Fiona Ma Makes an Interesting Case for Why She Should be Speaker of the California Assembly

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

I don’t know who will be elected—or agreed upon by the California Democratic Assembly Caucus--to be the next Speaker and to take that position when the legislature gavels down in August at the end of session. But if the interview I and a few others had with Fiona Ma last night is any indication, the process will be a bit more in the open than past races and a bit more transparent to the public. The vote will take place in private in one of the warren of back rooms behind the Assembly Chambers, but there is more of a public discussion going on than I can remember in years and decades past. And it was fascinating, even if Ma doesn’t make become Speaker, to hear her talk about how she sees the position, what she has accomplished in her first year as a legislator, and her agenda for the future.

Those voting will be the 48 members of the Democratic caucus. Speaker Fabian Nunez announced last week that the caucus was unanimous in agreeing that whoever gets 25 or more votes out of the caucus will be the next Speaker. The date set for the first ballot on this is March 11, shortly before the Ides of March. With at least a half a dozen serious candidates, this one could be more deadlocked than the Democratic convention, and when a candidate clearly has the 25 votes or is perceived to be approaching that number, there will be the big mo—momentum—as legislators will want to be on the winning side so that they will get the committee assignments, perhaps Chair of a committee on issues they care deeply about, and be in the good graces of the winner—or at least not in the doghouse with the person.

So these 48 are like unpledged delegates—free to vote their consciences. Most of these Speakership battles are waged in one on one conversations amongst the Assemblymembers in private offices or hushed conversations on the Assembly Floor, the hallways of the Capitol, and, of course, in the saloons and other establishments in Sacramento.

Ma gushed with the policies she would like to see adopted—the legislation, the changes in the way the Assembly works, the way that funds are raised for campaigns--and spoke of her credentials and history in politics. But she also touched upon the unusual reaching out to bloggers, former legislators, and others she is enlisting in her quest. This is what she said:

“In the era of term limits, there are not a lot of traditions and conventional wisdom that we can follow anymore. The fact that one of my colleagues, while we were sitting in the Democratic Caucus [last week when the ground rules were agreed to on how the Speakership race would be waged and reaffirming Nunez as the Speaker for this year] issued a press release announcing that he was running for Speaker. Some of the labor organizations have written support letters for some of the members that they are using as support for their candidacy.”