by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

In a rather unsurprising move, Joe A. Veronese dropped out of the primary race for Senate District 3.  Joe Alioto Veronese was lagging behind  Asm. Mark Leno, former Asm. Joe Nation, and incumbent Carole Midgen.  With Nation's entry into the race, it gave the SF police commissioner a tough time trying to argue that he was the candidate for Marin. Nevertheless, we'll be seeing Joe Alioto Veronese again, of that I can assure you.

In terms of the SD-03 race, well, I have to imagine that this favors Mark Leno.  In Leno's recent David Binder poll, JAV was pulling about 7%. Given the  demographics, Leno will be in the best position to pick up those votes. Specifically, Leno is stronger in the Marina and North Beach neighborhoods where JAV was strong than Senator Migden has been in the past. This might even help him become the front-runner. I'm not sure the endorsement would make a huge difference, but it might help Nation to grab a few SF votes if he gets the JAV nod.

Press release over the flip.