[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Doug Paul Davis

To illustrate how improbable Mariko Yamada's victory over Christopher Cabaldon was, let us recount a few key watermarks in the race.

Almost from the start, it seemed an uphill battle as Cabaldon had the audacity in January of 2007, weeks after Lois Wolk officially took office for her third and final term as Assemblywoman, there he stood in Yamada's home town with two of her colleagues, two members of the Davis City Council, two members of his own city council, and the Mayor of Woodland (and to boot Jeff Monroe was in uniform that day, but attended the event to show support for Cabaldon).

It seemed before Mariko Yamada even announced she was way behind and she never caught up (or so we thought).

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

California voters thought they would bring fiscal constraint and open politicking to election season when they passed Proposition 34 limiting individual contributions to campaigns. Major interest groups however have skirted the limits by making “independent expenditures” for or against candidates. In most instances these expenditures are benign, simply amplifying the messages of the candidate controlled campaigns. On occasion, however, the “IE” becomes a hiding place for below-the-belt attacks. The EdVoice fusillade against Democratic candidate Mariko Yamada in the 8th Assembly District primary election is a prime example.

EdVoice is mounting an attack that says, essentially, that Yamada is the kind of politician who thinks first about feathering her nest – siphoning off tax dollars for her private use. Specifically, they accuse Yamada of voting herself an increase in pay as a member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors.

by wu ming [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Well, at least for another year. The Sac Bee reports that the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, chaired by Yolo County's own Lois Wolk (D- Davis), just killed SB 27 until next year. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) would have established a committee to build a peripheral canal diverting water around the Sacramento Delta for export south, although it called it a "conveyance" in a modest feat of bureaucratic obscurantism.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Doug Paul Davis

Now the fun has truly begun. The Davis Enterprise reported yesterday that Lois Wolk, Assemblywoman who currently represents Davis in the 8th Assembly District will run for the state senate. She is unopposed for the Democratic primary.

Her opponent will be fellow Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian--who also figures to run unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Now it is time to get serious for Wolk. Frankly I was appalled when I saw the campaign finance figures that came out of the recent reporting period. Lois Wolk has raised all of $140,831. What has she been doing for the last year and two months? Was she really expecting to be able to run for reelection to the Assembly by way of passage of Prop 93.

Her opponent has already raised $656,675 and a good chunk of that has come directly from the Republican Party--which means that they are targeting this race.

The Enterprise reports that Wolk has accepted campaign spending limits, but Aghazarian has not. That's actually misleading, what this really means is that Aghazarian has passed the limits already in the amount he can spend. The law provides for a candidate to amend that form at least twice during the course of the campaign, so as soon as the candidate passes the finance limit, they will simply file an amended statement.