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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

Record Setting Legislative Turnover (December Update)

December 23, 2011 By

As we discussed in a previous post three months ago, it looks like California is going to see a near-record number of new legislators in 2013.

In the Senate, 7 State Senators will be leaving due to term limits. Four Senators (Ronald Calderon, Gloria Negrete-McLeod, Michael Rubio, and Juan Vargas), are running for Congress mid-term, which has the potential to create two new vacancies in mid-2013 if they win.

Potential new Senators: 11

In the Assembly, 22 Assemblymembers will be leaving due to term limits. Another five will give up their Assembly seats to run for Congress (Norma Torres, David Valadao, Isadore Hall, Roger Hernandez, and Jeff Miller). Assemblyman Fletcher will give up a third term in the Assembly to run for Mayor of San Diego. Bill Berryhill, Marty Block and Bill Monning will be running for Senate. Paul Fong, Bonnie Lowenthal and V. Manuel Perez, who had been thinking about Senate campaigns, have decided to remain in the Assembly. Alyson Huber will be voluntarily declining to seek a third term. Warren Furutani, eligible for another term in the Assembly, is currently running for Los Angeles City Council (with the run-off scheduled for January 17th) Finally, Mike Morrell and Tim Donnelly are likely to face tough primary challenges, while Jeff Gorell may have difficulty in November.

Potential new Assemblymembers: 33-36 31-34

These numbers (a total of about 44-47 at this point) ignore the number of new Assembly vacancies that might open if any of the State Senators are elected to Congress.

Updated 12/23/2011 at 7:16 pm to include information about Morrell, Donnelly, Gorell, and Furutani.

Updated 12/27/2011 at 3:52 pm to remove Michael Rubio’s congressional run. He announced today that he will not be running.

Updated 12/30/2011 at 9:57 am to remove Isadore Hall’s congressional run. He announced yesterday that he would remain in the Assembly rather than run against two incumbent members of Congress.

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

Congressman Carlos J. Moorhead died

November 30, 2011 By

Carlos J. Moorhead

Carlos J. Moorhead, who served in the State Assembly (1967-1972) and Congress (1973-1997) died last week. Born in California, Moorhead served in the Army in World War II before returning to California  to earn a law degree from the University of Southern California. He later served as President of the Glendale Bar Association and on the House Judiciary Committee while in Congress.

LINK: Los Angeles Times obituary

Filed Under: Congress, Current Research, Deaths

Those we lost in 2011.

November 27, 2011 By

California lost a some notable state officials and candidates in 2011. Among those who died in 2011 were legislators, judges, mentors, and one who was trusted for more than four decades with keeping the candle of democracy lit if the world burned. As we near the end of the year, we wanted to take a moment to recognize their lives and contributions.

JANUARY
Donald D. Doyle – Assemblyman (1953-1958)
Wayne Grisham – Congressman (1979-1983), Assemblyman (1984-1988)

FEBRUARY
Steve Horn – Congressman (1993-2003)

MARCH
Robert L. Vickers – Disaster Acting Governor #3 (1969-2011)
Howard J. Thelin – Assemblyman (1956-1966)
Doug McNea – Candidate for Congress and Assembly

APRIL
Bob Epple – Assemblyman (1988-1994)

MAY
Frank S. Petersen – State Senator (1962-1966)

JUNE
Matt Fong – State Treasurer (1995-1998)
John Stull – Assemblyman (1967-1973), State Senator (1973-1978)

AUGUST
Floyd G. Sampson – Candidate for Congress
Gib Marguth – Assemblyman (1980-1982)
Dick Floyd – Assemblyman (1980-1992, 1996-2000)
Charles Gubser – Assemblyman (1951-1952), Congressman (1953-1975)

OCTOBER
Matthew G. Martinez – Assemblyman (1980-1982), Congressman (1982-2001)
Tim Hodson – Director of the Center for California Studies (1993-2011)

NOVEMBER
Teresa P. Hughes – Assemblywoman (1975-1992), State Senator (1992-2000)
Carlos J. Moorhead – Assemblyman (1967-1972), Congressman (1973-1996)

DECEMBER
*

Filed Under: Congress, Constitutional Officers, Deaths, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly, State Senate, Top Stories

Anniversary of Jonestown

November 17, 2011 By

Leo J. Ryan

Friday marks the thirty-third anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre, the cult mass-suicide that killed 918 people in and around the Jonestown compound in Guyana. The dead also included a congressional delegation (led by Congressman Leo Ryan) that was seeking information about alleged abuses by the leadership of the community.

