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Primary Candidate Tracking Report (2/1/2012)

January 31, 2012 By

There are currently 177 candidates for Congress and 324 candidates for the State Legislature in the 2012 Primary Election who are currently being tracked in preparation for updating the JoinCalifornia database.

Congress (53 Seats; 177 Candidates)
88 Democrats
79 Republicans
3 Libertarians
3 Greens
3 Independents/No Party Preference

State Senate (20 Seats; 58 Candidates)
34 Democrats
21 Republicans
2 Libertarians
1 Independents/No Party Preference

State Assembly (80 Seats; 264 Candidates)
156 Democrats
88 Republicans
1 Green
1 Peace and Freedom
21 Independents/No Party Preference

Of the 298 state legislative candidates, 130 have appeared previously on General Election ballots, 85 are current state legislators, and 17 are former legislators.

Filed Under: 2012 Election, Congress, Current Research, ElectionVolunteer, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly, State Senate

Krekorian Bill overturned by U.S. Supreme Court

January 23, 2012 By

The U.S. Supreme Court released it’s finding in National Meat Association v. Harris (10-224) this morning. In the decision, the court found that AB 2098 (2008) by Paul Krekorian, which require the immediate euthanization of any nonambulatory animal, violated Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA).

The FMIA includes a preemption clause (§678) which precludes states from imposing requirements that are “within the scope” of the FMIA. On this basis, the Court overturned the California law.

Prior to Krekorian’s bill, the most recent California law to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court was AB 1179 (2005) by Leland Yee. That bill, overturned last June, prohibited the sale of violent video games to minors.

Filed Under: Current Research, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly

Blakeslee Attempts Veto Override

January 19, 2012 By

During the Senate floor session today, State Senator Sam Blakeslee brought up one of his bills in order to attempt a veto override. The override of SB 356 (2011), vetoed in September by Governor Brown, failed on a 13-22 vote.

Earl Warren

Although veto-overrides are threatened on occasion, it has been more than 30 years since the legislature exercised this ability. This is because veto-overrides are seen as a significant insult to the Governor and major disruption to the balance of power relationship between the three branches of government.

In the last 72 years, only six bills have had their vetoes overturned by the legislature. In his ten years in office, Earl Warren had only one veto overridden (in 1946). Governor Reagan had a single override as well (in 1974). In his previous two terms in office, Jerry Brown had a total of four vetoes overridden (in 1977 and 1979).

 

Number of Veto Per Year Over-rides by Governor (since 1921)
Date Governor Majority Party
(Senate / Assembly)		  Veto Overrides
1979 Jerry Brown (D) Democrat / Democrat  3
1977 Jerry Brown (D) Democrat / Democrat  1
1974 Ronald Reagan (R) Democrat / Democrat  1
1946 Earl Warren (R) Republican / Republican  1
1941 Culbert Olson (D) Republican / Democrat  8
1939 Culbert Olson (D) Republican / Democrat  3
1933 James Rolph (R) Republican / Republican  17

 

Filed Under: Current Research, JoinCalifornia, State Senate

Primary Candidate Tracking Report (1/19/2012)

January 19, 2012 By

There are currently 166 candidates for Congress and 320 candidates for the State Legislature in the 2012 Primary Election who are currently being tracked in preparation for updating the JoinCalifornia database.

Congress (53 Seats; 166 Candidates)
85 Democrats
73 Republicans
3 Libertarians
2 Greens
2 Independents/No Party Preference

State Senate (20 Seats; 52 Candidates)
30 Democrats
20 Republicans
1 Libertarians
1 Independents/No Party Preference

State Assembly (80 Seats; 246 Candidates)
143 Democrats
85 Republicans
1 Green
1 Peace and Freedom
16 Independents/No Party Preference

Of the 298 state legislative candidates, 120 have appeared previously on General Election ballots, 87 are current legislators, and 18 are former legislators.

