Boxer than it is a vote against Fiorina. And 65 percent of those who supported Fiorina said their preference is more a vote against Boxer than it is a vote for Fiorina.

MadProfessah has endorsed Barbara Boxer.

CA-SEN: New Boxer Ad Devastates Fiorina With Her Own Words

CA-SEN: Watch Boxer's First TV Ad

CA-GOV, CA-SEN: SurveyUSA Shows Republican Leads

SurveyUSA, the automated polling outfit, has polled the California gubernatorial and senatorial races and found leads for Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, respectively.

California: Fiorina and Boxer Still in Tight Fight; Whitman Narrowly Atop Brown; Some Traction for Those Opposed to Legal Weed: Incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer remains locked in a tight fight with Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KABC-TV Los Angeles, KPIX-TV San Francisco, KGTV-TV San Diego, and KFSN-TV Fresno. 3 identical SurveyUSA tracking polls have shown the contest within the theoretical margin of sampling error, though, in all 3 cases, the Republican has been nominally ahead, confounding many observers and, for now, preserving the possibility of a take-away. Today, it's Fiorina 48%, Boxer 46%. There is movement, or perhaps statistical noise, among Hispanic voters.

In the contest for Governor of California, it's Republican Meg Whitman 47%, Democrat Jerry Brown 40% today. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll 3 weeks ago, Whitman is up 3, Brown is down 3. But, compared to a SurveyUSA poll 7 weeks ago: no change. Among men, the race has been flat since polling began in July, with Whitman at 50% in each poll, and Brown at 35% to 37%. Among women, more volatility, with Brown 13 points atop Whitman 3 weeks ago, but tied with the former eBay CEO both 7 weeks ago and today.

Opposition to Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana and allow for its regulation and taxation, has grown. Two previous SurveyUSA polls both showed the measure passing by 10 points; today: 47% vote Yes to legalize, 43% vote No. Women, older voters, minorities, and Central Valley voters have all moved toward "No." Support remains above 50% among men, younger voters, whites, Democrats, liberals and moderates, and in the Bay Area.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, remains nominally ahead in the contest for Lieutenant Governor, where incumbent Republican Republican Abel Maldonado may have lost a couple of points compared to 3 weeks ago. Today it's Newsom 44% to Maldonado 39%. There is movement among men.

If Republicans are leading in Democrat-dominated California, progressives are in for a really, really bad NOvember.

CA-SEN: Money Bomb For Boxer!

Today Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer is debating against Republican challenger Carly Fiorina. Boxer's campaign has also decided to do a netroots money bomb today, an attempt to get 10,000 individual donations.

Boxer is an unabashed progressive, supports marriage equality and is a staunch environmentalist. Fiorina is a failed CEO who got 26 million dollars in a golden parachute to leave Hewlett-Packard after laying off tens of thousands of employees. Which do you want in the United States Senate?

I gave Barbara some bucks today, won't you? Click here.

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.

CA-SEN: Fiorina Takes Steps To Face Boxer in 2010

Some news in the 2010 California Senate race: Fiorina has taken her first steps to running to unseat U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in 2010. The press roll-out left a lot to be desired:

Fiorina, who would face Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine in the Republican primary in June, announced that she had filed papers with the Internal Revenue Service to start exploring a candidacy.

"The people of California have serious concerns about job creation, economic growth and the role of government in solving problems that touch each of our lives," Fiorina said in a written statement.

Her personal wealth would make Fiorina a heavy favorite for the Republican nomination. But she would have a tough fight to unseat Boxer, a Democrat seeking a fourth term. And Fiorina is opposed to abortion, which puts her at odds with most California voters.

Fiorina was fired from Hewlett-Packard after a rocky tenure. [emphasis added]

Ouch. And this is how the Los Angeles Times ended the story covering your US Senate announcement?

But, wait, there's more!

Fiorina also has not registered her charity, the Fiorina Foundation, with the IRS or the California attorney general's charitable trust division. She said that the charity bearing her name is "not a private foundation" and therefore not required to register.

A spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown said Tuesday that an inquiry is under way.

No votes in Fiorina's earlier states

Carly Fiorina, who has voted in five of 18 elections since registering in California in 2000, did not cast ballots in states where she previously lived, according to public records.

In New Jersey, where she lived before California, records in Morris County show that she registered to vote on Sept. 9, 1997, and was granted voter status on Oct. 8. Officials there said she never voted and was deleted from rolls as an "inactive voter" in 2005. Sample ballots were mailed to her home but were returned or got no response.

In Maryland, where records show Fiorina lived beginning in the early 1980s, Montgomery County records show that she didn't register to vote.

The Chronicle checked public records under Fiorina's listed addresses and under all her listed legal names, including her maiden name and names from her two marriages.

S0unds like someone who is qualified to be chief executive of the 6th largest public economy in the world?

CA-SEN: Boxer Has $4.6M Cash on Hand

California's junior United States Senator Barbara Boxer announced recently that she has nearly $5 million in cash on hand more than a year in advance of her 2010 re-election battle. Her only official announced Republican challenger is Chuck De Vore, although former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has made noises about challenging Boxer for the Senate seat. Fiorina is best known for being given a "golden parachute" of 21 million dollars to leave her job immediately plus another 21 million dollars in stock options and pension benefits.

One of Boxer's key strategies for fending off interested challengers has been to raise money early in the cycle. As of March 31, the Boxer campaign had $4.6 million on hand, to a paltry $350,000 raised by DeVore at press time.

Fiorina, if she runs, could potentially match Boxer financially from her own deep pockets. As for the governor, Schwarzenegger once had the star power to match Boxer's draw, but apparently he lacks the will following several years of bruising budget fights in Sacramento.

The polls are also leaning heavily in Boxer's favor. The Field Poll in early March found Boxer leading Schwarzenegger 54 to 30 percent, up from an October 2007 survey from the same polling firm that had Boxer trailing, 43 to 44 percent.

Against Fiorina, the numbers are even better for the incumbent. Boxer lead Fiorina 55 percent to 25 percent in the March Field Poll.

MadProfessah endorses Barbara Boxer for re-election in 2010.

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).

VIDEO: SNL on Obama-Clinton Race

Senator Boxer Announces Re-election Campaign for 2010

As reported on Calitics and DailyKos yesterday, United States Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has announced that she is indeed running for re-election in 2010. This is significant because this is the next election where statewide constitutional officers (i.e. Governor, Lieutenant Governor, et cetera) will be decided. Currently Arnold Schwarzenegger is termed out and can not run for re-election. The next available higher office he can seek is Boxer's United States Senate seat. However, Boxer by announcing so early is channeling Jennifer Hudson by saying "And I Tell You I Am Not Going":

I want you to be the first to know: I'm running!

No, not for President, but for re-election to the United States Senate when my term expires in 2010. The Senate is so important, and I am so proud that the people of California have sent me there three times.

Why I am starting now? Because there are already many rumors and reports that my Republican friends still can't believe I'm in the Senate and are just waiting to force me out of the race or, failing that, overwhelm us with resources.

So we are doing what we must -- declaring early and starting the fundraising work that is an absolute necessity to hold on to this critical California seat, a Senate seat which has been a constant voice for peace, the environment, and all the priorities that keep the American dream alive.

By announcing early, Boxer is putting potential primary challenger sand Republican opponents like the Governator on notice that "there's no other place [she] wants to be."