It’s unfortunate that today, Congressman Ryan is remembered primarily for his murder in Jonestown. During his years in the Assembly (1959-1972), Ryan played a significant role in the operation of the legislature. In 1966, Ryan was led the opposition to Proposition 1A, which created California’s full-time legislature.

California State Assembly seal

A year later, Ryan authored the resolution (HR 410 of 1967) that established the design of the seal of the California State Assembly (which is still used today).

During the same period, Ryan also wrote a book about the legislature titled Understanding California Government and Politics. In it, Ryan describes the many interests that compete for the attention of a legislator, and offers some excellent advice to constituents who are thinking about contacting their legislators;

“You have a state legislator within easy reach of you. He does have an office. If you need information, call him. If you would like to have him speak to your class, invite him. When they have the time, most legislators will be interested in meeting you. You will find them sympathetic to your interests and far from unapproachable.”

Filed Under: Congress, Current Research, Deaths, State Assembly

Congressman Matthew G. Martinez died

October 19, 2011 By

Former Congressman Matthew Martinez, who represented AD-59 for the 1981-1982 session and was a member of Congress from 1982 to 2000, died October 15th at his home in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

LA Times Article: “Former Rep. Matthew G. ‘Marty’ Martinez dies at 82“

Filed Under: Congress, Current Research, Deaths, State Assembly

Special Elections Timing in 2013

October 15, 2011 By

The 2011 Redistricting has led to a significant number of legislators who will be changing district numbers in the 2012 election. One interesting impact is in the State Senate, where the four year terms are likely to cause a number of vacancies as members jockey for their new districts. Although it’s still early to figure out exactly which legislators will end up running for which districts, one thing that we can figure out is when the special elections will be.

California’s election code says that Special General Elections (run-offs) are to be scheduled for a Tuesday between 112 and 126 days after the Governor calls the election. An extra two weeks of flex time is available because the Governor is given two weeks from the time of a vacancy to call the election.

Because Senators are unlikely to resign from their current Senate seats until after they’ve actually won the election to their new seats, the earliest that vacancies are likely to occur is the day after the 2012 General Election (which would be November 7th). The latest that a Senator is likely to resign their previous Senate seat is December 3rd, which is the first day of the new legislative session (the day they would be sworn into their new office).

If a Senator waits until December 3rd to resign their current Senate seat, and the Governor waits two weeks to call the special election, and then schedules it out as far as he can, the Special General would fall on April 16th and the Special Primary (which is 8 weeks before the General) would fall on March 12th .

If the Senator resigns on the first day after the general election (which would be November 7th), and the Governor called the election the same day, and scheduled it for as soon as possible, the Special General Election would fall on February 27th (and the primary would fall on New Years Day or Christmas). Therefore, the earliest we’re likely to see a Special Elections scheduled are March 5th (with a January 8th Special Primary).

2013 “First Round” Special Election Date Ranges
Vacancy: November 7th to December 3, 2012
Primary: January 8* to March 12, 2013
General (Run-off): March 5 to April 16, 2013

“Follow-up Special Elections” (resulting from Assemblymembers being elected to the Senate in Special Elections in the January to April range above would fall somewhere between March and September

2013 “Follow-up” Special Election Date Ranges
Vacancy: January 9th to April 30, 2013
Primary: March 12 to July 9, 2013
General (Run-off): May 7 to September 3, 2013

 

Filed Under: Congress, ElectionVolunteer, Special Elections, State Assembly, State Senate, Top Stories

Congressman Charles Gubser died

August 25, 2011 By

Former Congressman Charles S. Gubser, who served in elected offices from 1950-1974, died Saturday at his home in Fresno. He was 95.

Gubser was first elected to the State Assembly in 1950, serving in the 1951-52 Session, before serving in Congress from 1953-1974.

Filed Under: Congress, Current Research, Deaths, State Assembly
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