Filed Under: 2012 Election, Congress, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly, State Senate, Top Stories

Kevin Mullin for AD-22

January 19, 2012 By

Kevin Mullin, son of former Assemblyman Gene Mullin, has filed to run in the 2012 Primary for AD-22. After serving on the South San Francisco City Council (1995-2002) Gene Mullin served three terms in the Assembly (2003-2008).

Following in his father’s footsteps, currently a member of the South San Francisco City Council (2007-Present), Kevin Mullin also has experience as a legislative staffer, serving as District Director for State Senator Jackie Speier (1998-2001).

By our count, Mullin is the only candidate in the AD-22 race so far.

Filed Under: 2012 Election, Current Research, ElectionVolunteer, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly

Hertzberg running for State Senate?

January 10, 2012 By

Speaker Hertzberg

The Los Angeles Daily News had an article on the potential campaign by former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg for the newly drawn State Senate District 27.

If Hertzberg does decide to run, he will be breaking the mold. Although it wasn’t uncommon for Assembly Speakers to be elected to the Senate in the early years of the state (in fact, two individuals served as both Assembly Speaker and Senate pro Tem), it has been 84 years since the last Speaker moved to the upper house.

Governor Merriam

The last Assembly Speaker to become a State Senator was Frank F. Merriam (Speaker in 1923-1926), who was elected to the State Senate in 1928 and went on to be Governor in 1934. Since Merriam, at least four other Speakers have run for (and lost) races for the State Senate;

A decade after Merriam was elected to the Senate, Speaker Edgar C. Levey lost a General Election campaign for SD-14 in 1938. In the 1950s, Sam L. Collins lost a Primary Election bid for SD-35 in 1952 and James W. Silliman lost in a Special Election for a SD-25 in 1955. Finally, Doris Allen ran in the SD-35 Special Election of 1995 (losing the primary to Ross Johnson).

With incumbent State Senators Fran Pavley and Tony Strickland already in the race, Hertzberg has some major challenges to overcome. But if Stickland withdraws to run for Congress, Hertzberg’s positive relationship with legislative Republicans might be a major advantage in the new Top Two Primary structure.

Filed Under: 2012 Election, ElectionVolunteer, State Assembly, State Senate, Top Stories

Senator Ruben Ayala died

January 5, 2012 By

Ruben S. Ayala

Former State Senator Ruben Ayala died Wednesday night in Ontario. A report in the Sacramento Bee noted that Ayala had fought a long illness. Ayala, who served in the Senate from 1974-1998, was the long-time Chair of the Agriculture and Water Committee, a powerful position that he used to draft a bill authorizing the construction of a peripheral canal through the Sacramento Delta.

Senior staffers at the Capitol noted that Ayala (who served in World War II) had been active in the Legislative Marine Brigade, a group of former Marines who had served in the legislature. Other members of the group included Pete Wilson, Bill Craven, and Don Rogers.

LINK: Sacramento Bee CapitolAlert obituary

Filed Under: Current Research, Deaths, State Senate

Senate Republicans: Dutton » Huff

January 4, 2012 By

Updated JoinCalifornia information for both Bob Dutton and Bob Huff, noting the end of Dutton’s term as State Senate Minority Leader and the start of Huff’s term.

Filed Under: Current Research, JoinCalifornia

New Years Update: Longest Serving Officials

January 1, 2012 By

With the new year starting, it was time to update the list of California’s longest-serving officials. Because term limits limit state legislators to eight years in the Senate and six in the Assembly, the last 20+ year legislator left the Capitol in 1998. Only members of Congress and the Senate moved up on the “Longest Serving” list this year. The updates this year included;

Congressman Pete Stark moving into the #2 spot, with his 39 years in Congress falling behind only Board of Equalization member George Reilly (at 44 years). Stark still has a while before securing the #1 position; his tenure in Congress won’t exceed Reilly’s tenure on the BOE until January 4, 2017.

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer also moved closer to twenty years in office (as did Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard). Feinstein will reach the two-decade mark in November 2012, while Boxer and Roybal-Allard will hit twenty years in January 2013.

Filed Under: Congress, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly, State Senate, Top Stories