by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Mark Leno finished the night with an incredibly strong showing.  With 100% of the precincts now reporting, Mark Leno won the election with 43 percent of the vote.  Joe Nation had 29 percent and the incumbent, Carole Migden, had 27 percent.

Congratulations, Mark, on a campaign that was both well fought and very well received.

At his victory party last night, Mark Leno spoke directly to the divide that this primary contest has created in the progressive community and in the LGBT community.  He called on all of us to put this primary behind us and come together in unity to begin to fight the heinous anti-marriage initiative that is on the ballot in November.  And he is right.  If we (meaning both Mark's supporters and Carole's supporters) can keep the momentum and harness the passion that has been poured into this race from both sides and apply that to fighting this discriminatory initiative, we will certainly prevail in November.  

I hope Senator Migden joins Mark's call for uniting together as a community for this important goal.

by Donald Lathbury [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

When former Assemblymember Joe Nation hastily entered the Senate District 3 primary back in February, he acknowledged that "it's late to be getting in in some respects," and the race "will be a sprint." Scrambling together a last minute campaign is no doubt tough work, and it's not surprising to see short cuts taken. But when those short cuts seem to include secretive violations of state residency requirements, in a region with a torrid history of residency violations, voters should be concerned. 

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

The race in Senate District Three is essentially between Mark Leno and Joe Nation.  Mark Leno is the proven progressive.  Joe Nation is pretending to be a progressive in order to skate through to victory.  His true stripes, however, are unquestionably pro-corporate.  In case there was any doubt that Joe Nation is in the pocket of big business and will quickly drop his progressive charade if elected, the recent expenditures for his campaign put those doubts to rest.

The anti-consumer, “tort reform” group Civil Justice Association of California recently spent $240,000 sending out mailers for Joe Nation. A group like this does not spend a quarter million on a politician without expecting something in return. What does this anti-consumer organization expect in return?  You need look no further than their own description: "Industry-sponsored California group, advocating legal reforms to restrict tort recovery."

Put simply, groups like this want politicians to put business rights ahead of consumer rights.  They want to erase or water down all of California's laws that protect injured consumers and introduce new laws that protect businesses at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. 

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]