[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Gautam Dutta, Esq.
Deputy Director
Political Reform Program
The New America Foundation

After a fiercely fought primary election, no winner emerged in last week's election in the LA County Supervisor race between City Councilmember Bernard Parks and State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas. With barely one-sixth of all voters participating, millions of dollars spent, and a race that turned increasingly negative, neither Ridley-Thomas nor Parks could muster a majority (50 percent plus one) in the nine-candidate field. As a result, both candidates must now duke it out for another five months until the November general election -- leaving voters in the crossfire of more mudslinging and personal attacks.

According to some political consultants and politicians, runoff elections are good for democracy. In theory, they give voters a “second look” to size up the top two finalists. But in all honesty, how much more will voters learn about Councilmember Parks and State Senator Ridley-Thomas that we don’t already know? What will we learn from another five months of attack mailers and sound bites?

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Lost in the Sturm und Drang surrounding the Migden-Leno-Nation showdown was the resounding success for Senate Democrats of a carefully-orchestrated series of political chess moves across Los Angeles County.
 
It’s probably the worst-kept secret in Sacramento that the Senate leadership, led by Senate President Don Perata, aggressively supported Rod Wright’s successful bid for Ed Vincent’s seat in SD-25. Less well known are the domino falls which preceded it.
 
First, it was hardly an accident that Mark Ridley-Thomas, who succeeded Rod Wright in the Assembly’s 48th District, was able to clear the field when he ran in 2006 for SD-25. Sure, MRT enjoyed a formidable reputation for community leadership after his high-profile founding of Empowerment Congress and head-to-head polls conducted in 2005 reflected that: he held a sizable double-digit lead in every prospective match-up against Wright. But fast forward and the same could be said of Wright’s prospective match-up against Dymally this year. To wit, early polling showed him running 30 points behind the venerable Dymally. And, yet, Wright agreed to withdraw from the race for his home Senate district in 2006 and instead focus on the even-tougher neighboring SD-26 in 2008.

There's more...

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

SD-09 has been called for Loni Hancock, which is good news for clean money.

SD-23: Fran Pavley is pummeling Lloyd Levine 66-34. Hasn't been called yet, however, with 52% reporting.

SD-25: Rod Wright is pulling away now.  The age and corruption issues must have caught up with Dymally.  Wright's up 43-35 with 81% in.

AD-08: It's within 700 votes between Yamada and Cabaldon with 83% in.

AD-10 has been called for Alyson Huber.

AD-14 has been called for Nancy Skinner.

AD-15 has been called for Joan Buchanan, and it's a 3-way split on the GOP side.  I feel good about this race.

AD-19: Jerry Hill has taken the lead over Gina Papan by around 400 votes with 76%.

AD-27 has been called for Bill Monning.

AD-37 has been called for Ferial Masry.

AD-40 has been called for Bob Blumenfield and his awesome dad-funded independent expenditure campaign.

AD-46 has been called for John Perez.

AD-78: Marty Block is up by about 500 votes with 46% in.

AD-80: Manuel Perez has taken the lead, up by about 500 votes with 85% in.

In the LA County Board of Supervisors race, Mark Ridley-Thomas is up 46-39 with most of the votes in.  But this was an open primary, so there will be a runoff with Bernard Parks.

It looks like Kevin Johnson and Heather Fargo will go to a runoff in Sacramento's Mayor race, too.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By David Dayen
d-day

Yesterday I spent some time at an often contentious debate in the race for the 2nd District of the LA County Board of Supervisors. The two most high-profile candidates for the seat, State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas and former LAPD Chief and current City Councilman Bernard Parks, squared off in a pretty lively debate which featured a lot of sniping and criticism.

Why the heated exchanges in a county Board of Supervisors race? Why is a state Senator and a very highly recognized City Councilman running in this race? Why is Sheila Kuehl planning to run for the Board of Supes when Zev Yaroslavsky's term is up in the near future?

Because these are unbelievably powerful positions.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Yesterday I spent some time at an often contentious debate in the race for the 2nd District of the LA County Board of Supervisors.  The two most high-profile candidates for the seat, State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas and former LAPD Chief and current City Councilman Bernard Parks, squared off in a pretty lively debate which featured a lot of sniping and criticism.

Why the heated exchanges in a county Board of Supervisors race?  Why is a state Senator and a very highly recognized City Councilman running in this race?  Why is Sheila Kuehl planning to run for the Board of Supes when Zev Yaroslavsky's term is up in the near future?

Because these are unbelievably powerful positions.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

State Senator Mark Ridley Thomas got a major boost with the endorsement of the LA County Democratic Party yesterday in the hotly contest LA County Supervisor District 2 Race.

"The Los Angeles County Democratic Party proudly and overwhelmingly has endorsed State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas for Los Angeles County Supervisor in District 2 to replace retiring Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke in the June 3, 2008 election," reports LA County Dem Chair Eric Bauman. "Mark has been a teacher, civil rights activist, LA City Council Member, State Assembly Member, State Senator and most importantly, a tireless advocate for our community and its hardworking families for many years. He will continue to stand up for Democratic values as our Supervisor. He has the experience to tackle the key issues in our community -- from preventing crime and gang violence to creating jobs to leading the fight for better healthcare. Mark is a problem-solver and coalition-builder who will work hard to build a better quality of life for the residents of District 2."

Ridley-Thomas is in a tight fight with the more conservative Bernard Parks for the seat.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mark Ridley-Thomas
California State Senate
Chair, Legislative Black Caucus

On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this nation’s greatest contemporary disciple of non-violence, openly declared his opposition to the Vietnam War.

He told an audience at Riverside Church that ending the war through non-violent means was a ‘moral imperative;’ that his ‘conscience (left him) no other choice’ than to condemn the war.

Despite strong opposition from the Civil Rights and political establishments to his anti-war stance, Dr. King decried the war that was changing the nation’s domestic priorities and siphoning off resources needed to address economic and educational inequities, and health disparities.

His critics urged him to stick to the domestic issue of black civil rights and stay out of international affairs. But Dr. King’s moral plea did not have borders.

Once again the U.S. is involved in an unpopular and costly war based on questionable motives, ambiguous objectives and evil practices: a war, which seems to have no crest to its rising iniquity.